The general objective of the joint PhD program in letters is to offer master's degree holders the opportunity to pursue, in one of the three regions concerned (Mauricie, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Bas-du-Fleuve- Gaspésie), a doctoral specialization in the field of letters which is, for the most part, that of literature, language, and the textual, discursive and visual practices that it uses (notably theatre, cinema, philosophy, the history of art, media discourses, etc.).