1996: doctoral programmes launched
Doctoral training in Hungary started in the form of doctoral programmes, which were only later organized into doctoral schools. The first doctoral programme – the first of the legal predecessors of the Doctoral School of Literary Studies – was launched in 1996, so this year can be regarded as the year of foundation in the history of doctoral training in arts at the University of Miskolc.
- Textology was the first doctoral programme accredited at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Miskolc (1996), devised and first headed by Prof. Dr. Kulcsár Péter, DSc (until 2004).
- The next programme accredited was The Historical and Theoretical Models of Modern Hungarian Literature. It was launched in 1997 and has been headed since the very beginning by Prof. Dr. Kabdebó Lóránt, DSc.
- The programme called Historical and Theoretical Connections between Politics and Literature was added to the training profile of the school when it was accredited in 1999. The programme, from its beginning to end, was headed by Prof. Dr. Ferenczi László, DSc.
2001: foundation of the Doctoral School
Since the legal regulations on doctoral training and obtaining a doctoral (PhD) degree changed in Hungary in September 2001, doctoral training has taken place in doctoral schools instead of the previously independent doctoral programmes. The Doctoral School of Literary Studies was established at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Miskolc in 2001. In the first six years of its operation, the Doctoral School (DS) preserved the disciplinary and organizational frames of education of the doctoral programmes at its foundation.Since the academic year 2007–2008: transformation of doctoral programmes
The programmes determining our academic orientation and training were reconsidered in the academic year 2007–2008, and as a result of this, the programme dealing with the relationship between politics and literature was phased out, while a hermeneutical programme became a significant addition to the theoretical background of textology education. Since then the doctoral school has offered training in three fields (in three programmes, when considered as education organization units), which together provide a significant disciplinary position in textology. The programmes and the core members that they are headed by are:
- Classical Textology – Prof. Dr. Kecskeméti Gábor, DSc, full professor (since 2004);
- Modern Literature – Prof. Dr. Kabdebó Lóránt, DSc, professor emeritus (since 1997);
- Semantics and Hermeneutics – Prof. Dr. Forrai Gábor, DSc, full professor (until 2013), Prof. Dr. Schwendtner Tibor, DSc, full professor (2013–2014), Dr. Ambrus Gergely, PhD, reader.