spanish phd programs

Spanish Language and Literature Ph.D.

The Ph.D. is primarily a research and specialization degree, culminating in the writing of a dissertation.

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Our graduate programs include a Ph. D degree with specializations in both Spanish and Latin American Literature and Culture. Our Ph.D. students are mentored by our faculty, engage in substantive research projects, and benefit from rigorous teaching training. We offer courses that cover most geographical areas and time periods and guide students through relevant theoretical and methodological developments. Courses are complemented with lecture series and events that enrich our students’ intellectual and life experiences.

To be considered for admission applicants must:

• Have earned an M.A. degree or have equivalent training;
• Submit a paper in Spanish produced at the M.A. level;
• Submit a statement of purpose;
• Submit three letters of recommendation from academic references;

In addition, non-native speakers of English are required to take the TOEFL examination prior to admittance. Candidates must meet the minimum TOEFL standards established by the University of Maryland Graduate School (score of 100). For information students should contact the SLLC graduate coordinator.

Students on the "short list" may be interviewed by the graduate director in person or by phone.

Prior to admission to candidacy the student must demonstrate/fulfill the following:

• A thorough knowledge of the literary and cultural production in the main area of study;
• An in-depth knowledge of research tendencies in the field of specialization;
• At least two courses in the secondary area;
• A graduate course in the History of the Spanish Language;
• A minimum of one course in literary theory and/or criticism;
• A total of 30 credits of coursework (in very exceptional cases, fewer);
• Reading proficiency in a third language other than Spanish or English, appropriate to the student's field of study.

What do I need to apply?

To be considered for admission applicants must submit:

• Online application
• Application fee $75 -> Information about fee waiver
• Official transcripts of an M.A. degree or equivalent training.
• A paper in Spanish produced at the M.A. level.
• A statement of purpose.
• Three letters of recommendation from academic references.
• Non-native speakers of English are required to take the TOEFL examination prior to admittance. Candidates must meet the minimum TOEFL standards established by the University of Maryland Graduate School (score of 100). For information students should contact the SLLC graduate coordinator. Apply here Step-by-Step Guide to Applying English Language Proficiency Requirements for International Students **Due to deferrals, graduation delays during pandemic and reductions in available funding, admissions to our graduate programs will be more competitive for Fall 2021. Applicants should note that we are an affirmative action department and that we remain especially interested in recruiting strong African American, Hispanic American, and Native American students to our Ph.D. and M.A. programs. 

Qualifying Examination: Procedures and Evaluation

Students who obtained their M.A. at another institution must take a qualifying examination after their first semester in the Ph.D. program. The goal of the exam is to ensure that students have both the specific field knowledge and the theoretical and/or critical background to continue in the program.

A student must declare her/his intention to take the qualifying examination in writing to the director of graduate Studies at least 60 days prior to the examination date, and at this time s/he should select the areas or fields and faculty advisor with whom s/he wants to work in preparation for the qualifying. The exam will be given every January, before the beginning of the spring semester. A committee consisting of two department faculty members (including the advisor) will meet to evaluate the examination and discuss the student's overall progress in the Ph.D. program. Written notification of the results will be sent to the student within one month of completing the exam. In the event that the student does not pass the exam, her/his advisor and the director of graduate studies may recommend that the student retake the examination in May. If a student does not pass the retake exam, s/he will not be allowed to continue in the Ph.D. program.

The examination is based on a list of 10 primary texts in the fields of Latin American and/or Spanish literature chosen by the student in consultation with her/his faculty advisor. The list of 10 books should focus on the student’s specific area of interest, as the purpose of the exam is to evaluate a student’s reading and writing skills as s/he continues to pursue a doctoral degree. The director of graduate studies must receive and approve the list of 10 texts as soon as the decision is made. Once the list is approved by the DGS, the student will have a maximum of 10 business days to select five (5) books from the list of 10 primary texts to prepare for the exam and inform the DGS and her/his faculty advisor of her/his decision. The DGS will then, in consultation with the student, establish the exact date of the examination in January (or May in the event of a retake).

The examination will be formulated by the faculty advisor and will include the following: (a) a close reading of a passage of no more than 500 words from one (1) book from the student’s list of five, which would lead to (b) an extrapolation to a wider set of ideas pertaining to the whole book and/or to the five (5) books selected. The student will receive the examination question by hand at the time of the exam and will have 4 hours to answer it in a room on a computer provided by the department with no internet access. The exam will be written in Spanish, with the exception of English for students who are specialized in U.S. Latina/o Studies. No notes or bibliography may be consulted, although a bilingual dictionary may be used.

The exam will be proctored by the Director of Graduate Studies or the SLLC Graduate Coordinator.

Route to Ph.D. Candidacy

After Ph.D. coursework has been completed, students proceed through a pre-candidacy stage consisting of three components: the comprehensive examination, the language reading (or “translation”) exam and the dissertation proposal and defense. Following successful completion of these three elements, students are advanced to candidacy and are considered “ABD” (all but dissertation). 

Comprehensive Examination  The comprehensive examination consists of three essays written over a span of three weeks. The essays are based on the courses a student has taken and on reading lists tailored to his or her sub-fields of focus (two in the main area and one in the secondary area). The three reading lists are created in consultation with faculty specialists in the areas of examination.

The comprehensive examination is offered three times per year, in January, May and August. On three consecutive Mondays, the student will receive a question to be answered in essay form, each related to a particular sub-field. These essays will be due by 3:00 p.m. on the Thursday of each respective week.

Sixty days prior to the desired examination start date, the candidate must inform the director of graduate studies as well as the professor assigned to administer the exam of his/her intention to sit for the examination. This notification should be submitted in writing, outlining the areas and sub-fields in which the student will be examined.

Exams will be evaluated by a committee consisting of two faculty members per subfield.  Where appropriate, and in only one instance per student, the same faculty member may be called upon to evaluate two of the essays.

In the case of an unsuccessful examination, the student’s Ph.D. advisor and the director of graduate studies may recommend that the student sit a second time for the comprehensive examination. Continuation in the Ph.D. program depends on the successful outcome of any second attempt.

Language Reading (“Translation”) Examination                                                         This examination consists of a “for sense” translation from a third language into English or Spanish. The topic of the text will be related to the student's field of specialization. The choice of the language will be determined by its usefulness as a tool for the student's dissertation research. This exam may be repeated once. The student will choose a book or a long article together with a professor qualified to evaluate the third language (the examiner) and then notify the DGS of when the exam is to take place. The examiner will select a passage from the book or long article, which must be between 1,000 and 1,500 words. The examiner must submit the passage to the DGS for review at least two weeks prior to the exam. The student will have three hours to complete the exam, which will take place on campus and be proctored. Please note that only a printed dictionary (not an electronic source) is allowed to assist with the translation exam. For your information, please note that professors Igel and Lima are authorized to conduct examinations in Portuguese; and professors Naharro and Benito-Vessels are authorized to conduct examinations in French. Any questions about who is qualified to conduct the exam should be directed to the DGS. Please note also that dissertation advisors are not allowed to administer exams to their advisees. The examiner evaluates the exam and communicates the result directly to the DGS, who will then advise the student. The reading exam can be taken at any point prior to advancement to candidacy. 

Dissertation Proposal and Defense The final stage of the pre-candidacy period is focused on preparation for the writing of the dissertation. In consultation with an advisory committee consisting of the dissertation director and three members of the faculty, the student will write a dissertation proposal that aims to give a clear sense of the intended corpus of study, intellectual aims and methodology. The proposal should include a review of the literature, an outline of projected chapters and a selected bibliography. Proposals should be about 25-30 pages in length and are expected to be completed within four months to one year after the comprehensive examination.

The advisory committee and the candidate will then convene for the defense of the proposal. All faculty in the department are welcome to attend the defense.

The Dissertation

As stated previously, the Ph.D. is essentially a research degree. This means that coursework taken for the Ph.D. is intended as a preparation for the dissertation. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the student identify his/her field of interest as soon as possible. Early in the first semester, students should consult with one or more professors and explore the research possibilities in the field, period, genre, author(s) of his/her particular interest and select an academic advisor accordingly.

Dissertation Defense

When the candidate has completed the dissertation, the director of graduate studies notifies the Graduate School of its completion. The dean of the Graduate School, upon the recommendation of the director of graduate studies, appoints an examining committee for the candidate. This examining committee will include four members of the department and one member from another academic unit who acts as the graduate dean's representative. The committee will be chaired by the dissertation director.

All members of the examining committee will read the dissertation in its final form and take part in an oral examination in which the candidate defends his/her findings. Copies of the dissertation must be given to members of the examining committee at least 10 days before the date set for the oral examination. The Graduate School has established procedures for the dissertation examination. For details on these and all other aspects regarding the dissertation, please see the Thesis and Dissertation Forms and Guidelines. In addition, the student must provide the department with one copy of the final version of his/her dissertation.

Students are expected to defend the dissertation within 4 years of advancing to candidacy.  The director of graduate studies may approve an extension of up to one year in cases of extenuating circumstances.

Application for Graduation

Students must apply for a graduate diploma early in the semester in which they intend to receive their degree. Deadlines are published in the Schedule of Classes.

Note: Once students are done they MUST file an EXIT form with the Graduate School and, if applicable, an address change form.

Graduate Student Handbook

The purpose of the Graduate Student Handbook is to aid you in understanding the context of graduate education at UMD. The goal is to provide you with resources, information, practices, and policies that will help you in navigating the graduate experience. 

Teaching Handbook

The  Teaching Handbook is intended to familiarize graduate students with the procedures, policies, and expectations in teaching, research and administrative environments as an integral part of their education. 

• Hispanic Studies
• College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Ph.D. in Spanish with a Concentration in Linguistics or Literature (FACE-TO-FACE)

Department of Hispanic Studies University of Houston 3553 Cullen Boulevard, Room 416 Houston, TX 77204-3062 713.743.3007 Contact Us

The Department of Hispanic Studies is at the forefront of research and teaching of Hispanic literature and Spanish linguistics. Our offering in Hispanic literature and Hispanic linguistics now encompasses the literatures written throughout the Americas and Spain. Given Houston’s location, as well as Arte Público Press and the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Project at UH, our Ph.D. program offers an optimal environment in which to achieve excellence.

For more information about the course work, expectations and the progression of the PhD program please see the PhD Students Handbook.

General Requirements

Minimum requirements for unconditional admission to the ph.d. in spanish.

• A completed M.A. degree in Spanish,or its equivalent
• Hispanic literature of the United States
• Latin American literature through Modernism
• Latin American literature since Modernism
• Peninsular literature through the XVII century
• Peninsular literature, centuries XVIII through XX
• Formal linguistics
• Applied linguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Completed online application through CollegeNet   [all required documents are to be directly uploaded to your account during the application process. Please prepare them beforehand. Official individual mark sheets in certain countries, transcripts, and degree certificates must be sent directly to the Graduate school and to the Graduate Admissions Advisor in Hispanic Studies at the addresses included below]
• A statement of research in Spanish (between 1000 and 1500 words) explaining your academic interests and projects (see this link to find the guidelines you must follow for writing your  statement ).
• Three letters of recommendation from the applicant’s professors detailing the potential of the applicant at the Ph.D. level (sent directly by recommenders via CollegeNet)
• Writing sample (Graded)
• Transcripts that are not in English must be sent along with an official translation made by a certified interpreter .
• Please see the Graduate School guidelines for transcripts and diploma verification

Additional Requirements for International Students

• Certified copy of diploma: besides official transcripts and their translation, international students must send a copy of their graduation diploma. If the document is not in English, an official translation made by a certified interpreter must be attached. The diploma must be sent to the University of Houston Graduate School (102 E. Cullen Building Houston, Texas 77204-2012).
• TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language: A score of at least 79 on the (international students only, unless they have earned a college degree from an American university)
• Duolingo English Test for English proficiency exams. The exam costs $49 (USD) and may be taken from any computer that has a camera, audio and reliable internet. The exam portion of the Duolingo English Test contains a series of speaking, reading, writing and listening exercises. Following the exam, there will be an interview portion that will ask you to respond to various prompts in 30 to 90 seconds. The exam will take about 45 minutes to complete and you will need either a passport, driver license, or national or state ID to show the camera. The score results are generally received within a few days of exam completion. A minimum score of 105 is required.

