The Minerva School PhD program generally takes two years to complete made of six trimesters of approximately 17 weeks each. For the first four trimesters, students take the sequential Core Curriculum. In the last two trimesters, they do independent dissertation work in a field related to their career goals.
During the Core Curriculum trimesters, students spend the first 10 weeks or so going through the material for that particular Core Course. They then spend the next three weeks preparing for a comprehensive exam (followed by 3 weeks off.)
During the first 10 weeks of the Core Curriculum trimesters, students go through material in a sequence of five basic steps:
- Students get a set of QUESTIONS to help guide them through the reading.
- Then, they do the assigned READING, which is sent to them in hard copy in a packet.
- After they have done the reading, they listen to the LECTURES, which they have either downloaded from our password-protected website, or received in a package of CDs / DVDs.
- As they listen to the lectures at their computer, they take extensive NOTES on the material in the lectures.
- Each week, they meet in a SMALL-GROUP / INDIVIDUAL SEMINAR– either on-site or on-line in a password-protected chat room – where their questions about the material can be clarified, and they can discuss any of the issues raised in the readings or lectures.
They then spend the next 3 or 4 weeks preparing for a Comprehensive Take-Home Exam on that material, that usually runs between 35 – 80 pages, for which they are given an extensive and detailed outline, in order to minimize anxiety and confusion about what is expected of them.
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