Graduate Program
Yale's Department of French offers the Ph.D. in French literature, criticism, theory, and culture from the early Middle Ages to the present, and the French-language literatures of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Maghreb. The Department also participates in combined Ph.D. programs with the Department of African American Studies, the Program in Film Studies, and an M.Phil. in conjunction with the Program in Medieval Studies.
The Yale French Department has for decades been the top ranked department of French in the country. Generations of scholars have been trained here. Alumni of the department form a vital community throughout the United States and beyond, which includes many of the finest and most influential members of the profession.
The Department prides itself on the diversity of fields and approaches represented by its faculty. Each is involved in fiercely independent research that is quite unlike that of any other scholars, least of all that of our own colleagues. The result is that students here benefit from as many different perspectives and areas of expertise as there are members of the faculty. In addition, most faculty are involved in programs outside the department, including Medieval Studies, Renaissance Studies, Women's Studies, African and African-American Studies, not to mention Comparative Literature, with which some faculty share joint appointments. These institutional affiliations and many other less formal ties provide natural departmental bridges to any number of related disciplines around the campus.
Students are encouraged (and indeed required) to take at least two courses outside the department, in ancillary fields related to their interests in French literature. In this connection Yale's distinguished faculty in English, Classics, Italian, Spanish, film, philosophy, German, history, history of art, music, etc., are an invaluable asset that makes graduate study in French even more stimulating and rewarding at Yale.
The libraries are another resource that makes Yale an ideal place to pursue graduate study in literature. The holdings of Sterling Memorial Library are among the richest in the world. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library is an incomparable resource for scholars in French, holding treasures ranging from medieval illuminated manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose, to incunabula, to first editions of masterpieces of modernism.
The program is typically five or six years long, depending on whether the student completes the dissertation in two or three years. The first two years are devoted to course work and the fulfillment of the Latin, Old French, and second language requirements. The third year is devoted to the qualifying oral examination and preparation of the dissertation prospectus. During the third and fourth years students typically teach one course per semester of first or second-year French.
All students receive full financial support (tuition plus full stipend, including health insurance coverage) for five years of graduate study. This support consists of two years of a university fellowship, two years of summer stipends, two years of a teaching fellowship, and one year of a dissertation fellowship. The Department of French is usually able to arrange a third year of teaching fellowship for students who desire it. Each year we also offer four advanced students the opportunity, usually in their fifth year, to study at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris with full financial support from the department's General Alumni Fund.
Basic Program requirements
1. Sixteen term courses during the first two years of study. These must include Old French and at least two graduate-level term courses taken outside the department.
2. Two language requirements: a reading knowledge of Latin and of a second language.
3. At least one year of teaching experience.
4. The qualifying oral examination, to be taken no later than the end of the sixth term.
5. The dissertation prospectus, prepared in consultation with the student's adviser and approved by the faculty.
6. The doctoral dissertation, prepared in close consultation with the adviser, approved by the faculty and Graduate School, and completed by the end of the sixth year of study.
Fulfilling the requirements for a Ph. D in French is a complex process, requiring collaboration between students and their professors. During the years of their work toward the degree, students should actively monitor their own progress and prepare for upcoming requirements and deadlines. The document that follows is intended to help students do this; it should be read at least once a year and whenever a new stage in the program is approaching.
t is recommended that students develop and maintain working relations with a number of professors. This becomes particularly important at the dissertation stage, when isolation within one's own work becomes more likely. At least three professors should be acquainted with a student's work at all stages of its development and through all the phases of the Ph.D. program.
Students should also:
- petition for non-terminal degrees (M.A. and M. Phil.) as soon as they are eligible (see requirements)
- be prepared for various deadlines within and outside the Department, including those for the European exchanges (see appendix), the Whiting Fellowship competition, and other applications.
M.A. Degree
The degree of Master of Arts in French will be conferred upon request to students enrolled in the Ph.D. program after a minimum of one year of study in residence. In order to qualify for this degree, the student must have completed eight graduate courses toward the Ph.D., six of which must be in French, and the Latin requirement. Two grades of Honors in French graduate courses are required.
M. Phil. Degree
The French Department offers the Master of Philosophy degree, in accordance with the rules as set up by the graduate school (see Bulletin), to students who have completed the course and language requirements (with four grades of Honors, of which at least two must be in French graduate courses) and passed their oral qualifying examination. Students are not eligible for the Master of Philosophy degree until after one academic year of resident graduate study at Yale.
