Language Requirements

Students will take their language exam in the department. The minimum requirement for all students enrolled in the PhD program is at least one foreign language and one programming/machine language, chosen for their relevance to the student's research. Students must have successfully completed their language exams before their preliminary examination date is set. It is expected that at least one language examination will be successfully passed by the end of the second semester of residence and the second language examination by the end of the fourth semester.

Foreign Language Exam

Language abilities will be tested by departmental language examinations which shall consist of two parts: 1) the translation of a passage of writing with the use of a dictionary (3 hours); 2) the translation of a passage of writing without the use of a dictionary (3 hours). The total time given for language exams is 6 hours (if needed). The student will be expected to demonstrate a sound grasp of the language as well as a familiarity with the basic technical terminology in that language. Students should arrange a date/time to complete their language exams in conference with their Advisor and the DGSA.

Programming/Machine Language Exam

Programming/machine language exam may consist of 1) a 2-hour media archeological ‘translation’ and annotation of a piece of code – without access to documentation – that analyzes the code’s logical and/or symbolic flow, the operations of its functions, and accounts for its outputs and, if applicable, GUI. OR 2) a 2-day coding assignment where the student demonstrates proficiency in a specified coding paradigm (machine, procedural, object-oriented) by producing an annotated, executable, proof-of-concept prototype that meets a defined set of functional requirements. The students will be expected to demonstrate a sound grasp of the language’s programming paradigm as well as sufficient familiarity with the code’s syntax to ensure his/her ability to carry out independent, high level work in that language.