For information on the TOEFL visit the Educational Testing Service web site . (UH Code: 6870)

IMPORTANT: ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE COMPLETE BY JANUARY 15th (INCLUDING TRANSCRIPTS AND EXAM RESULTS TOEFL) IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED FOR FUNDING. INCOMPLETE DOSSIERS WILL NOT COMPETE FOR SCHOLARSHIPS . Click here to download the Spanish PhD application checklist

Once admitted to the program

• No course in which a grade below B- (2.67) is received may count towards Ph.D. degree.
• A minimum grade point average of 3.0 (B) for all graduate courses attempted is required for a graduate degree; failure to maintain this average will result in a warning, probation, or suspension.
• Qualifying written and oral examinations are required to obtain admission to candidacy
• The student must develop a dissertation on a topic in literature which can be considered to be original and of significance to scholarship.
• Four college semesters at the undergraduate level (or equivalent proficiency as demonstrated by testing) in another Romance language.
• Reading knowledge of Latin or any other approved language, as demonstrated either by satisfactory scores on the Educational Testing Service examinations for that language, or the completion of two semesters of graduate reading courses in the language chosen with a grade of B- or higher.

Application Fees

Fees payable by check, money order or online (Credit Card) with application

• Total cost, $50
• Payable to University of Houston
• Total cost, $80
• The Spanish PhD Program only has admissions for the Fall semester.
• All documents and information must be uploaded through CollegeNet and/or sent to the University of Houston by January 15 th

For applications and advisement, please write, call, or e-mail:

Dr. Paola Arboleda-Ríos, Interim Graduate Director, at [email protected]

* Phone interviews will be conducted after application file is reviewed.

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• PHD PROGRAM

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a Ph.D. degree in Spanish with a focus in Spanish, Spanish-American, or Chicano/Latino literatures and cultures. The program integrates period and genre studies with work in literary and critical theory, linguistics, sociohistorical studies, and cultural studies. The Department seeks to professionalize its Ph.D. candidates not as narrow specialists but rather as scholars and critics acquainted with a range of fields that relate to and enhance their discipline. For this reason, Ph.D. students are encouraged to take  courses outside of the Department. Graduate emphases in Comparative Literature, Critical Theory, and Women’s Studies are available; other areas of study (for example, film, history) may be designed with approval from the student’s Ph.D. guidance committee. The Department has traditionally been committed to excellence in teaching, both in its own practice and in the formation of its graduates.

Upon acceptance to the doctoral program and in consultation with the Graduate Director, the Ph.D. student is assigned a primary Advisor and an alternate Advisor (in case the primary advisor is temporarily absent). The Ph.D. Advisor will head the Ph.D. Guidance Committee and presumably direct the dissertation. The Ph.D. Advisor in conjunction with the Guidance Committee guides the student in preparing for the qualifying exams, informs the student of departmental and university requirements, signs and approves the Academic Planning Guide each quarter, and serves as faculty mentor for the student. In addition, the Ph.D. Advisor informs the Graduate Director about the qualifying exam (dates, committee membership, outcome). If necessary, the Ph.D. Advisor may convoke a meeting of professors with whom the student has studied to evaluate academic progress and performance. All students are required to meet bi-annually with their Advisors during the second week of instruction in the Fall and, once again, during the second week of Spring quarter. The purpose of these meetings is to advise students in their courses of graduate study and monitor their progress towards the timely completion of the Ph.D. degree. The student may petition the Chair or Graduate Director for a change of advisor or committee (except between the qualifying exam and any retake); any change must be approved by the Graduate Director. The Ph.D. Advisor chairs the Exam Committee and organizes and coordinates the qualifying exam.

• REQUIRED COURSEWORK

The doctoral program comprises a minimum of 16 courses, that is, 8 courses beyond the 8 courses required for the M.A. degree. As part of the 8 courses required for the Ph.D., all students must take the following:

• one graduate course in Linguistics (diachronic or synchronic)
• one graduate course in Luso-Brazilian literature and culture
• Spanish 265A & B (Spanish Teaching Methodology), unless this course was taken as part of the MA coursework at UCI. Equivalent courses from other institutions may satisfy the requirement.

The remaining elective courses will be selected by the student in consultation with the Ph.D. Advisor and the Ph.D. Guidance Committee. A student may pursue the Ph.D. with an emphasis in Comparative Literature by taking a minimum of five courses in the Comparative Literature program.

Directed Reading

Students preparing to take the Ph.D. qualifying examination may enroll in a maximum of two Directed Readings (SPAN 291). All requests for Directed Readings must be formally petitioned no later than the first week of classes. Formal petitions comprise of:

• A detailed rationale for taking the course
• Reading list
• Course objective
• Evaluation components

Note that Directed Readings are taken on a S/U basis and do not count towards coursework.

Individual Study

Doctoral students are expected to enroll in regularly scheduled graduate seminars. However, whenever a topic is not available, either in whole or in part, in a graduate seminar offered in our department or in another department at UCI, students can enroll in a maximum of two Individual Studies (SPAN 290). Individual Study courses are for the purpose of expanding an existing paper or a longer project. The following rules are to be strictly observed:

•  It is recommended that students complete the required minimum coursework towards the Ph.D. before taking an Individual Studies.
•  Individual Studies MUST NOT be taken for the purposes of preparing readings for the Ph.D. qualifying examination (see Directed Reading above).

All requests for an Individual Study course must be formally petitioned no later than the first week of classes. Formal petitions comprise:

• A detailed rationale for taking the Individual Study with appropriate documentation of eligibility (i.e. completion of all required minimum coursework for the Ph.D.)
• A course description and complete reading list for the course
• Evaluation components, which must include a research paper
• An endorsement from the Ph.D. advisor

After considering the petition, the Graduate Director submits it to the Chair of the Department for final approval. Any petition for an exception to the maximum number of 2 Individual Studies and 2 Directed Readings allowed per doctoral student will only be considered in special circumstances, which must be officially documented and properly endorsed in writing by the student’s Ph.D. advisor.

Students who received an Incomplete have up to one quarter to complete and hand-in the required course assignment. The Instructor has the right to require an earlier due date on Incompletes. Should the Incomplete occur in the spring quarter, the student has until date of notification from Graduate Dean’s office in mid August to complete all required coursework. Students must file with the Graduate Program Coordinator a “Contract” appropriately completed and signed by both the student and professor. This contract should be honored no later than the ninth week of the quarter following the request for an Incomplete, so as to allow the professor enough time to evaluate the work and document the change of grade.  

A student who transfers into the doctoral program from elsewhere must take 8 graduate courses at UCI, of which 6 must be in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. A student may petition to obtain credit for the required Linguistics or Luso- Brazilian Literature course, if such courses have been taken elsewhere

In addition to Spanish and English, all doctoral candidates must take a Graduate Seminar in Luso-Brazilian Literature and culture or equivalent. A student may take an upper-division undergraduate course taught in Portuguese for which a doctoral student may register under Port. 290 following the procedure outlined above (see Individual Study, p.9). An additional foreign language (with proficiency equivalent to the 2C level) is required; this requirement may be satisfied by examination or by taking one course numbered 97 (example: Fundamentals French). The selection of the foreign language must be approved by the student's guidance committee and should be based on the specific research interests and field of study of the candidate.  

The Department recognizes its responsibility to train all Ph.D. candidates as teachers and requires that all doctoral students with no prior teaching experience complete a minimum of 3 quarters of language teaching (Spanish 399, University Teaching). For incoming students who have not taken a graduate level foreign language teaching methodology course, the seminar course (HUMAN 398A-HUMAN 398B) is required. HUMAN 398A-HUMAN 398B will be completed over the course of two quarters; HUMAN 398A will be completed during the spring quarter of the first year, and HUMAN 398B in the fall quarter of the second year. HUMAN 398A-HUMAN 398B will not be part of the 16 required courses beyond the B.A. or eight beyond the M.A. Note that these requirements may include course work completed in the master’s program; the remaining elective courses are selected with the approval of the student’s guidance committee to prepare for the doctoral examination and the dissertation. Students are encouraged to take more than the minimum number of required courses. Moreover, all doctoral students are encouraged to complete a teaching practicum by co-teaching an upper-division course with a professor and enrolling in SPANISH 292, which is graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only (maximum of 2 which must be taken prior to advancement). The purpose of this course is to gain professional training in teaching literature and culture. Prior to the quarter, the professor and student will meet to design the syllabus and objectives of the course; in addition to attending class sessions, the student will also teach a minimum of three, maximum of five, class hours under the supervision of the professor. It is recommended that the student prepare a class plan for discussion with the professor prior to teaching a class. The student may also hold office hours, conduct review sessions, give exams, and help in the grading of papers and exams. 

• PH.D. QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

Upon completion of course work, the Ph.D. student advances to candidacy by passing the written and oral qualifying examinations by unanimous decision. The exam is administered by the Ph.D. Exam Committee appointed by the Department on behalf of the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Council. The Ph.D. Exam Committee comprises five members. Of these five members, one must be regular-rank faculty from another department at UCI. This committee is chaired by the candidate's Ph.D. Advisor. Ph.D. exams must be completed within two quarters after finishing coursework. Failure to do so will result in termination of Teaching Assistantship. The student must submit the Ph.D. Exam Reading List (with the rationale for the two topics explained on page 13) for approval of all members of the Committee at least one quarter before the intended exam date. After the Reading List has been approved, it is considered final. The final version of the Reading List must be submitted to the graduate coordinator; he/she will date the final version and place a copy in the student’s file.

There are several faculty Ph.D. committees which should be distinguished to avoid confusion. Remember that the student has the right to petition changes in advisor, director, and committee membership so the configuration of any given committee may change considerably over the course of time. The Ph.D. Guidance Committee is the initial committee of three faculty members selected by the student and approved by the Graduate Director. Students who have completed the Masters program at UCI will participate in the selection of the committee members. Those students entering the doctoral program after attaining their Masters elsewhere, in consultation with the Graduate Director will be assigned a temporary Guidance Committee in accordance with the student's stated interests on the application for admission. The Ph.D. Guidance Committee will evaluate the transcripts of transfer students to determine how many courses will apply toward coursework requirements for the Ph.D. For all beginning Ph.D. students, the Guidance Committee convened by the Ph.D. Advisor will help the student map out an appropriate course of studies that will prepare the student for the qualifying exams and the writing of the doctoral thesis. As the date of the qualifying exams approaches, the Ph.D. Guidance Committee will form the core of the Ph.D. Exam Committee. The Exam Committee comprises five faculty members, including a professor from another department at UCI. The committee, chaired by the Ph.D. Advisor, will read the student's written exams and participate in the oral exam. The Exam Committee, by unanimous vote, will determine if the student passes the qualifying exam. After successful completion of the qualifying exams, the three core members of the Exam Committee may comprise the Ph.D. Dissertation Committee, chaired by and including the Ph.D. Dissertation Director. The main functions of this committee are to participate in the dissertation proposal, read drafts of the dissertation distributed by the Dissertation Director or the student, propose changes or comments, and participate in the dissertation defense. Upon successful completion of the defense the committee will accept the finished dissertation by signing on the title page.

