1st Year: Fulfill course requirements - minimum 12 credit hours
2nd Year: During the quarter during which the student anticipates completing 32 units (normally during the fourth quarter), he/she shall begin the process of thesis/exams.(Note: In the notation below this quarter is designated as "quarter 1", the following quarter as "quarter 2", etc. Summer quarters are not counted as part of the sequence. Only under extremely rare and exceptional circumstances will proposals, etc. be reviewed by the department during the summer, or thesis defenses scheduled).
Thesis Students
Quarter 1 (Week 3): Deadline for stating the student's intent to submit a thesis proposal. This application must be in the form of a brief letter to the MA director and given to the assistant to the chair. The letter should indicate (1) the proposed topic of the thesis (2) the expected completion date.
Quarter 1 (Week 7): The department will notify the student in writing whether it has approved his/her intent to submit a proposal.
Quarter 1 (Week 9): If the statement of intent is approved, the student will have chosen a preliminary faculty advisor for the thesis and meet with him/her to discuss the proposal.
Quarter 2 (Week 3): Formal proposal submitted following department guidelines.
Quarter 2 (Week 7): Department approval or disapproval of the formal proposal.
Quarter 3 (Week 5): Brief progress report to the department on the part of the advisor, including when it is expected the thesis will be completed.
Quarter 4 or later: Thesis defense and application for graduation following the guidelines of the graduate school.
Comprehensive Examination
Comprehensive examinations are normally administered during the seventh week of the quarter in which the student is expected to complete 45 hours toward the degree. Students may take the comprehensive exams during subsequent quarters, but they must first petition to the graduate school for an extension of their program. The extension may not be granted.
No later than the end of the quarter before students expect to take the comprehensive exam, they must choose three out of five traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam) in which they wish to be examined. Their choice must be indicated in the form of a hard copy memorandum addressed to the graduate director of the department and submitted to the assistant to the chair. Students must prepare for examinations in these three traditions, although they will only be tested on two. Students will not know until the day of the exam which two of the three traditions proposed they will be examined on. Students will take a third comprehensive examination on theory.
Bibliographies needed to prepare for the examinations are available from your adviser.