Ph. D. Degree in French
There are six requirements for the Ph.D. in French: I) Courses, II) Language requirements, III) Oral qualifying examination, IV) Teaching, V) Admission to Candidacy, and VI) Dissertation
I. Courses
Required Courses
Normally sixteen term courses must be taken during the first two years of graduate study. These must include: Introduction to Old French (610) or its equivalent, and two graduate-level semester courses outside the French Department. French 6l0 emphasizes the acquisition of a reading knowledge of Old French texts. No one can be exempted from taking French 610 or its equivalent except by passing an examination similar in nature and scope to the final examination in the course.
The sixteen required courses may include: one semester course in Latin or another foreign language taken to fulfill the department's language requirement. They may also include as many as four graduate-level semester courses outside the French Department.
At the time of course selection it is strongly recommended that students consult with the DGS (who must sign their programs) and with their faculty advisers.
Special Courses
French 970a, 970b. Under the guidance of a member of the graduate faculty a student may, once a year, study independently a subject of the student's choice. Students should obtain the consent both of the proposed instructor and the Director of Graduate Studies at the beginning of the semester during which they plan to take French 970. No faculty member will direct more than one such special course in a given term. This arrangement is designed to give greater flexibility to the program of studies and to prepare students for the sort of independent research required by the dissertation.
Grades
At the end of the second year of study a student who does not have an grade of Honors in four graduate term courses, at least two of which must be in the French Department, will not be allowed to register for a fifth term.
Deadlines and Extensions
Students are expected to observe the deadlines for their final assignments. In order to ensure equitable evaluation of all students in any given course, extensions of time for completing the work of the course are not given except in extraordinary circumstances. If an instructor finds it appropriate to grant an extension and the Director of Graduate Studies approves, the instructor reports a temporary grade of Incomplete (I), which may be converted to one of the usual grades by the deadlines prescribed in the current Graduate School catalogue. If the course is completed, the "I" will be slashed and the letter grade entered, with the date noted; otherwise the Incomplete remains as the permanent grade. N.B.: Although final grades are due by the date prescribed in the Graduate catalogue, students must adhere to deadlines for submission of their work that are established by their professors, allowing adequate time for appraisal of their work before grades are due. Grades for spring degree candidates are due the second week of May.
Changes of Grades
No grade may be changed after it is recorded other than in exceptional circumstances with the approval of the Dean of the Graduate School upon recommendation of the Director of Graduate Studies.
Acceleration
A reduction in the number of courses required by the Department may be granted in recognition of graduate course work completed elsewhere. Credit is often granted in recognition of a M.A. in French but it is not automatic; it depends on the nature of the previous work, the student's standing at Yale, and the graduate faculty's assessment of the student's general level of preparation. Candidates for acceleration will be asked to petition the Department for acceleration in their third term, after a full year of classes, of which seven courses must be taken in the Department. Credit for previous work is granted by vote of the Graduate Faculty.
Advisers
Each entering graduate student is assigned a faculty adviser, according to their mutual areas of particular interest. The rapport with the faculty adviser is usually a very informal one, depending to a considerable extent on the student's own initiative. No faculty member is assigned more than two or three advisees from among students in their first two years. Upon better acquaintance with the department a student may change advisers, with the consent of the new adviser; the dissertation director eventually replaces the adviser.
The adviser consults with the student about choice of courses, but the Director of Graduate Studies has final authority in approving each student's schedule.
II. Language Requirements
For the Ph.D. in French, the language requirement is a reading knowledge of Latin and one other language (in addition to French, Old French, and English). The second language (e.g., German, another Romance language, Arabic, an African language) should be chosen in accordance with the special professional interests of the student in mind, and it must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. The Graduate School ordinarily enforces the stipulation that a student may not register for a third term without having passed the Latin requirement, nor for the fifth term without having passed the second language requirement -- and only at the request of the DGS may exceptions be made. In view of these rules, it is strongly urged that students fulfill these requirements as early as possible. Appropriate courses are offered at Yale during both the academic year and the summer.
Students seriously deficient at entrance in Latin and/or the second language are sometimes advised to reduce their course load from four to three semester courses and to take a course in Latin or the other language until the requirement has been fulfilled. One term course in Latin (such as Latin 110a or Latin 111b), or one appropriate course in the second language--but not both Latin and the second language--may be substituted for one of the sixteen term courses normally required. Latin S-110 (in the Summer Language Institute) fulfills the requirement, but may not be substituted for one of the required graduate courses. Note that it cannot count as one of the students required courses in the Department.