The Ph.D. Qualifying Examination is an important part of a graduate education. It requires that students demonstrate an appropriate level of scholarly competence in their chosen fields, independently of knowledge acquired through coursework and of their specific interests for doctoral dissertations. It is designed to help students develop the following professional skills:

• The ability to work independently, to gather information and process it critically.
• The transmission of knowledge acquired in the form of written responses, as well as the ability to expand upon these in an intellectual dialogue with professors during the oral part of the exam.

Students’ competency in their fields of expertise must be proven at four basic levels in the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination:

• Knowledge of texts, authors and literary movements.
• Familiarity with historical contexts and intellectual currents relevant to the above
• Ability to draw from and critically engage major secondary texts relevant to the chosen fields of study
• Capacity for theoretical discussion of themes, topics or problems recurrent in those fields.

Any student unable to demonstrate adequate capacity in any of the four areas outlined above and/or unable to comment or discuss texts included on the Ph.D. Examination Reading List will be subject to failure in the exam, and be required to repeat it either in whole or in part. The Ph.D. Examination or any part thereof can only be repeated once. Please note that performance in coursework is independent of and will be evaluated apart from performance in the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. After successfully passing the Comprehensive examination, students will be required to meet with their Dissertation Committee and present a Dissertation Prospectus. This meeting should occur the quarter immediately following the PhD examination. The Committee will make comments and provide guidance to the student.

Advancement to candidacy must occur at least one quarter before the final quarter of enrollment.

The Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination will consist of the following three major components: 1. Part One: A written examination in the Major Field to be studied. The student is required to propose a critical problem or topic in the form of a rationale of about two pages followed by a complete bibliography of both primary and secondary sources. The critical problem must have a historical (diachronical) perspective that will cover one of the representative fields in the profession, such as Modern and Contemporary Latin American literature, Medieval Spanish literature, Modern and Contemporary Spanish literature, and the like. The student will develop the problem in close consultation with the main advisor and the members of the PhD Exam Committee. Initial versions of the draft will circulate among members of the committee so that all will provide input. Later on, the members of the committee will draft a number of questions that the student must answer in the form of an essay in a period of 24 hours. This part of the exam is designed to provide students with an extended knowledge of their chosen field of study.

2. Part Two: A written examination in a Topic or critical problem, which may cover a specific research interest within the student's major field. Students will be required to write a two-page rationale for the topic accompanied by pertinent bibliography. The student will develop the topic in close consultation with the main advisor and the members of the PhD Exam Committee. Initial versions of the draft will circulate among members of the committee so that all will provide input. Later on, the members of the committee will draft a number of questions that the student must answer in the form of an essay in a period of 24 hours. This part of the exam is designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop a more specific topic that should form part of their future dissertation project. Students will be encouraged to approach the topic from theoretical and/or interdisciplinary perspectives.

3. Oral Examination: The oral exam is approximately 2 hours long and includes discussion of the written exams. Students will also be asked to respond to other questions based on their reading lists. At the conclusion of the oral exam, the committee will issue an oral evaluation on the exams and inform the student if (s)he has been advanced to candidacy or if one or more parts of the exam must be retaken.

Procedures:  The Ph.D. Advisor chairs the Exam Committee and organizes and supervises the qualifying exams. The written exams must be taken within the same week (i.e., Sunday - Saturday, but not Tuesday - Tuesday, etc.) and the oral exam is scheduled within 2 weeks of the written exams. Two or three questions shall be given on each of the written sections. The Graduate Division stipulates that a student can only take the Qualifying Exam twice. “If the student does not pass the written examination, the student may not proceed with the second part of the exam, i.e., the oral portion. Once the student has taken the written exams, the membership of the Exam Committee cannot be altered. The student must retake any part(s) of the exam within 2 quarters of the first exam. The student will be provided with a copy of the exam to prepare for the oral; this copy is for the private use of the student and must not be circulated for commentary.

Upon the successful completion of the qualifying exam, a Ph.D. student must choose a Dissertation Director. Normally, that Director is the same individual as the Ph.D. Advisor, but students —if they so desire— have the option of choosing a different faculty member as their Dissertation Director. The Dissertation Director, in consultation with the Dissertation Committee, helps the student choose a topic, prepare a dissertation proposal for committee feedback and approval, coordinates and chairs the dissertation defense, and oversees the preparation and completion of the doctoral dissertation. The director acts as liaison between the student and other faculty members of the committee and also informs the Department of the plans and progress of the student.

• PHD DISSERTATION

A dissertation topic will be chosen by the candidate in consultation with her/his Dissertation Director and Dissertation Committee and will normally fall within the major field covered by the qualifying exams. Three faculty members are chosen by the student and appointed by the Department Chair, on behalf of the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Council, to constitute the Dissertation Committee that supervises the preparation and completion of the doctoral dissertation. The Dissertation Committee assumes the academic direction of the thesis, and the Dissertation Director wields the administrative responsibility for supervising the thesis and for informing the Department of the plans and progress of the student.  

Procedure: In an initial meeting between the committee and the student, the candidate presents a formal dissertation proposal to the committee, who will evaluate and approve it. The proposal should be 4-7 pages, single-spaced, not including bibliography. The meeting must take place during the quarter following the successful completion of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination. A copy of the proposal will be kept in the student’s file. The student will then submit drafts of chapters or sections of the thesis to the Dissertation Director who will evaluate and correct the drafts. When the Dissertation Director approves the draft, the student will circulate the draft to the other members of the Dissertation Committee who will submit their commentary and suggestions to the student with a copy to the Dissertation Director. While writing the dissertation, the student enrolls in Spanish 299.

Dissertation Length: The dissertation must be at least 170 pages, not including bibliography. It must be written in 12-point font (Times New Roman or equivalent), and follow the UCI Theses and Dissertations Manual 

Dissertation Defense: In order to be able to meet the deadlines for graduation, the dissertation defense must take place one week prior to the quarter deadlines established by the Office of Graduate Studies (see webpage for guidelines and deadlines at - http://www.rgs.uci.edu/grad/students/thesis.htm) during the residency of the candidate. For example, if a student plans to graduate in the spring, the filing deadline for all documents is usually during the first week of June. The student must turn in a complete draft of the dissertation to his/her committee at least five weeks before the planned defense date. At that time, a copy must also be turned in to the Graduate Program Coordinator, who must confirm by email to the respective committee the completion of the draft of the dissertation, so that the exact defense date can be established. The defense of the dissertation will occur upon its completion during the residency of the candidate.  

The committee certifies the acceptance of a completed final dissertation with the signatures of the individual members on the title page. The finished dissertation is then forwarded to the Graduate Division.  

Contact Spanish and Portuguese

322 Humanities Hall Irvine, CA 92697-5275

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Hispanic Studies

Ph.d. program.

The Brown Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies emphasizes the global connections and interdisciplinary dialogues of Hispanic literatures and cultures. Students are trained as specialists and generalists, researchers and active intellectuals by an internationally renowned literature faculty with additional strengths in performance, visual, urban, and environmental studies.

• Graduate Program

Graduate Program Handbook

Major features of the program include: 

• Five-year funding, including summers, with the possibility of a 6th year extension
• Support for conference and research travel
• Close faculty-student interaction and collaboration
• Dedicated pedagogical training and teaching experience in language, literature and culture
• Mentoring in professional development
• Dynamic year-round calendar of lectures, talks, readings, and workshops
• Active connections with other departments and scholarly communities across campus through classes and co-sponsored events
• World-famous John Carter Brown and John Hay Libraries
• Interdisciplinary teaching and research opportunity in other departments and centers

Program Requirements

• 3 seminars per semester in the first and second years
• Language-teaching methodology in the fall semester
• One seminar and one independent study in the third year
• Proficiency in two languages besides English and Spanish
• Preliminary exams based on a reading list of 70 books in Latin American and peninsular literatures, taken at the beginning of the third year
• Guided and independent research through the third year, working toward an article-length paper and culminating in oral exams
• Dissertation-proposal and dissertation writing in years four and five
• Teaching assistantships in years two, three, and four (one course per semester)

Ph.D. Program Details

How to apply, guidelines for language instructors.

About the Programs

Spanish literature and cultural studies.

Our program in Literature and Cultural Studies emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach in which attention to primary texts and critical theory is combined with audiovisual, historical and philosophical perspectives so that students can develop their research skills to the fullest. Our faculty cover all traditional areas – Medieval, Early Modern, Modern Spain, Colonial Latin America, Modern Latin America and Luso-Brazilian Studies – as well as less traditional or emerging fields such as Transatlantic/Transpacific Studies and Film and Media Studies.

Spanish Linguistics

The Spanish Linguistics program, one of the strongest in the U.S., includes courses in Applied Linguistics, Semantics, Pragmatics, Syntax, Phonology, Dialectology, Lexicography, Textual Edition, Corpus Linguistics and Sociolinguistics. The program is offered in close collaboration with the Department of Linguistics.

Connect with Us

Program Contact: Tania Gomezfranco – [email protected]

Begin your application today!

Degrees Offered

Accelerated program (Georgetown students only)

Admissions Requirements

For general graduate admissions requirements, visit the Office of Graduate Admission’s  Application Information  page. Review the  program’s website  for additional information on program application requirements. Application Materials required:

• Application Form
• Non-Refundable Application Fee
• Academic Statement of Purpose
• Optional: Statement on Diversity, Personal Background & Contributions
• Letters of Recommendation (3)
• Transcripts – Applicants are required to upload to the application system copies of official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended. Visit the Office of Graduate Admission’s  Application Information  page for additional details and FAQs.
• Writing Sample (in Spanish)
• TOEFL = 80 minimum
• IELTS = 7.0 minimum

Application Deadlines

• Fall: December 15

Degree Requirements

M.s. in spanish literature and cultural studies.

• All master’s students must show reading proficiency in a language other than English or Spanish. The language requirement must be completed prior to submitting the Master’s qualifying paper.
• First-year exam
• Qualifying paper

Ph.D. in Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies

• Ph.D. students must have completed successfully the 11 courses required for master’s candidates, as well as passed the first-year examination, completed the qualifying paper and received departmental approval to advance to the doctorate.
• Complete four additional courses beyond the master’s. Students with a master’s from another institution may be required to take additional courses or pass the master’s examination.
• First-year evaluation
• Two qualifying papers: qualifying paper during the fourth semester and a doctoral qualifying paper during the fifth semester
• All Ph.D. students are required to teach under the supervision of a faculty mentor.
• Completion of a dissertation

M.S. in Spanish Linguistics

• Nine courses plus one elective in linguistics or a related area, such as philosophy, cognition, anthropology or bilingual education
• Minimum GPA of 3.0
• All M.S. students must pass an oral proficiency exam in a language other than English or Spanish.

Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics

• Students authorized to pursue the Ph.D. must complete six further content courses beyond the M.S. chosen in consultation with their graduate adviser for a total of 16 courses (48 credits) beyond the B.A. (excluding all enrollments in Thesis Research). At least three of these courses must be seminars, which are typically advanced courses in a field.
• Prior to taking the Ph.D. examination students must demonstrate reading proficiency in a language other than English, Spanish and the one used to satisfy the language requirement for the Master’s degree.
• A minimum grade of B+ on the graduate examination

Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures (HLL)

Prerequisites for admission.

A Bachelor's degree with studies in Spanish, Spanish-American, Portuguese, or Luso-Brazilian literatures, Hispanic or General Linguistics, or another field with demonstrable bearing on Hispanic and/or Luso-Brazilian studies.

• Native or near-native proficiency in either Spanish or Portuguese.

