Over the summer of their third year, students take a dissertation workshop to assist in the preparation of their proposals. Generally one member of the senior faculty and one member of the junior faculty conduct the workshop, which meets two or three times in late spring or early summer and then three or four times toward the end of the summer. Students should plan summer travel so as to be available on campus during May and the last two weeks of August.

This workshop is a requirement of the Graduate Program; participation is mandatory. If illness or other circumstances make it impossible to attend, the Graduate Chair should be petitioned.

The final draft of the Dissertation proposal is to be submitted to the Graduate Executive Committee for approval in early September of the same calendar year. Earlier drafts of this proposal should be discussed thoroughly with the professor supervising the dissertation, and at the student's discretion with other professors in the field. The finished proposal, which has been signed on the first page by the supervisor, must then be submitted, along with seven copies, to the Graduate Chair.

The proposal should include the names of the other 2 committee members as well.

The GEC can either approve a proposal as it stands, approve it provisionally (requiring the student to make fairly minor modifications and to resubmit to the Graduate Chair, but not to the entire GEC), or reject it. When the GEC rejects a proposal, it offers detailed and specific suggestions for revsion. The student should then work with his or her advisor to carry out these revisions as quickly as possible, and certainly before the end of the fall term.

The length limit for proposals is 2500 to 3000 words, plus bibliography. The proposal ought to set forth, as clearly and concisely as possible, some or all of the following:

1. Any background information pertinent to the subject;
2. A close exposition of the subject and its merits within the field of study;
3. Some notice of previous scholarship pertinent to the subject;
4. The proposed method of organizing the subject and a tentative indication of the table of contents;
5. Any special research needs or problems encountered;
6. A short, selective bibliography.

If the subject is inter-disciplinary, the student should describe his or her proficiency in the related discipline(s).