FAQs: PhD Minor

Students who complete the Minor will have rigorous interdisciplinary training, providing real grounding in the scholarly standards and methods of their minor field (philosophy for students in literature and the arts, and literary or arts criticism for philosophers). They will be prepared for teaching and research that combines nuanced criticism with sophisticated philosophical analysis.

Literature and the arts offer especially rich cultural artifacts, and the investigation of how they produce their many effects raises far-reaching philosophical problems, including questions about the nature of fictionality, the meaning and effects of figurative language, the nature of depiction, the role of the imagination, the nature and function of authorship, and many more. Many domains of philosophy (questions of value, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, etc.) can be explored in distinctive ways through the arts and imaginative literature.

Students are encouraged to join the graduate Focal Group in Philosophy and Literature, which provides opportunities to present work in progress to peers and faculty working in the area and to participate in scholarly exchange. In some cases, the Minor also involves independent research, conducted under the guidance of a faculty member. By the time of the dissertation, students should have the grounding necessary for genuinely interdisciplinary dissertation research.

The Core seminar is team taught by a philosopher and a literary or arts critic. Different teams will focus on different questions (and different texts) at the interdisciplinary boundary, but the seminar will always have the goal of introducing students to a range of such topics. The Core seminar is an excellent opportunity to connect with other students across the humanities who are interested in philosophy, literature, and the arts. Because the seminar content will vary across teaching teams, it may be repeated for credit; repetition may count toward Minor requirements.

The DLCL Philosophy and Literature Focal Group sponsors an active program of events each year, including presentations of work in progress by Stanford graduate students and faculty, faculty book talks, and lectures and seminars led by prominent visiting scholars in the field. We also sponsor conferences exploring specialized topics. A list of past events can be found here.

Students must file one-page declaration of intent to the PLA Minor DGS and an “Application for Ph.D. Minor form” through their graduate department. (In the “Program of Study” line on the form, students should enter “Philosophy, Literature, and the Arts Subplan.”) Students should also schedule an initial meeting with the Minor DGS, who will assign a faculty advisor for the Minor after consultation with the student.

The Philosophy and Literature Focal Group is open to all comers. We encourage you to become a full-fledged member of the Focal Group; to do so, please email Joshua Landy (landy AT stanford.edu). To be added to the focal group mailing list for events, please email one of the coordinators, listed here. (It is helpful to identify yourself as a student interested in the Minor.) Students may receive units for focal group participation by registering for DLCL 222, but you can also participate without registering for units.

All students in the minor take DLCL 333 (Core seminar in Philosophy, Literature, and the Arts), which explores key topics at the interdisciplinary boundary. Students then take at least four additional courses for a total of at least 20 units. This includes a two-course program of study in the minor field and two courses of special relevance to the intersection of philosophy with literature and the arts. Finally, the 20-unit total also includes independent summer research, ideally conducted in the summer after the first year.

These are courses offered by Stanford faculty at the intersection between philosophy and literature or the arts. The committee in charge of the program surveys the curriculum each summer and identifies courses that are of special relevance to students working at the interdisciplinary boundary. The list of those courses (including for past years) can be found here. (N.B.: The listing also includes many undergraduate courses for students involved in the Philosophy and Literature major tracks; where appropriate, graduate students should register for such courses under a graduate number. In some cases, such as introductory seminars, it will not be possible to do this.) If you have a question about a course, or have identified a graduate course you think should be listed, please direct your inquiry to the PLA Minor DGS or the program co-Directors.

The first port of call should be your Minor Advisor (assigned by the PLA Minor DGS), who will usually have valuable insight into course offerings in the department(s) of your minor field. The Minor DGS is also available for consultation, and insight into structuring a helpful program of study can in addition be sought from the co-Directors, Joshua Landy (Comparative Literature) and Lanier Anderson (Philosophy).

Yes; but students in this situation may need to take more than 20 units and should consult with the Minor DGS. If your regular Ph.D. coursework does not involve substantial exposure to either philosophy or literary and arts criticism, then you should pursue a program of courses in both areas as part of your work toward the Minor.

Yes; Stanford does permit students to complete multiple minors. Students are advised, however, that each minor must involve 20 units of unduplicated coursework. All minors must be approved by the home department, and students should plan carefully to ensure that their work in the minors does not delay their time to TGR (or to procure departmental approval for any delay).

In principle, yes; but units applied to a minor may not be applied to an M.A. degree. Students interested in the PLA Minor should probably choose between completing the minor and the (more involved) pursuit of a Masters in the minor field. Students working toward an M.A. in some further field, separate from both the home department and the PLA Minor, should plan very carefully to ensure all requirements can be completed before TGR.

Yes; units completed for a Ph.D. minor count toward the 135-unit requirement for the Ph.D. degree. However, minor units may not be counted toward the separate (lower) coursework unit requirement within the major department; the 20 units counted toward the minor are “unduplicated” in that sense. If a student needs a course of special relevance (or some other course taken for the minor) to meet a departmental distribution or area requirement, the course may be counted for both a minor and a departmental requirement, as long as there are still 20 unduplicated units counted toward the minor.

No; all units for the minor must be completed at Stanford.

Yes; both your transcript and diploma will note that you have completed a “Ph.D. Minor in Philosophy Literature and Arts.”

The Minor can be declared any time prior to TGR status. Students should note, however, that all units counted toward the minor must be completed prior to TGR, so they should plan carefully to complete all coursework requirements, including the Core Seminar (which is often offered in Spring).

No; unfortunately, units taken after advancement to TGR cannot be counted toward any Ph.D. coursework or unit requirements, including any Ph.D. minors.

If you have taken at least 20 units of coursework falling under other requirements of the PLA Minor, and these do not duplicate any units counted toward the unit requirement for your major department, then you may petition the PLA Minor DGS to add the minor. Successful petitions will normally involve a plan to audit the Core seminar with active participation; success may also depend on how closely previously-taken courses correspond to minor requirements.