英语系承认并培养博士学位。广泛的文学和文化研究领域的候选人。我们研究生院的成员专门研究从欧洲文艺复兴时期到当代世界文学，从战前美国印刷文化到非裔美国人，亚裔美国人，拉丁裔/一语文学和文化，从电影和数字研究，到英语文学到国际文学。美国和加勒比地区的文学和文化。我们研究生的工作反映了各种各样的资源：目前的学生侧重于欧洲近代早期文学（十六至十八世纪），维多利亚时代的文学，全球现代主义，早期的美国文学，美洲的当代文学，非洲散居的文学，以及19世纪和20世纪的拉丁美洲文学。方法论方法也类似，并且通常跨越传统的时期，
The Ph.D. is designed to be completed by a full-time student in five years. All students complete 72 credit hours for the degree: 52 hours of coursework and 20 hours of dissertation research. Students who participate in the CMAP joint degree program will take extra and separate coursework relevant to the degree path. The Department of English does not accept transfer credit for course work completed prior to enrollment at Vanderbilt University.<br><br>Note: the department does not typically offer a terminal M.A. degree, doctoral students earn an M.A. en route to the Ph.D. All students must complete requirements for the M.A. by the fall semester of their second year. In cases where an exception is warranted, the Graduate Studies Committee may decide to admit a qualified candidate to the two-year M.A. This course of study requires a full course load (52 credit hours), a master's thesis, and full external funding.