TABLE OF CONTENTS:
I. Conspectus of Requirements for the Ph.D. II. Summary Chronological Table of Progress Toward the Ph.D. III. Requirements for the MA IV. Distribution of Course Work V. Direction of Work During Progress Toward the Ph.D VI. Teaching as a Component of Graduate Education VII. Examinations VIII. The Dissertation IX. Finances X. Conclusion XI. Reading Lists

VII. EXAMINATIONS
Examinations (apart from those set in individual courses) will consist of a diagnostic language test in reading Greek and Latin (one hour each language, and ungraded), given before the student's initial enrollment to determine appropriate placement in language courses, and:

• Reading List Examinations in reading Greek and Latin (each three hours; may be taken separately);
• Qualifying Examinations in reading scholarly French and German (each two hours; may be taken separately);
• the Preliminary Examination (whose parts, length and schedule are outlined below).

A) Examinations on the Greek and Latin Reading Lists
The Reading List Examinations in Greek and Latin are administered by a committee appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies and are offered twice each semester, at its beginning and end.  Each examination consists of six passages of prose and poetry for translation, four from the Reading List and two at sight.  The student is expected to have read and thoroughly understood all of the works on the list. The examinations will allow students to demonstrate mastery of the texts that appear on the Reading Lists and to exhibit general facility in translation.  These examinations may be retaken, but at least one must be taken by May 15 of the first year and the other by May 15 of the second year. Failure to pass both ancient languages by May 15 of the second year may result in termination or placement on the terminal M.A. track. 

B) Qualifying Examinations (modern languages)
All candidates for the PhD are required to demonstrate competence in at least two foreign languages, usually German and French, as a prerequisite for preliminary certification. With the permission of the Director of Graduate Studies, students whose research plans make it appropriate may substitute another language for French. Students should complete the language requirement as soon as possible.  They are expected to have passed one exam by Sept. 1 of the second year, and the other by Sept 1 of the third year.  Failure to pass both modern languages by December of a student’s third year may result in placement on the terminal M.A. track.

Competence in a foreign language will be demonstrated by passing a 2-hour written examination administered by a CLST faculty member, or, if necessary, a faculty member outside the department. The examination will consist of translating accurately and completely a piece of scholarship of 750 words or more in the designated language. A dictionary may be used. Two faculty members will read the examination. Should a student fail the examination, faculty will review the examination with the student and explain where improvement is needed. The exams can be retaken without penalty.

Graduate students should initiate discussions about modern language requirements with the DGS and their faculty mentor when they arrive on campus, and should begin necessary language study as soon as practicable. Duke's Graduate School often helps subvent fees for graduate students who take a Language for Reading Knowledge course during the summer.

C) Preliminary Examination
The Preliminary Examination is divided into two parts, the general and the special examinations. The general examinations are designed to test breadth of knowledge of classical antiquity; the special examinations, specialized knowledge of a particular corpus of texts and a particular area of discipline, and the modern scholarly literature on these. The former will be administered by a five-member committee appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies.  General Ph.D. exams will be offered the first M-F-M after November 1 and the first M-F-M after March 1 in the third year; in the extraordinary event that an exam has to be repeated, exams will be offered on the first M-F-M after May 1. The special field and special author examinations will each be set by the faculty member whom the student has chosen to guide her or his focused study.  They may be taken at any time between September 15 and April 15 of the third year.  The Preliminary Exam Committee, supplemented if necessary by the student’s special field and special author faculty directors, will evaluate all Preliminary Exams.

The Preliminary Examination as a whole consist of the following parts:
1) General examinations:
A & B:  Major general examinations (two; each three hours).  If the student has chosen the Literature track, the two major general exams are in Greek and Roman literature.  For those in the History/Archaeology track, the two major general exams are Greek and Roman history/archaeology;
C:  Minor general examination (three hours), either in ancient history/archaeology or in ancient literature (see above).

The major and minor general examinations will be offered once each term within a period of eight days (as above) and are to be taken as a group. The student's committee may call for a supplementary oral examination to follow promptly upon completion of the major and minor general examinations.  Extraordinarily a student may be asked to repeat one or more of the major or minor general examinations; this retake must be successfully passed by mid-May of the third year.

2) Special examinations:
D:  Special author examination (three hours);
E:  Special field examination (three hours).

The special author and special field examinations will be individually scheduled by the student and faculty member, consulting with the Director of Graduate Studies. The student's committee may call for a supplementary oral examination after either or both of these examinations. Both the choice and scheduling of the examinations will be subject to the approval of the student's committee. “Special Author” may in a given case include works of more than one author belonging to a single genre or otherwise closely related. “Special field” may include an area not directly covered in the general examinations (e.g., classical philosophy or Roman law or an aspect thereof), a scholarly discipline or technical specialty (e.g., papyrology, epigraphy, palaeography, or an aspect thereof), or an area within the scope of the general examinations (e.g., Greek literary criticism or Roman architecture or an aspect thereof) studied in greater depth than would otherwise be the case, or a related area outside Classics (e.g., medieval history or an aspect thereof). Students are encouraged to broaden their disciplinary and methodological range through their choice of special examinations. Expectations for the special author and special field examinations will be established in conjunction with a member or members of the Ph.D. committee and communicated to the entire committee.

In accordance with the regulations of the Graduate School, all students will be expected to have completed the Preliminary Examination by the end of the sixth semester. The graduate school further stipulates that in case of failure in any portion of the Preliminary Examination, only one retake of that portion will be permitted.

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