Program Overview

In close consultation with faculty, the student will develop a specialization i n one of HLL three tracks: Hispanic and Spanish American literature and culture (Track 1), Luso-Brazilian literature and culture (Track 2), or Hispanic Linguistics (Track 3). E ach track is organized around student areas of interest. Course preparation will lead to the Qualifying Examination , followed by the completion of a dissertation in the field.

Track 1 - Hispanic and Spanish American literature and culture

Track 2 - Luso-Brazilian literature and culture

Track 3 - Hispanic Linguistics

In years 1-4 of the program, students will be advised by a faculty adviser, either the Department’s Head Graduate Adviser (HGA) or a designated assistant adviser (advisers are assigned alphabetically based on student last name). On entering Berkeley, these faculty advisers will assess each student’s  preparation and advise them on appropriate coursework. Students take courses in their main areas of interest, fulfill requirements for the Ph.D., and concentrate on coursework in areas that they have not studied before , in order to prepare themselves for the General Examination or First Qualifying Paper . In addition to meeting with a graduate adviser, each first-year student will be assigned a First-Year Mentor, a faculty person whose research interests align with the student’s and who will provide support in adjusting to the doctoral program and thinking about research and other career goals.

The immediate goal of the new graduate student is the General Examination (tracks 1 and 2) or First Qualifying Paper (track 3) , sche duled for their fourth semester. 

For both fourth semester milestones (General Examination and First Qualifying Paper), a Pass is required in order to continue in the program. Additionally, students who come to Berkeley with an M.A. or otherwise have a strong preparation may petition to take the exam or submit the first qualifying paper before the fourth semester. 

After passing the General Examination or First Qualifying Paper, students will submit a Statement of Purpose that reflects greater intellectual maturity after two years of graduate study, as well as possible changes in primary area of interest, greater understanding of research areas, and other changes in a student’s conception of their own role in the field. The Statement, together with the results of the General Examination or First Qualifying Paper and the student’s performance in coursework will be considered by the faculty of the Department as a whole, who will then vote whether to allow the student to continue in the program.   

Students invited to continue in the program will concentrate their coursework on remaining Ph.D. requirements including any Designated Emphases and/or Graduate Certificates they may have chosen (for instance, Gender Studies, Applied Data Science, Indigenous Language Revitalization, Film, New Media, Cognitive Science, Critical Theory, etc.). Formal advising will continue to be carried out by the HGA or an assistant. In addition, the specialist in the student’s chosen field will increasingly mentor the student.

The Qualifying Examination will normally take place in the student’s eighth semester , but may be moved forward in instances of adequate preparation. Early in the semester in which students plan to take the Oral Ph.D. Exam (QE), they will either write Three Field Statements , with accompanying bibliographies (Tracks 1 and 2), or submit a Second Qualifying Paper , QE List 1 Essay , and QE List 2 Essay (Track 3). 

For Tracks 1 and 2, after submitting the three Field Statements and related bibliographies, the student will take a 2-day written exam based on questions related to both the Field Statements and bibliographies. The 2-day written exam along with either Field Statements and related bibliographies (Tracks 1 and 2) or Second Qualifying Paper, QE List 1 Essay, and QE List 2 Essay (Track 3) will be assessed by the student’s examination committee in order to determine whether or not the student is prepared to proceed to the oral examination

After passing the Qualifying Examination, students will have two years to research and write a dissertation , embodying the results of original research on a subject chosen by the student. The degree should be completed within the program’s normative time of six years .  

All incoming students will be assigned to a First-year Mentor (1 faculty member) responsible for supporting the incoming students during their transition into the doctoral program. Mentors are an added resource for new students.  Curricular advising in years 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be carried out by the Head Graduate Adviser or designated in consultation with appropriate faculty, according to students’ interests.  

Mentoring for continuing students (years 3 and 4) will come from faculty likely to be part of the students Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. On completing the Qualifying Exam (by the end of year 4) and Advancing to Candidacy (i.e. becoming “ABD” in year 5), students will be advised by their dissertation Chair.

General Examination—Tracks 1 & 2

As stated above, all second-year Ph.D students in Tracks 1 & 2 will take a written General Examination. This exam is based on a standard reading list of Spanish and Latin American literature, or Portuguese and Brazilian literature, that first-year students will receive when they enter the program (see appendix). Each reading list is divided into four sections that represent literature from all of the traditional sub-fields (see appendix ) . The General Examination will be administered in the 4th semester (i.e., normally in the spring), although students will be able to petition for accelerated progress and an early exam. A committee appointed by the Chair will conduct the exam. 

This exam will be 4 hours, 1 hour per section, 1 day. Notes and laptop permitted. It will be administered by a standing committee of the Department faculty, so the same committee will evaluate every student. The exam will be scheduled for shortly after Spring Break , allowing a month for grading and assessment of student potential. 

Passing the exam is necessary for an M.A., and students who fail it would not receive that degree. Students may repeat the exam once if they fail it. Please note that UC Berkeley does not allow for duplication of degree; only students entering with a B.A. are eligible for the M.A. equivalency.

First Qualifying Paper—Track 3 

Initial reception into the program and advising will proceed as in Tracks 1 and 2 above, with advising carried out by a designated Assistant Graduate Adviser for this track.

All second-year Ph.D. students in Track 3 will submit a First Qualifying Paper spanning at least one sub-field of Spanish linguistics (e.g. phonetics, language contact, morphosyntax, etc.) . The paper should be formatted according to the style sheet of a reputable venue of conference proceedings, such as those from the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (HLS) or the Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL). The paper will be evaluated by a committee of no fewer than two professors specializing in Linguistics (one of whom must be from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese), with the aim of determining whether or not the student is ready to continue on to advanced doctoral research in Hispanic Linguistics. A single revision is permitted if the First Qualifying Paper is deemed unsatisfactory. After a successful evaluation of the First Qualifying Paper, students will submit a Statement of Purpose. This, together with the First Qualifying Paper, will be considered by the faculty of the Department as a whole, who will then vote whether to allow the student to continue in the program.

Passing the First Qualifying Paper is necessary for an M.A., and students who fail it would not receive that degree. Please note that UC Berkeley does not allow for duplication of degree, only students entering with a B.A. are eligible for the M.A. equivalency.

Permission to Continue in the Ph.D.

The faculty of the department as a whole will decide if a student should continue in the program, based on performance on the General Exam or First Qualifying Paper , experience of the student in coursework, and the student’s Statement of Purpose. 

Course Requirements

All courses used to satisfy a requirement or courses taken toward the study program, must be taken for a letter grade option only. Passing grade for graduate students is a B or better. 

A minimum of twelve courses are required for the Ph.D.  This includes eleven courses in the department, and at least one course outside. Up to two Upper-Division courses would be allowed with permission of the graduate adviser. In addition to the 11, students may take courses for Designated Emphases, language study, etc. Courses numbered 298, 601, 602 would remain as options but do not count towards course requirements. 

The following must be included within the 12-course requirement for Tracks 1 and 2 :

• One graduate seminar in Portuguese (track 1) or Spanish (track 2)
• One graduate seminar outside of the historical period and geographic area of student’s major emphasis
• One graduate seminar in literary theory or containing a strong theoretical component
• One course in Spanish and/or Portuguese language pedagogy (Spanish 375)
• Two courses related to field of interest, approved by adviser

The following must be included within the 12-course requirement  for Track 3 :

• One graduate seminar in Hispanic Linguistics in the student’s primary linguistics sub-field
• Two graduate seminars in Hispanic Linguistics
• One graduate seminar covering the linguistic structure of a language other than Spanish (C201/2 permitted)
• One graduate seminar in the Linguistics Department in the student’s primary linguistics sub-field  
• One course on quantitative/qualitative methods for social sciences/humanities OR 1 graduate seminar covering linguistic theory
• Three additional courses in linguistics

Foreign Language Requirement

For students in Tracks 1 & 2, two foreign languages pertinent to the specialization are required. Of these, Spanish for students of Luso-Brazilian studies and Portuguese for students of Hispanic studies are required, and must be fulfilled through graduate course work taught in the pertinent language (not English). The second language requirement must be satisfied by passing the Language Reading Examinations (also referred to as Translation Exam) administered by the respective language department. 

For students in Track 3, two languages other than the primary concentration is required. A graduate course in the language or the language reading examination will satisfy the requirement in the Linguistics track. 

The requirement for all tracks should be satisfied as early as possible in the student’s doctoral career and must be completed prior to Admission to the Qualifying Examination.

Qualifying Examination (QE)

The QE Committee (chosen by the student in the semester prior to QE) is made up of five members, including at least one person from outside the Department. One member of the committee will chair the exam; this person may not direct the dissertation . All members of the committee, including the “outside” member, must be Academic Senate members. All five members of the QE Committee must be present and voting at the oral examination . 

Students choose the faculty for the QE, however final composition of the Qualifying Examination Committee is approved by the Head Graduate Adviser. Final versions of the field statements and bibliographies (tracks 1 and 2) or second qualifying paper, QE list 1 essay, and QE list 2 essay (track 3) will be turned in no later than one month before the date set for the oral examination.

Students must complete the QE application form with the Departmental Graduate Assistant at least four weeks before the exam. Students may not take the Qualifying Examination if they have more than one Incomplete grade.

The oral portion of the QE will consist of a three-hou r examination conducted by a committee of five , at least one of whom must be from outside the Department.

After passing the QE, students will have two years to research and write a dissertation, embodying the results of original research on a subject chosen by the student. The degree should be completed within the program’s normative time of six years.

Exam Structure for Tracks 1 and 2:

Early in the semester in which they hope to take their oral Ph.D. Qualifying Exam, students will write three 5- to 8-page statements , with accompanying bibliographies . Each statement will focus on a pressing topic or problematic, a “deep dive” within the student’s intended field of specialization. The student will then take a 2-day written exam based on questions related to the statements and bibliographies. On day 1, students will receive 2 batches of questions, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and have 2 hours to answer one question from each batch . On day 2, students will receive the last batch (morning or afternoon), and have 2 hours to answer one question from that batch. The field statements and the written exam will be assessed by the student’s QE committee in order to determine whether or not the student is prepared to proceed to the oral portion of the QE. 

Exam Structure f or Track 3:

No later than one month before the date of the Oral Ph.D. Exam (QE), track 3 students must submit the three written products that constitute the Written QE, namely:

• Second Qualifying Paper
• 3,000-4,000 word (excluding bibliography) essay on first QE list
• 3,000-4,000 word (excluding bibliography) essay on second QE list

With respect to the Second Qualifying Paper, it will span at least one sub-field of Hispanic linguistics (e.g. Phonology/Phonetics, Morphology, Historical Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, etc.). The topic of the paper (as opposed to the subfield in linguistics) cannot be the same as the previous First Qualifying Paper, and moreover must be of a higher caliber. The student should prepare the paper as if planning to submit it to a non-conference venue, professional linguistics journal (for example, Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, Phonetica, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Journal of Language Contact, Journal of Sociolinguistics, etc.) and should be formatted according to the style sheet of one of these professional journal venues.

With respect to the two QE list essays (3000-4000 words, excluding bibliography), there are no explicit prompts to follow, nor is the student expected to write about any texts or data which are not in their reading lists. The primary goal of these short essays is to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate how they have engaged with the materials on their QE lists and formulate their own essays to target areas of interest within each topic.

The written QE (Second Qualifying Paper, First QE List Essay, Second QE list Essay) will be assessed by the student’s examination committee in order to determine whether or not the student is prepared to proceed to the oral examination.