Latin
The Latin examination is administered by the department at the beginning of the year just before the beginning of classes, in January and again in April. This exam consists of the translation of two passages of moderate difficulty: one in classical Latin and one in medieval Latin. The use of a dictionary is allowed. Students may choose to enroll in Latin 110a or 111b, or any other course approved by the DGS, and if they receive a grade of High Pass or B in one of these courses, they will have satisfied the Latin requirement.
Other Languages
Three choices are offered for the fulfillment of the second language requirement. 1) a B in an undergraduate course to be approved by the DGS before final registration; 2) a Pass in a graduate course taught in the language; 3) an examination administered by the appropriate department, usually consisting of the translation of thirty lines of classical prose and thirty lines of modern criticism (two hours with dictionary).
Second-Year Evaluation Procedure
During the summer following the student's first year of study, the appointed adviser, or the DGS, will be responsible for collecting and summarizing all reports concerning the student from the instructors who taught the student during the fall term, as well as all possible information from the student's spring-term instructors. Before registration for the third semester each student will be informed of the department's general evaluation of his or her progress. The adviser or the DGS may, if necessary, suggest that the student see a given professor.
Before the final date of registration for the fifth term, or as soon thereafter as the record of required courses is complete, the department will examine whether, in the judgment of his/her instructors and advisers, each student has shown evidence of the ability to proceed toward the successful completion of all the requirements for the Ph.D., the next step for qualification being the Oral Examination. By this point students must have obtained four grades of Honors in graduate courses, of which at least two must be in French department courses.
III. Oral Qualifying Examination
Purpose
The purpose of this exercise is to test students' ability to conduct preliminary research in carefully selected areas of interest and to communicate them clearly and coherently to a group of interested scholars. The first part of the exam (the orals topics) emphasizes dialogue and open discussion; in the second part (interprétation de texte and exposé) students are expected to demonstrate a degree of formalization in their presentation. An important aspect of the exam is the student's ability to define a topic, engage a group of people, arouse their interest in his/her research, and present and defend a viewpoint. These are the qualities required of a successful teacher.
General information
The oral qualifying examination, designed to demonstrate students' mastery of the French language, their command of selective topics in the literature, and their ability to present and discuss literary texts and issues, will take place during the third year of residence.
Ideally, students begin to formulate topics at the end of the third semester. The Pre-Orals should take place at the end of the fourth semester, and the Oral Examination at least three months after the Pre-Orals, preferably in the fifth semester, but in no case later than the end of the sixth semester.
The examination consists of:
1º First Session: A general examination, in French, usually lasting two hours;
2º Second Session: (usually no more than a week later) An interprétation de texte and an exposé in French, each exercise lasting approximately twenty minutes followed by a short discussion.
Students have a major say in elaborating and developing the areas of interest which eventually become the topics of their Oral Examination. It is up to each student to shape the exam in a manner compatible with her/his special skills and preferences. The very formulation of and approaches to the topics is as much part of the exam as the choice of a subject is for a paper. Students must circumscribe a coherent area of inquiry, be that historical, generic, theoretical, intertextual. They may wish to focus on a writer, a school, a movement, a comparison with another literature, an interdisciplinary approach, a transhistorical issue. They are expected to articulate their topics rigorously and coherently, to defend their validity, and to demonstrate the relevance of their approach to the texts at hand.
The exam is conceived so as to allow for the plurality built into literary studies today and, more specifically, into our department. Students should be aware that they will be addressing faculty members who may have various interests, approaches, and intellectual styles, and that part of the exercise consists of testing their ability to communicate their findings to people who may not share their approaches and perspectives. Therefore there can be no strict, recipe-like guidelines. Unnecessary but all too real anxiety can be avoided by not trying to anticipate the exact expectations of an examining committee.
Plurality does not mean arbitrariness, however. Whatever approach students choose, they are expected to come to the exam informed about both the specifics of the texts discussed and their historical and/or theoretical contexts and prepared to support their point with relevant examples. At the same time, a topic is neither a dissertation prospectus nor a mini-dissertation. Students are not so much expected to have a "thesis" of their own about each of their chosen topics as they are expected to offer informed insights into the possible historical, conceptual, and/or larger theoretical implications of the subjects they treat.