Once the Qualifying Examination has been passed and formal Advancement to Candidacy is approved by the Graduate Division, the student will submit a dissertation proposal (10-15 pages on average), with selected bibliography, to the Dissertation Committee before the end of the first semester following the Qualifying Examination. It is expected that the proposal will describe the intended research, provide a basic bibliography and,set the project within current research in the field . After examining this material, the dissertation committee will meet with the student to discuss the proposal, to set up a timetable, and to give final approval to the dissertation project. A signed copy of the report must be given to the GSAO for the student’s file and verification of completion of requirement.

It should be remembered that the prospectus is not intended to be a dissertation in miniature, so that there is normally no compelling reason why its completion should be delayed beyond the appointed deadline. Rather, it should be a concise preliminary description of the dissertation project, including: the primary materials to be investigated; the descriptive or analytical approach to be taken to those materials; the project’s relation to existing scholarly work. The prospectus should be accompanied by references and/or bibliography.

Dissertation 

Upon constituting the dissertation committee, the student will apply for Advancement to Candidacy . Doctoral students should bear in mind that it is to their advantage to be “Advanced to Candidacy” as soon as possible following completion of the Qualifying Examination, preferably by the end of the semester in which the Qualifying Examination is passed.  

The student will write a doctoral dissertation under the guidance of a director or co-directors and faculty committee (selected by the student and their Graduate Advisor and approved by the Graduate Division), embodying the results of original research on a subject chosen by the student in consultation with the dissertation director(s). 

Dissertation committees are made up of a minimum of three members , including one person from “outside” the Department, who serves as the Academic Senate Representative. The Chair of the student’s Qualifying Examination Committee cannot direct the dissertation .

After completion of the QE by the 8th semester, students will have two years to research and write a dissertation according to the program's normative time of six years. 

All instructions for filing the Dissertation can be found at https://grad.berkeley.edu/academic-progress/doctoral/dissertation/

Dissertation in a Language other than English

Special approval from the Graduate Council is required to submit a dissertation or thesis in a language other than English. A memo from your dissertation director requesting permission from the Dean must be sent to the Graduate Division early in the first semester following the Qualifying Examination . After approval is given, an abstract in English must be included with the dissertation or thesis. Please contact the Graduate Assistant for instructions.

Normal Progress Schedule

"Normative Time" (NT) allowance for the program is set at six (6) years . The Normative time to Advancement to Candidacy is four (4) years (time to QE). 

Foreign ABD (All But Dissertation) students have a maximum of three years (after passing QE) of waived Non-Resident Tuition (NRT) to file the dissertation. Any delay in filing will be at the student’s expense.

Normal Progress Schedule for Hispanic Languages and Literatures Ph.D.—All Tracks

Spanish Literature and Culture, PhD

• Program description
• At a glance
• Degree requirements
• Admission requirements
• Tuition information
• Application deadlines
• Career opportunities
• Contact information

Language, Spanish Language, Spanish Literature, Spanish Studies, foreign, literature, spanish

Develop an advanced knowledge of Peninsular, Latin American and Mexican American literature and cultural production. Coursework and mentoring by renowned faculty help you develop a sound knowledge of genre, periodization and scholarly research in the field.

The PhD program in Spanish literature and culture is intended to be as flexible as possible, establish broad areas of competence through an individualized program of study set with the supportive guidance of the student's advisor.

Graduate courses in literature and cultural studies focus on the production, distribution and reception of texts and their linguistics, either written or visual (e.g., photographs, films, visual narratives), and their linguistic, rhetorical and literary structure and functions, with an emphasis on literary theories and aesthetics. Many literature courses explore issues relating to gender, class, race, ethnicity, globalization, environmental humanities, disability theories, posthuman theories and digital humanities.

• College/school: The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Location: Tempe
• STEM-OPT extension eligible: No

84 credit hours, a foreign language exam, a written comprehensive exam, an oral comprehensive exam, a prospectus and a dissertation

Required Core (3 credit hours) SPA 545 Concepts of Literary Criticism (3)

Literature and Culture Electives (51 credit hours)

Electives (6 credit hours)

Research (12 credit hours) SPA 792 Research (12)

Culminating Experience (12 credit hours) SPA 799 Dissertation (12)

Additional Curriculum Information Coursework for the literature and culture electives must be SPA literature or culture content courses and approved by the student's supervisory committee. Students may not put SPA 596 Second Language Methodologies toward this requirement.

Each candidate is expected to demonstrate a reading knowledge of one language other than English and Spanish. This language requirement must be satisfied before the candidate is eligible to take the comprehensive examination.

The written and oral comprehensive examination, designed to ascertain the candidate's knowledge and orientation in the field of study and competency to proceed with the dissertation, is required at or near the end of coursework.

When approved by the student's supervisory committee and the Graduate College, this program allows 30 credit hours from a previously awarded master's degree to be used for this degree.

Applicants must fulfill the requirements of both the Graduate College and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Applicants are eligible to apply to the program if they have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in Spanish or equivalent from a regionally accredited institution. Applicants from other academic backgrounds with relevant coursework in Spanish language and cultural studies also may be evaluated by the admissions committee.

Applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.75 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in the last 60 hours of their first bachelor's degree program, or applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.75 (scale is 4.00 = "A") in an applicable master's degree program.

All applicants must submit:

• graduate admission application and application fee
• official transcripts
• writing sample
• personal statement
• three letters of recommendation
• proof of English proficiency

Additional Application Information An applicant whose native language is not English must provide proof of English proficiency regardless of their current residency.

It is recommended but not required that students applying for admission to the program submit GRE scores; this is especially advisable for applicants for the Spanish Graduate Fellowship Award. ASU does not accept the GRE® General Test at home edition.

Candidates for the program are required to demonstrate a near-native oral proficiency in Spanish and to show that they have developed a high order of expository prose in English and Spanish by presenting a term paper or a chapter of their master's degree thesis as their writing sample.

Professionals with this degree can confidently move into the academic profession, careers in education, including in museums and libraries, and professions outside academia, such as in the publishing industry, media, nonprofits and international relations. Skills developed through this program are valued for teaching positions, translation work or career opportunities in larger sectors, such as government, diplomacy and international business.

Career examples include positions as:

• area, ethnic and cultural studies teachers and professors
• foreign language and literature teachers and professors
• instructional design coordinators
• interpreters and translators
• reporters and correspondents
• social and community service managers

School of International Letters and Cultures | DH 318 [email protected] 480-965-6281

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Department of Romance Languages & Literatures

• Harvard Library

Spanish and Latin American

The Ph.D. Program in Spanish and Latin American Literatures draws on the talents of a diverse faculty whose research interests span Spain and the Americas, from Medieval and colonial multiculturalism to postmodern currents. Our specialties include Renaissance humanism, the transatlantic Baroque, nineteenth-century nation building, and contemporary negotiations between culture and politics, including gender studies and Latino studies. Language is the core of literary analysis, and our faculty teaches texts in the original, primarily in Spanish and Portuguese, but often including other languages (Arabic, Catalan, French, Galician, Hebrew, Mapuche, Quechua, etc.). At the doctoral level, our classes are small seminars and discussion groups, some with specialized foci and others with a panoramic approach.

The graduate student at RLL can expect a vibrant intellectual life, which promotes originality and rigor in students, encouraging them to explore new close and contextual readings in our own field, and also interdisciplinary paths across the university. Some students develop clusters of courses in other sections of the Department, which allows them to pursue comparative studies in Romance languages, while other students develop links to allied disciplines, such as philosophy, film studies, government, women's studies, African and African American Studies.

The collaboration among faculty members and our graduate students in a range of intellectual projects had grown steadily and encourages our future colleagues to gain experience in the administration of conferences, the design of courses, and the edition and translation of books and manuscripts. Currently, our faculty sponsors conferences and lecture series on Hispanic Cultures, Gay and Lesbian Studies, Cultural Agents, at the Center for the Humanities, as well as research seminar sessions in the Houghton Rare Books Library, and events at the Real Colegio Complutense and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS). A new initiative on Cultural Agents, housed at the Center for Government and International Studies, promotes the social contributions to be made through humanist scholarship.

Our current distinguished program in Hispanic Literatures continues an illustrious history which dates from the nineteenth century, when figures such as George Ticknor and Henry Longfellow fostered the study and dissemination of the literatures of Spain in the U.S. During the twentieth century, the program grew to include stellar Latin American figures such as Jorge Luis Borges, Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa and other writers who have taught in our Department, together with renowned scholars including Raimundo Lida, Juan Marichal, Dámaso Alonso, Jorge Guillén, Claudio Guillén, Stephen Gilman. Yet today, our greatest source of pride are the young colleagues who have graduated from our program and who enrich the intellectual lives of many prominent universities, including Harvard.

Diana Sorensen  

To see our program requirements, see the  GSAS Policies .

Graduate Contacts

Kathy Hanley (Graduate Program Coordinator)

• University of Pennsylvania
• School of Arts and Sciences
• Penn Calendar

Doctoral Program

Program Overview

• Twenty course units (students who enter the program with previous graduate work may be eligible to transfer some credits toward the Ph.D.)
• Fulfillment of two language requirements
• Four semesters of undergraduate teaching, one course per semester
• A qualifying evaluation
• A comprehensive examination—oral and written
• A dissertation based on original research in the area of concentration and its defense

Admissions and Financial Support

Candidates for admission should have an excellent command of Spanish, a superlative undergraduate record, strong letters of recommendation, and demonstrated skill in academic writing. Applications are accepted only for full-time work in the Ph.D. program beginning in the fall semester. All students admitted to the program receive a five-year Benjamin Franklin Fellowship that includes a stipend, tuition remission, and student health insurance. Students who have finished all pre-dissertation requirements and who no longer receive fellowship support are eligible for a lectureship.

Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Study

Students may complement their studies with up to five courses outside the Spanish and Portuguese section. For example, students may take courses in another Romance language,  Comparative Literature ,  English , or  History . Certificate programs are also available in the areas of  Women's Studies  and  Urban Studies . The University of Pennsylvania enjoys reciprocal agreements with several other nearby institutions, which allow students to complete a number of courses in them while enrolled in a graduate program at Penn. Additionally, interdisciplinary study is encouraged through participation in the wide range of seminars, lectures, and colloquia sponsored by the various Graduate Groups and affiliated research institutes and centers at Penn, including the  Center for Italian Studies  and the  Latin American and Latino Studies Program . The Penn Humanities Forum  also provides a forum for doctoral students to interact with colleagues from across the disciplines and holds weekly meetings as well as special research seminars, colloquia, and an annual student conference.

The Department offers guided preparation for students' participation in the academic job market. Students receive advice and feedback on their job application materials (CVs, cover letters, teaching statements, research statements, etc.) and attend an intensive one-day seminar in December that prepares them for the Annual Convention of the MLA. Mock interviews and practice job talks are also arranged. Recent graduates of our program have fared extremely well on the job market, accepting tenure-track positions at some of the best colleges and universities around the country. 

The Career Services Office makes every effort to assist students in finding employment and offers a range of services geared toward both academic and nonacademic career options.

Library Resources

The  Van Pelt Library , the University's central humanities research collection, is especially rich in the Romance languages areas, with outstanding collections of rare books and manuscripts.  The Spanish literature collections, while strong in all areas, have historically been most outstanding in the areas of Medieval and Golden Age literature and include the Rennert Collection in Spanish Golden Age drama.  In addition, there are significant collections in other languages and literatures of the Iberian Peninsula: Portuguese, Galician, and Catalan.  The Latin American collections include a number of extraordinary special collections, and current collecting reflects the vigorous state of Latin American scholarship on campus.

The  Hispanic Review

The Department publishes the prestigious literary journal the  Hispanic Review . Each year, a number of graduate students in Spanish have the opportunity to work as assistant editors.

Hispanic Studies Graduate Student Group

The Hispanic Studies Graduate Student Group, the graduate student organization of the Spanish and Portuguese Department, works to enhance the general welfare of graduate students in both intellectual and practical terms.  This group helps to organize Department-sponsored lectures and colloquia, organizes an annual graduate student colloquium, and publishes a journal of its proceedings.

The Gregory House Modern Language Program

Graduate students have the opportunity to live and work as resident advisors at the Gregory House, an undergraduate campus dormitory that is staffed by native speakers, graduate students, and faculty members from participating departments in French, Spanish, Italian, and German.  In addition to communal dining for House residents, each floor offers weekly coffee hours for informal conversation, movies, and other social events.

Department Facilities

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese occupies the fourth and fifth floors of Williams Hall, with a seminar room for Romance Languages graduate classes, a graduate lounge, and a computer lab, as well as the Cherpack Lounge, where faculty and graduate students meet informally, and where lectures and colloquia sponsored by the Department are held. 

For Further Information

Laura Flippin Graduate Coordinator University of Pennsylvania 514 Williams Hall Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 Telephone: (215) 898-1980 Fax: (215) 898-0933

Doctorate (PhD) in Spanish

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a comprehensive and innovative graduate program in the literature and cultures of the Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian world. We offer courses that cover a range of chronological, geographical, and generic categories, including Peninsular and Latin American literature and visual culture from the pre-modern period to the present day, as well as courses in literary, aesthetic, and political theory. Our program is distinguished by cross-unit collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches. Our faculty is dynamic, professionally active, and committed to working closely with students to prepare them for careers in university teaching and research.

The PhD in Spanish prepares students for careers in university teaching and research through an integrated program of advanced course work and the preparation of a doctoral dissertation. Each program is flexible enough to provide for comprehensive coverage in the student's primary area while assuring ample coverage of the broad field of Hispanic literatures and cultures.

Recent Publications by Faculty in Literature & Cultural Studies

2022  Fraser, B. Beyond Sketches of Spain: Tete Montoliu and the Construction of Iberian Jazz . New York: Oxford University Press.

  2022  Fraser, B. Barcelona, City of Comics: Urbanism, Architecture and Design in Postdictatorial Spain . Foreword featuring original comic by Pere Joan. Albany: SUNY Press.

  2022  Fraser, B., Spalding, S. (eds). Transnational Railway Cultures: Trains in Music, Literature, Film and Visual Art. Series: Explorations in Mobility, vol. 6. New York; Oxford: Berghahn Books.

2022 Murphy, Kaitlin and Yifat Gutman, Kerry Whigham, and Jenny Wüstenberg, et al. Routledge Handbook of Memory Activism. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

2021 Arias, Santa, and Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel, eds. The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Colonial Latin America and the Caribbean (1492-1898). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

2021 Bezerra, K, Graciela Ravelli, and Teresa Barbosa. Representações do espaço público (Special volume). Revista Aletria 31.4.

2021  Fraser, B. Obsession, Urban Aesthetics and the Iberian City: The Partial Madness of Modern Urban Culture . Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

2020 Harden, Faith. Arms and Letters: Military Life Writing in Early Modern Spain . University of Toronto Press.

2019  Fraser, B. Visible Cities, Global Comics: Urban Images and Spatial Form . Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

2019  Fraser, B. The Art of Pere Joan: Space, Landscape and Comics Form . Austin: University of Texas Press.

2018 Acosta, A. "Unsettling Coloniality: Readings and Interrogations". Special Issue edited by Abraham Acosta. Journal of Commonwealth and Postscolonial Studies.

2018  Fraser, B. Cognitive Disability Aesthetics: Visual Culture, Disability Representations, and the (In)Visibility of Cognitive Difference . Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 

2018 Murphy, Kaitlin M. Mapping Memory: Visuality, Affect, and Embodied Politics in the Americas. Fordham Univ Press.

2017 Morales, Mónica. Reading Inebriation in Early Colonial Peru . (1st edition Ashgate 2012; 1st reprint edition Routledge 2017)

CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES :

2023 Arias, S. “La reinvención de la Isla San Juan de Puerto Rico bajo la Ilustración: desfronterización e imperialidad.” Cuadernos de Literatura en el Caribe Hispánico e Hispanoamérica . Special Issue: Colonialismo y Colonialidad en el Caribe. Forthcoming.

2023  Fraser, B. “La trisomia 21, la discapacitat intel·lectual i l’escriptura de la vida a Barcelona.” Catalan Review , pp. forthcoming.

  2023  Fraser, B. “‘Fraught with Background’: Narration, Monstration and Style in the Biblical Adaptations of R. Crumb and Chester Brown.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics , pp. preprint published online in 2021.

2022 Bezerra, K. “O sol se põe em São Paulo; Noções de pertencimento num mundo globalizado.” Revista ANPOLL (forthcoming).

2022 Bezerra, K. “Yde Blumenschein.” Memorial do Memoricídio . Vol.2. Ed. Constância Lima Duarte. (forthcoming 2022)

2022 Fitch, M. "The Latin American Novel and New Technologies". Oxford Handbook of the Latin American Novel . Ignacio López-Calvo and Juan E. de Castro, eds. Oxford, UK: Oxford UP, pp. 542-554.

2022  Fraser, B. “The Poetry of Snails: The Shown, the Intervened, and the Signified in Duelo de caracoles (2010) by Sonia Pulido and Pere Joan.” European Comic Art 15.2, forthcoming.

2022 Harden, Faith. “Estebanillo González.” A Companion to the Spanish Picaresque Novel . Edited by Edward H Friedman. London: Tamesis, pp. 135-146.

2022 Murphy, Kaitlin. “Memory Mapping as Activist Intervention.” In The Memory Activism Handbook, edited by Yifat Gutman, Jenny Wüstenberg, et al. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

  2022  Murphy, Kaitlin and Kerry Whigham. “Introduction to Memory Activism Practices.” In The Memory Activism Handbook, edited by Yifat Gutman, Jenny Wüstenberg, et al. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

2022 Bezerra, K. “Afterword.” Contemporary Brazilian Cities, Culture, and Resistance . Ed. Sophia Beal and Gustavo Prieto. Hispanic Issues On Line 28, pp.248-257.

2021 Arias, Santa, and Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel . “Between Colonialism and Coloniality: Colonial Latin American and Caribbean Studies Today.” The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Colonial Latin America and the Caribbean (1492-1898). Edited by Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel and Santa Arias. Routledge. 1-40.

2021 Bezerra, K., Teresa Barbosa, and Graciela Ravetti. “Introduction” and “Afterword” to Special Issue. Representações do espaço público (Special volume). Eds. Kátia Bezerra, Graciela Ravelli, and Teresa Barbosa. Revista Aletria 31.4, pp. 9-21.

2021 Bezerra, K. “Adriana Lisboa: revisitando a cidade a partir de um espaço de enunciação fronteiriço.” Panoramas da literatura brasileira 2020: drama, poesia, prosa e outras escrituras . Org. Rafael Climent-Espino, and Michel Mingote. São Paulo: Editora PUC-São Paulo, pp.

2021 Fitch M. “Chilean Digital Literature” in The Cambridge History of Chilean Literature . Ed. Ignacio López-Calvo. Cambridge University Press. 612-626.

2021 Fitch, M. "The Fierce Urgency of Now: Hispanic Studies, New Technology and the Future of the Profession"  Language, Image, Power: Luso-Hispanic Cultural Studies. Susan Larson, ed. New York: Routledge. 171-190.

2021 Fitch, M. “In memoriam, David William Foster. The Conversation We Never Had” Chasqui: Revista de literatura latinoamericana 50.2. 

2021  Fraser, B. “The Sonic Force of the Machine Ensemble: Transnational Objectification in Steve Reich’s Different Trains (1988).” In Transnational Railway Cultures: Trains in Music, Literature, Film and Visual Art. Edited by B. Fraser, S. Spalding. Series: Explorations in Mobility, vol. 6. New York; Oxford: Berghahn Books, pp. 46-63.

  2021  Fraser, B. “Down Syndrome Ensembles, Autonomy and Disability Rights in The Grown-Ups (2016) by Maite Alberdi.” Chasqui 50.2, pp. 233-52.

  2021  Fraser, B. “‘A Sort of Enchanted Place’: Town and Country Mysticism and the Architectural Façade in Seth’s Clyde Fans .” ImageText: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies 13.1

. https://imagetextjournal.com/a-sort-of-enchanted-place-town-and-country-mysticism-and-the-architectural-facade-in-seths-clyde-fans/ .

  2021  Fraser, B. “Tactile Comics, Disability Studies and the Mind’s Eye: On ‘A Boat Tour’ in Venice with Max.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 12.5, pp. 737-49.

  2021  Fraser, B. “Forging the Iberian Comic in Post-Dictatorial Barcelona: Space, Place and Nonplace in Pere Joan’s Passatger en trànsit (1984).” Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies 22.3, pp. 367-86.

  2021  Fraser, B. “El ingenio visual de Miguel Noguera: el noveno arte vs la literatura en el cómic ‘Camilo José Cela’ (2010).” Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies 5.1, pp. 111-33.

  2021  Fraser, B. “Architecture, Urbanistic Ideology, and the Poetic-Analytic Documentary Mode in Mercado de futuros (2011) by Mercedes Álvarez.” In Architecture and the Urban in Spanish Film . Edited by Susan Larson. Bristol: Intellect. pp. 22-37.

2021 Geyer, Charlie. “Abject Failure and Utopian Longing in the Lower East Side: The Poetry and Performance of Miguel Piñero.” Centro Journal , 33(2), 4-35.

2021 Murphy, Kaitlin M. “Fear and Loathing in Monuments: Rethinking the Politics and Practices of Monumentality and Monumentalization.” Memory Studies 14.6, pp. 1143-1158.

2021 Murphy, Kaitlin M. “Art as Atrocity Prevention: The Auschwitz Institute, Artivism, and the 2019 Venice Biennale,” Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal 15.1, pp. 68–96.

  2020 Bezerra, K. “JR’s Morro da Providência Exhibit: A Politics of Cultural Intervention.” Luso-Brazilian Review 57.1, pp. 58-76.

2020 Fitch, M. “Los estudiantes huelen sinceridad” in Garate, Alberto Rivera, El profesorado frente a la pandemia: Relatos desde el curso del desastre . CETYS Universidad. Barcelona: Ediciones Octaedro, 2020. 69-76.

2020  Fraser, B. “Paco Roca’s graphic novel La casa (2015) as Architectural Elegy.” In Spanish Comics: Historical and Cultural Perspectives . Ed. Anne Magnussen. New York; Oxford: Berghahn Books. pp. 182-201. [Reprint of 2018 journal article from European Comic Art ]

  2020  Fraser, B. “Tete Montoliu, Blindness and Barcelona in the Key of Modern Jazz.” Catalan Review 34, pp. 1-17.

  2020  Fraser, B. “Trains, Time and Technology: Teaching ‘Mecanópolis’ through Mobility and Science Fiction Studies.” Teaching the Works of Miguel de Unamuno . Ed. Luis Álvarez-Castro. New York: MLA. pp. 112-18.

2020 Morales, Mónica. "Se puede hablar de solidaridad y defensa en la narrativa de Guamán Poma sobre los Indios en Buen gobierno?" Letras . 91.133, pp. 211-232.

2020 Murphy, Kaitlin M. “Braiding Borders”: Performance as Care and Resistance on the US-Mexico Border.” TDR: The Drama Review 64.4, pp. 72-83.

2020 Murphy, Kaitlin M. “Witnessing the Past and the Present: Photography and Guatemala’s Fight for Historical Dialogue.” In Historical Dialogue and the Prevention of Mass Atrocities , edited by Elazar Barkan, Constantin Goschler, and James Waller, 235-252. London: Routledge Press.