General procedures
The first step is for the students to prepare a summary of their graduate work to help identify both strengths and lacunae. This written summary must be presented at the Pre-Orals. It can take two forms: either a list of courses taken at Yale and other graduate institutions or a copy of the student's latest Yale transcript. Next, the student should prepare a list of areas of interest that might be developed into orals topics (generally six of them). Then the student should meet with the DGS, present the course list (or transcript) and proposed topics, and discuss his/her background, interests and topics, as well as procedures and timing. The DGS will seek to insure that the topics more or less fill in the gaps left by the student's past course selection. The student selects the examining committee (normally, four or five members, one of whom may come from another department; the Chair of the committee must be a tenured professor of French). Upon selection of the committee, the student may either contact the examiners her/himself or request that the DGS do it. The topics are not approved until the pre-Orals meeting.
The Pre-Orals meeting is to take place at least three months before the Oral examination. The purpose of this meeting is to approve the students' topics and help them clarify the details of the topics, to enrich their bibliographies, and to bring an additional viewpoint on each topic. Most importantly, the Pre-Orals provide a forum in which students and examiners can appraise and comment on the general configuration of the exam. Students should not wait until they have read everything on their bibliographies before scheduling the Pre-Orals. At least a day before this meeting the students are expected to provide each examiner with a tentative list of their topics and a provisional bibliography. At the meeting the students will briefly present what they intend to achieve with each topic. A brief discussion follows these mini-expositions. Remember that this is not an examination.
Students should meet often with their examiners to report on their progress and discuss their findings. These discussions are not intended as "rehearsals" of the exam; they are an occasion to sharpen the student's perception of their topics and to suggest ideas, comparisons, bibliographical references, limitations, connections, etc.
It is the students' responsibility to ensure that all their examiners have a copy of their final, formal bibliographies at least 24 hours before the date of the first exam session. The bibliographies for all six topics should be presented together; they should include complete references and indicate which professor is in charge of each question. Since the complete bibliography will go on file in the Department, it should be reviewed carefully for mistakes.
The first session is based on the topics agreed upon between the student and the examiners. It lasts two hours and is taken without the aid of notes or texts. The student has the option to begin the discussion of each topic with a brief (approximately two-minute) statement. The second session is essentially an exercise in pedagogy. It takes place a week later and has two parts: a) A 15-20 minute presentation by the student on a subject of her/his choice (announced to the committee at the first session), followed by a short period of questions. For this presentation the candidate may treat a question concerning French literature, or the relationship between French literature and other fields. Other options may be elected, subject to the approval of the orals committee. b)A 15-20 minute interprétation of a text selected by the examiners from the topics of the first session and made available to the student the day before the second session of the exam. This part, too, is followed by a brief discussion. At the second session (exposé and interprétation de texte) the student may have notes but may not read the presentations.
At the conclusion of the exam and after deliberation of the committee, the result is announced and the Chair of the committee gives the student a detailed oral evaluation of his/her performance.
In the event of an unsatisfactory performance on the exam, the committee will decide if all or part of the exam can be retaken. If the committee determines that the student's perfromance does not merit a second exam, the student will be withdrawn from the program at the end of the term.
Within two weeks after the exam, the Chair of the committee will present to the student a detailed written report countersigned by the other members of the committee. The student is strongly encouraged to discuss her/his exam individually with the members of the examining committee.
IV. Teaching
Teaching is considered an integral part of the preparation for the Ph.D. All students are expected to teach during two of their six years of graduate study, as part of their training as future teachers and scholars. At least one year of teaching is a requirement for the Ph.D. Before being allowed to teach students must take the teacher preparation program offered by the department. Students meeting the requirements specified in the departmental teaching certification form will receive a formal certificate attesting to their attainment in language teaching.
Student teaching normally takes place during the third and fourth years of graduate study, and normally consists of one class of first or second-year French. (Students may not teach in their first two years of study.) If the opportunity arises for a student to teach in another department (e.g., as a section leader in a large lecture course in History or History of Art) and if such teaching can be justified by compelling academic considerations (e.g., advancement of a student’s research through the experience of teaching in a field directly related to his or her dissertation topic), a student may, with the written permission of the DGS, substitute one such course for one term of teaching within the department. Students may not teach more than one class per term, or more than two classes per year.
Although there is no guarantee of teaching beyond the expected (and guaranteed) two years, a third year of teaching may be available for students who desire it, subject to the approval of the DGS.
Teaching assistantships in undergraduate literature courses.