2019   Arias, Santa.  “Raza, colonialidad e Ilustración: Caminando la Ciudad de los Reyes.” Bibliographica Americana: Revista Interdisciplinaria de Estudios Coloniales 15 (2019): 5-20. 

2019 Bezerra, K. “ A casa Cai: Unveiling Geographies of Exclusion and Violence.” Revista Diadorim 19, pp. 99-108.

2019 Bezerra, K. “Milton Hatoum: Redesenhando fronteiras em uma cidade em transição.” De Oriente a Ocidente: Estudos da Associação Internacional de Lusofonistas. vol. IV, pp. 205-218.

2019  Fraser, B. “On Polysemiotic Interactions, Visual Paratexts, and Image-Specific Translation: The Case of Rodolfo Santullo and Matías Bergara’s Dengue (2012/2015).” Studies in Comics 10.2, pp. 279-95.

  2019  Fraser, B. “Joaquim Jordà and Nuria Villazán’s Mones com la Becky [Monkeys Like Becky] (1999) and the New Global Disability Documentary Cinema.” Disability Studies Quarterly 39.2, no pag.

  2019  Fraser, B. “Obsessively Writing the Modern City: The Partial Madness of Urban Planning Culture and the Case of Arturo Soria y Mata in Madrid, Spain.” Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies 13.1, pp. 21-37.

2019 Geyer, Charlie. “Creolizing the Canon: Manuel Puig, Junot Díaz, and the Latino Poetics of Relation.” The Comparatist , 43 , 173–193.

2019 Murphy, Kaitlin M. “Against Precarious Abstraction: Bearing Witness to Migration Through Moysés Zúñiga Santiago’s “La Bestia” Photographs.” Journal of Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture 1.1, pp. 7-22.

2018 Acosta, A. “Crisis and Migration in Posthegemonic Times: Primitive Accumulation and Labor in La Bestia.” Dialectical Imaginaries: Materialist Approaches to U.S. Latino/a Literature in the Age of Neoliberalism . Marcial Gonzalez and Carlos Gallego editors. University of Michigan Press. Pages 241-262.

2018 Acosta, A. “The Posthegemonic Turn.” New Approaches to Latin American Studies: Culture and Power . Juan Poblete, editor. New York; London: Routledge. Pages 255-271.

2018  Acosta, A. Introduction to Special Issue, "Unsettling Coloniality: Readings and Interrogations". Edited by Abraham Acosta. Journal of Commonwealth and Postscolonial Studies . 6.1: 3-16.

2018 Bezerra, K. “Urban Space in the Lusophone World: Contesting Inequality and Constructing Citizenship.” Edited in collaboration with Leila Lehnen and Jeremy Lehnen. [Special section] Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies ..

2018  Fraser, B. “El lenguaje visual innovador de Pere Joan: el pictograma analógico frente a la cultura digital en el cómic español contemporáneo.” Romance Studies 36.4, pp. 180-95.

  2018  Fraser, B. “Urban Difference ‘On the Move’: Disabling Mobility in the Spanish Film El cochecito (Marco Ferreri, 1960).” Freakish Encounters . Ed. Sara Muñoz-Muriana and Analola Santana . Hispanic Issues Online , vol. 20, pp. 234-51.

  2018  Fraser, B. “Miguel Brieva, quincemayista : Art, Politics and Comics Form in the 15-M Graphic Novel Lo que (me) está pasando (2015).” Transmodernity: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World 8.1, pp. 42-62.

  2018  Fraser, B., A. Masterson-Algar and S. L. Vilaseca. “Cultural Studies, Behind the Scenes: Notes on the Craft of Interdisciplinary Scholarship.” Journal of Urban Cultural Studies 5.1, pp. 3-14.

  2018  Fraser, B. “Paco Roca’s graphic novel La casa (2015) as Architectural Elegy.” European Comic Art 11.1, pp. 87-106.

  2018  Fraser, B. “Visual/Geo-Spatial Knowledge and the Digital Library: On the ‘Mutaciones’ Section of Agustín Fernández Mallo’s  El hacedor (de Borges), Remake (2011).” Hispanic Studies Review 3.1, pp. 63-77.

  2018  Fraser, B. “The Public Animal in Barcelona: Urban Form, the Natural World and Socio-Spatial Transgression in the Comic “Un cocodril a l’Eixample” (1987) by Pere Joan and Emilio Manzano.” Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies 19.1, pp. 89-110.

2018 Geyer, Charlie. “Rethinking Todorov.” Chasqui , 47(2), 176-189.

2018 Harden, Faith. "Hacia una historia de la autobiografía militar del siglo XVII: el militar perfecto y las «vidas» de soldados." Aspectos actuales del hispanismo mundial . De Gruyter, pp. 317-324.

  EDITORS-IN-CHIEF OF ACADEMIC JOURNALS IN LITERATURE AND CULTURAL STUDIES

Arias, S. Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Fitch, M. Studies in Latin American Popular Culture (University of Texas Press) Fraser, B. Hispania (American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese) Fraser, B. Journal of Urban Cultural Studies

BOOK SERIES EDITORS/DIRECTORS

Fitch, M. Co-director, Studies in Latin American Culture and Literature Series, Anthem Press.  Fraser, B. Founding Co-editor, Hispanic Urban Studies Book Series. Palgrave McMillan.

Spanish Academic

Graduate Programs in Spanish / Hispanic Literatures and Cultures for 2024 – 2025

Programs offering both ma/phd or only phd, master’s & doctorate degree granting.

Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona MA in Spanish Literature PhD in Spanish Literature and Culture

Brown University Providence, Rhode Island PhD in Hispanic Studies

Cornell University Ithaca, New York PhD in Spanish and Spanish American Literature

Florida International University Miami, Florida BA/MA in Spanish  (No MA alone listed) PhD in Spanish  (Foci: Peninsular, Spanish American)

Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida MA in Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies PhD in Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies

Georgetown University Washington, D.C. M.S. in Hispanic literature and cultural studies PhD in Hispanic literature and cultural studies

Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts PhD in Spanish and Latin American Literatures

Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, Indiana MA in Hispanic Literatures + Cultural Studies PhD in Hispanic Literatures + Cultural Studies

Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan MA in Hispanic Literatures PhD in Hispanic Cultural Studies

New York University New York, New York PhD in Latin American Colonial Literature/Transatlantic Studies, Modern (19th-21st century) Peninsular Literature/Culture

Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania MA in Hispanic Literatures PhD in Hispanic Literatures

Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey PhD in Spanish and Spanish American Literature

Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana MA in Peninsular and Spanish American literature MA in Latin American Literatures and Cultures PhD in Peninsular or Spanish American literature

Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey MA in Spanish Literature (Discontinued) PhD in Latin American, Iberian, and Luso-Afro-Brazilian Literatures and Cultures (LAILAB) PhD in (Spanish) Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition

Stony Brook University Stony Brook, New York MA in Hispanic Languages and Literature PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literature

The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio MA and PhD in Iberian Literary and Cultural Studies MA and PhD in Latin American Cultural and Literary Studies

University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona MA in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures PhD in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures (Discontinued 2023)

University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures (Track 1)

University of California, Davis Davis, California MA in Iberian or Latin American Literatures and Cultures PhD in Iberian or Latin American Literatures and Cultures

University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California PhD in Latin American and Iberian Literature and Culture

University of California, Irvine Irvine, California MA in Spanish American Literature or U.S. Chicano/Latino Literature and Cultures PhD in Spanish American Literature or U.S. Chicano/Latino Literature and Cultures

University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California MA in Hispanic Literatures PhD in Hispanic Literatures

University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, Colorado MA in Peninsular and Spanish American Literature PhD in Peninsular and Spanish American Literature PhD in Medieval and Early Modern Hispanic Literatures

University of Florida Gainesville, Florida MA in Spanish Literature and Culture PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures (Spanish)

University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, Illinois MA in Hispanic Literary and Cultural Studies PhD in Hispanic Literary and Cultural Studies

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, Illinois MA in Spanish Literatures and Cultures PhD in Spanish Literatures and Cultures

University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa MA in Spanish Literatures PhD in Spanish Literatures and Cultures

University of Maryland College Park, Maryland MA in Hispanic Languages and Literatures PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures

University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, Massachusetts MA in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures PhD in Spanish Peninsular Literature and Cultures

University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota MA no longer offered PhD in Spanish Peninsular Literature & in Spanish American Literature

University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico MA in Hispanic Literatures PhD in Hispanic Literatures

University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania MA/PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures

University of Southern California Los Angeles, California PhD in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture (National Literatures and Cultures: Spanish and Latin American Studies)

University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas PhD Iberian and Latin American Literatures and Cultures

University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wisconsin MA in Spanish PhD in Spanish

Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee MA in Spanish PhD in Spanish Literature

Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri PhD in Hispanic Studies (Iberian, Latin American, and trans-Atlantic Hispanic literatures and cultures)

Yale University New Haven Connecticut PhD in Peninsular Literature or Latin American Literature

The Graduate School

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Spanish: PhD

Graduate Program in Romance Languages and Literatures

Program Handbook

The Ph.D. in Spanish is a highly selective program that teaches and trains students working in the field of Spanish and Latin American literatures and cultures. The program offers a flexible curriculum tailored to each student's interests and background and has a dissertation-oriented design that leads to the successful writing and defense of a relevant dissertation that contributes to the candidate's area of study and that successfully places the candidate in the field and in the academic job market. Students take a set of focused seminars during the first two years of residence at ND and start working on a dissertation by the fifth semester if not before.

Last updated: 08/31/2023

• GRE General Test not accepted
• TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo for non-native speakers of English
• Curriculum vitae
• Statement of intent
• Three letters of recommendation
• Writing sample(s) - refer to program site for details
• Unofficial transcripts from each post-secondary institution required at the time of application. (Official transcript showing conferral of a bachelor's degree due upon enrollment.)

Pedro Aguilera-Mellado Director of Graduate Studies Phone: (574) 631-6887 Email: [email protected]

https://romancelanguages.nd.edu

Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs

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Doctor of philosophy in spanish, general information:.

The Department of Modern Languages offers a variety of opportunities for advanced study. The Ph.D. program in Hispanic Literature is designed to prepare students to become first-rate scholars and teachers, primarily in institutions of higher learning. In addition to two major fields of specialization (Peninsular Spanish Literature and Spanish American Literature), minors are available in Peninsular Spanish Literature, Spanish American Literature, and Hispanic Linguistics. Candidates to the Ph.D. must pass a qualifying   examination .

Description of the Program

The doctoral program consists of 75 semester hours of graduate level work beyond the Bachelor's degree, distributed as follows: 57 graduate credits of courses and 18 credits of dissertation. Students holding Master of Arts degrees in Spanish or Hispanic Studies will be considered for admission and some or all of their graduate credits may be counted toward the doctoral degree after being evaluated and approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. Student will be able to transfer a maximum of 36 graduate credits from an earned graduate degree.

Course Distribution

Core Courses: (9 credits)

All core courses must be taken as graduate courses offered by the University and may not be taken as independent studies:

• FOL 5943 Foreign Language Teaching Methodology
• SPW 5806 Methods of literary research
• SPW 6825 Literary Theory and Criticism

Distribution Requirement: (15 credits)

All students must take:

• One course in Medieval or Golden Age Peninsular Spanish Literature
• One course in Peninsular Spanish Literature of the 18th-21st century
• One course in Colonial/19th century Spanish American Literature
• One course in 20th century Spanish American Literature
• One additional course in Spanish American Literature

Electives: (33 credits)

Students may choose from graduate courses in literature, linguistics, culture, and translation/interpretation.