At the discretion of professors teaching undergraduate literature courses, graduate students may occasionally be selected to act as teaching assistants. This opportunity will be available only in the final year of teaching and only after the graduate student has completed at least two semesters of language teaching at Yale. Irrespective of enrollments in the literature course, a graduate student may be selected to act as an apprentice to the professor: attending all sessions of the course, doing all the reading, contributing to and facilitating class discussions, and occasionally leading the class or lecturing on a given topic, as may seem appropriate to the professor. The teaching assistant will not be solely responsible for grading or for clerical work for the course. This opportunity may be taken only once and only for one semester (either fall or spring), and it replaces the graduate student’s language teaching for that semester.
V. Admission to Candidacy
When students have completed all pre-dissertation requirements, including the prospectus, they are “admitted to candidacy” by formal vote of the graduate faculty of the Department of French. Admission to candidacy must take place well before the end of the seventh term of study. (The Graduate School will allow no student who has not been formally admitted to candidacy to register for an eighth term of study.) In order to ensure timely admission to candidacy and to maintain good standing in the Graduate School, students are required to submit a first draft of their prospectus to their dissertation director(s) and to the DGS no later than Monday of the seventh week of the fall term, and the final, approved prospectus no later than Monday of the eleventh week of the fall term.
VI. Dissertation
The requirements for the Ph.D. degree culminate in the writing of the dissertation, a piece of independent research through which the candidate establishes a claim to expertise in the field of literary studies. Once accepted by Yale University, the thesis is made available to the public through microfilm. The department's standards of judgment stress scholarly rigor as well as originality and methodological innovation. The department does not prescribe any single approach or format: it is willing to consider such alternative presentations as a series of essays united by subject or methodology, or a sustained treatment of a single author, work, or problem, etc. Similarly, the scope of the dissertation is not narrowly defined but may encompass such areas as music, art, philosophy, or other literatures.
Directors, Prospectus, and Readers
After passing the oral examination candidates must choose a dissertation director. Any member of the Graduate Faculty, senior or junior may serve as a director. Students may wish to work with two co-directors, so as to gain additional perspectives on their project. This may be done with the agreement of both directors. After adequate consultation with the director(s) the student must submit a formal prospectus to the DGS. Directives for the format of the prospectus are available in Room 3ll, 82-90 Wall Street.
While preparing the prospectus students are encouraged to consult with other interested faculty members, as well as their director(s). One form that such consultation could take would be a meeting at which the candidate, the director(s), and invited faculty members would discuss a draft of the prospectus. Such a meeting would be arranged by the student and his/her director(s). After the prospectus has been approved, copies will be circulated to all members of the Graduate Faculty of the department.
The prospectus must be completed and approved within the term following the oral examination and at least six months before the dissertation is submitted. (See above, Section V, for deadlines). Completed dissertations are read and evaluated by three readers to be designated by the DGS in consultation with the candidate. While the director remains primarily responsible for the advising of a dissertation, students should feel free to consult other faculty in the course of their writing. If two directors co-direct a dissertation, one of these may serve as a reader.
It is essential that candidates keep in touch regularly with their director(s), reporting on plans and submitting work as it progresses, chapter by chapter, in order to allow for continuous direction. Candidates should also feel free to consult with their readers and other faculty members within or outside the department. Before typing, a completed first draft of the entire thesis, including bibliography, must be submitted for approval to the director(s). If, during the writing of the dissertation the project undergoes substantial modification the student is encouraged to submit a revised or a new prospectus for approval.
The dissertation is usually written in English. It may also be written in French, with special permission from the DGS and the dissertation director(s). There is no prescribed length for the dissertation. Two hundred and fifty pages is average, but dissertations can be shorter or longer, within reason, according to the demands of the subject.
The normal time to completion of the PhD at Yale is six years. However, as a courtesy, the department normally reviews dissertations that are submitted after the student’s period of registration, up to a maximum of ten years after the student’s first year in the program.
Procedures for Submitting the Dissertation
All candidates for the Ph.D. must submit their dissertations directly to the Registrar of the Graduate School in accordance with the Registrar's timetable and requirements. Candidates should request a copy of the Graduate School's instructions on physical requirements for dissertations and should consult the Graduate School catalogue for submission dates.
In addition, French Department Ph.D. candidates should inform the DGS of their intention to submit a dissertation at least one month in advance of the Graduate School deadline. The DGS will assign three readers to review the dissertation for the Department and the Graduate School; readers are chosen according to availability and area of expertise. Candidates are invited to suggest possible readers for their dissertation. The dissertation adviser normally does not serve as one of the readers.
Each of the readers of the dissertation prepares an official report. The report includes six rubrics: Command of the literature of the subject; Originality; Insight and judgment; Clearness; Style; and Mastery of the method used in research. They are rated, as is the dissertation as a whole, Distinguished, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Unacceptable. Recommendations to the candidate concerning eventual publication are also included in the report.
After the Graduate Faculty of the Department has voted on the dissertation, the candidate will be informed of the vote and provided with a copy of the readers' reports. The Degree Committee of the Graduate School then meets to vote on final approval of the dissertation and the degree. After the meeting of the Degree Committee, the students are informed by the Dean of the Graduate School whether or not they will be awarded the Ph.D.
Supplemental Departmental Procedure
("Pre-Reading")
When the dissertation has been completed and approved in its final form by the thesis adviser, three copies may be submitted in envelope, boxes, or folders to the DGS. This must be done at least eight weeks in advance of the submission date established by the Graduate School. The DGS will then distribute them to three readers. If no corrections are required, the candidate will be advised to file the dissertation immediately with the Graduate School. This procedure is devised to give the student an opportunity to make final corrections before the thesis is presented to the Graduate School, and eventually microfilmed.
Of course the student has the option of submittingthe bound dissertation to the Graduate School without the benefit of the pre-reading.
Supplement on Exchange Programs and Research Abroad
The Department strongly encourages graduate students to spend a year abroad while they are working on their dissertations, normally in their fifth year of study. The purposes of this time abroad may include archival research, contacts with writers, scholars, and other intellectuals, language training, and general familiarization with the culture.
The principal program to support research abroad is a longstanding exchange with the Ecole Normal Supérieure, Paris, detailed below. But it is possible for students to study elsewhere with departmental support. Students who are working on literatures from French-speaking countries other than France should seriously explore possibilities for research in their geographical area of interest.
Only students who will have passed their oral examinations by the following fall are eligible for study abroad. Chief among the criteria according to which the students are selected are the following:
- current status (including seniority, completion of prospectus, etc.)
- need for improvement in French
- the degree to which a student's work is judged likely to benefit from a year abroad
- past academic performance at Yale.
All students, whether intending to study in Paris or elsewhere, should apply for funding both from the department and from outside sources.
Interested students should prepare to apply in the fall of the year preceding their year abroad, or earlier, depending on grant application deadlines.
Students will petition the department for research abroad (and request department funding) in writing.
Paris
The basis of Yale's exchange with the French system is the Ecole Normale Supérieure, which sends instructors to Yale each year and welcomes four of our students as “pensionnaires étrangers.” The ENS provides each of our students the following: a room-- free of charge--either at the Rue d' Ulm or the Boulevard Jourdan location; the privileges associated with student status (entry to courses, seminars, libraries, etc.); and access to inexpensive meals in the ENS restaurants. The ENS does not, however, provide any stipend.
Living expenses (which, because of the free room, need not cover rent) must therefore come from other sources: either a departmental fellowship or an outside fellowship. See below on funding.
Research outside France
Students whose dissertation is concerned with a geographical area outside of France should explore possibilities for research and travel in their area of interest. Such students should consult with their advisor well in advance and seek to prepare contacts in the place or places that are relevant. Ideally, a student would spend a full academic year in the country of interest, but if funds do not permit this, a shorter stay can be supported. Institutional affiliation, for example with a local university, should be sought.
Since a departmental fellowship might not be able to support a full academic year outside of the ENS exchange (where rent is free), students using departmental fellowships for study outside of France may, if necessary, limit their time abroad to one semester, and, if openings are available, teach at Yale in the other semester.
FUNDING
Departmental Fellowships for Research Abroad
Qualified graduate students in the French Department should request departmental funding to support study abroad in Paris or elsewhere, according to a timetable established by the DGS. In most years, the Department can offer between two and three fellowships funded by contributions of former French department students to the graduate Alumni and Henri Peyre Funds.
Outside Sources of Funding
Students should inform themselves well in advance about fellowships which support dissertation research. The following section names only a few of the most obvious sources. Further information is typically available from the DGS, from the Graduate School Fellowship Office, and on the department's bulletin boards.
- The Lurcy Traveling Fellowship is administered by the Yale Graduate School.
- The Bourses Chateaubriand: This French Government Fellowship is awarded by a committee working for the French Embassy, for research in France. Candidates apply independently, directly to the French Embassy in New York.
- Fulbright Fellowships for doctoral research. Students should be aware that the deadlines for Fulbright Fellowships tend to be far earlier than for other fellowships, typically in early September of the year before travel.
- Bourses Marandon