Dissertation: (18 credits)

Independent Studies

Students who want to conduct research in a very specialized field with a particular faculty member will be allowed to register for a 3-credit independent study course. No more than two such independent study will be allowed without permission from the Graduate Program Director and only in exceptional cases. Under no circumstances will a student be authorized to take a regularly-taught course as an independent study. Independent studies are envisioned as an opportunity for students to carry out specialized research, not as a substitute for regular courses.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal consists of two documents: 1) A concise (max. 5 pages double-spaced) dissertation proposal following University Graduate School guidelines; 2) a more developed statement of research purpose and plans (15-20 pages long). Students should circulate these two documents among all the members of the committee at least two weeks prior to the oral defense. The dissertation proposal has to be approved by the four members of the dissertation committee. Please see the Graduate Student Handbook for more details   Here

The dissertation proposal is a five-page document with an appended bibliography that explains in detail the proposed thesis topic, the critical instrument chosen to approach it, existing scholarship on the subject, and an overarching plan for its development. The proposal is prepared in consultation with the thesis adviser but it is revised and evaluated by all the members of the student's graduate committee. The proposal should follow the general guidelines in the Regulations for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation. A copy of the approved proposal must be filed with the Dean of Graduate Studies at least one full semester prior to defense of the dissertation or thesis.

Students who have completed all coursework must register in SPW 7910 Pre-dissertation Research during the semester in which he or she expects to be admitted to candidacy. Students fully admitted to candidacy subsequently register in SPN 7980 Dissertation Research. Candidates must be registered in at least three credit-hours of dissertation research every semester --including at least one summer term-- once he or she begins such preparation. The candidate must be enrolled for at least three dissertation credits during the semester in which the doctoral degree is awarded.

The statement of research purpose and plans is internal to the department.

Dissertation

A dissertation or thesis is a formal and systematic discourse or treatise advancing an original point of view as a result of research. A dissertation is required of all candidates for the doctoral degree.

Upon completion of a dissertation or thesis, the degree candidate will submit to the Dean of Graduate Studies an application for thesis or dissertation defense signed by the dissertation director. The application must be filed in sufficient time to allow the Dean of Graduate Studies to publish the notice in a monthly calendar of dissertation and theses defenses for the University community.

Copies of the final version of the dissertation, prepared in accordance with the most recent edition of the MLA Style Manual or MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Paper and the FIU Guidelines for Thesis and Dissertation Writers (available from the Office of Graduate Studies), together with an abstract in English of a maximum of 350 words, must be submitted to the Dissertation Committee at least four weeks before the Oral Defense of the Dissertation, which must be scheduled following UGS calendar.

Dissertation Defense

The date, time, and place of the Defense will be announced by memo from the Dissertation Director at least two weeks in advanced to the rest of the committee, the candidate, the Director of Graduate Studies, the department Chairperson, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of Graduate Studies and Media Relations.

The oral defense, which is open to public, will take the following form: 10-15 minute presentation by candidate, 10 minute question period from each member of the dissertation committee.

Following the successful defense, as determined by a majority vote of the student's committee, the dissertation or thesis is forwarded to the Academic Dean and to the dean of graduate studies for their approval.

The Ph.D. dissertation must be completed within five years of the doctoral comprehensive examination, or the examination will have to be retaken.

Seminars on Professional Concerns

The Department of Modern Languages recognizes the need to inform graduate students regarding a wide range of professional issues directly related to the successful development of their academic careers. To that end, each year it sponsors a series of meetings during which these concerns can be more fully addressed and explored. The professional concerns seminars meet as needed and are led by one or several faculty members. Topics to be covered include "Publishing your work," "Participating in conferences and symposia," "Applying for grants and fellowships," "Writing the curriculum vitae," "Applying for jobs," and "Preparing for an interview." Other possible topics for discussion might include book reviewing, publishing the dissertation and networking. Students may also propose a seminar on a topic not listed here that is of special professional concern to them. Such proposals are channeled through the Director of Graduate Studies.

Graduate and Teaching Assistantships

A limited number of assistantships are available each year for doctoral students. Candidates seeking an assistantship must apply in writing to the Graduate Program Director by December 15th. Assistantships normally consist of a stipend of $20,000 per academic year (including the summer terms) and a matriculation fee-waiver.

In exchange, students who receive assistantships must work twenty hours per week for the Department and must take a minimum of nine credits per semester and six credits in the summer. Students with more than eighteen graduate credits generally fulfill their work requirements by teaching one language class per term.

Assistantships are incompatible with outside employment. Please see the Graduate Program Director for further information. Renewal is not automatic but contingent upon the student's successful performance in the following areas: (1) academics (2) work as graduate or teaching assistant, (3) participation in all the meetings and activities organized by the department. Renewals must be approved by the graduate committee in consultation with the student’s advisor and the Language Coordinator. In order to have the Teaching Assistantship renewed, ABDs will have to show adequate progress towards the completion of their dissertation.

For information on additional special scholarships, please contact the Graduate Program Director.

Selected Course Offerings

• Methods of Literary Research
• Literary Theory and Criticism
• Historiography of Literature
• The Structure of Spanish
• History of the Spanish Language
• Spanish in the United States
• Dialectology of the Spanish Caribbean
• Learning Technology in Spanish Pedagogy and Research
• Spanish Culture
• Spanish American Culture
• Hispanic Culture in the US
• Afro-Cuban Culture
• The Latin American Experience in Literature and Film
• Colonial Latin American Literature
• 19th Century Latin American Literature
• Spanish American Modernism
• The Traditional Spanish American Novel
• Primitivism in Spanish American Literature
• Magical Realism
• Contemporary Spanish American Novel
• Spanish American Historical Novel
• Spanish American Essay
• Prose and Poetry of Jorge Luis Borges
• Poetry of Pablo Neruda
• Eros in the Poetry of Spanish American Women Writers
• Spanish American Women Writers
• Hispanic Literature of the US
• Mexico in Poetry
• Literature of the Spanish Caribbean
• 19th Century Spanish Caribbean Literature
• Cuban Theater
• Cuban Narrative
• Prose and Poetry of José Martí
• Literature of Hispanics in the United States
• Medieval Spanish Literature
• The Renaissance in Spain
• Golden Age Prose
• Golden Age Poetry
• Spanish Romanticism and Neoclassicism
• Spanish Realism and Naturalism
• Seminar on Benito Pérez Galdós
• Generation of 98
• 20th Century Spanish Novel
• Poetry of Jorge Guillén
• Seminar on Federico García Lorca
• Seminar on Antonio Buero Vallejo
• Modern Spanish Women Writers
• Representation of Women in Spanish Literature and Film
• 20th Century Spanish Poetry

Graduate Program

The Spanish graduate program is one of the top Spanish departments in the nation. Indeed, according to the annual Academic Analytics survey, we are currently ranked #1 in scholarly productivity in our field. The program offers comprehensive training in Iberian and Latin American - including Portuguese and Brazilian - Literatures and Cultures, as well as Hispanic Linguistics. Our faculty's intellectual and teaching philosophy is geared toward incorporating new theoretical and scholarly models, especially cross-disciplinary methods, without ceasing to pay attention to national literatures. The Ph.D. program requires coursework in the history of the Spanish language and in literary or linguistic scholarship, and competence in two foreign languages other than Spanish.

Faculty members bring a strong interdisciplinary focus to scholarship and teaching and participate actively in a variety of other programs at UC Davis, including: Graduate programs in Linguistics and Cultural Studies ; Programs in the Humanties and Film Studies ; the Hemispheric Institute on the Americas , the Chicana/Latina Research Center , and the Davis Humanities Institute , through which faculty and graduate students are involved in research clusters focused on Documentary Studies, Early Modern Studies, Language and Social Contexts, Latin American Cultural Studies, Medieval Studies, Queer Studies, and Studies in Performance and Practice.

Some of our faculty are also affiliated with the Designated Emphases (graduate minors) in: Classics and Classical Receptions , Critical Theory , Feminist Theory and Research ,  Human Rights,   Second Language Acquisition , Environmental Humanities and Studies in Performance and Practice .

We welcome students from every country, culture, and creed who seek rigorous study of Spanish and Portuguese cultural production. People speak Spanish and Portuguese in communities all over the globe, and the commitments and research of our program's students and faculty reflect these varied cultures. Because of this, we actively recruit talented, passionate students from around the world to our graduate program. A diverse graduate student body and a diversity of perspectives are key to our program's success and the success of our students as scholars, researchers, and instructors. So we affirm the university’s Principles of Community and commit ourselves to fostering an equitable, hospitable, and inclusive educational environment that is supportive of all students' success.

The Department of Spanish offers M.A . and Ph.D . degrees in Spanish with an emphasis in:

• Hispanic Linguistics
• Iberian and/or Latin American Literatures and Cultures and/or Latinx studies

M.A. and Ph.D. programs at UC Davis offer in-depth specialization in literary and cultural studies, as well as a track designed for those interested primarily in language study. The programs may be supplemented with offerings from other departments and programs, such as Comparative Literature , Linguistics , Critical Theory , Native American Studies , Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies , Human Rights, Study of Religion, and Chicana/o Studies . Mentoring Guidelines are available here .

Time to Degree and Placement Record

The expected time to degree is 2 years for M.A. students and 5 for Ph.D. students. The Department's placement record is excellent. Our recent graduates have accepted tenure track appointments at outstanding colleges and universities around the United States.

Graduate Program Contact Information

Library Facilities

The General Library and departmental libraries at Davis have extensive holdings, including a strong Spanish and Latin American collection. This collection is divided into five major categories: Literary History and Criticism, Spanish Literature, Individual Authors, Latin or Spanish American Literature, and Spanish Linguistics.

In addition, graduate students and faculty have easy access to the UC Berkeley collection through daily bus service between the libraries, and the UC system has an easy-to-use interlibrary loan program. Intercampus research grants facilitate faculty and graduate students' use of libraries at the nine campuses of the UC system.

UC Davis is situated 15 miles west of Sacramento, the state capital, and 72 miles northeast of San Francisco in the pleasant college town of Davis. It is the third largest campus of the University of California. Diversified cultural activities at UCD are enhanced by the proximity of San Francisco, Berkeley, and Sacramento. The City of Davis ( Davis Community Network ) is also ideally located near a variety of recreational and scenic areas including Lake Tahoe, Sierra Nevada ski resorts, Gold Rush country, Napa Valley wine country, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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PhD Program in Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature

The PhD program in Spanish and Portuguese combines rigorous coursework with individual research in Spanish, Latin American, and/or Luso-Brazilian language and literature. 

Students admitted to the program will have the opportunity to work with world-renowned faculty with a wide range of focus areas and research interests.  In addition, the program boasts a dynamic student body representing 12 countries and numerous academic and professional backgrounds.   

Areas of scholarly focus in the Department range in historical scope from medieval Iberia and colonial Latin America to contemporary literature, culture, and art, drawing on critical vocabularies in visual studies, performance studies, cultural studies, continental philosophy, psychoanalysis, postcolonial studies, queer studies, film studies, biopolitics, and ethics, among others.

The program consistently ranks among the best in the country and every year attracts a diverse and highly competitive applicant pool. The Department typically accepts between four and six fully-funded students annually.  

For information about the admissions process, please visit  Admissions FAQs  and GSAS Application Resource Center .  If you have questions about the admissions process that are not addressed on either of these two pages, please contact Tyler Ingram at [email protected].

Director of Graduate Studies: Professor Zeb Tortorici

PhD Student Manual

• Click here to view PhD Student Manual

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Spanish Graduate Program

We consider it a great privilege to have the opportunity to educate the next generation of teachers, scholars, and leaders. Our PhD students collaborate with faculty to define new research directions in Spanish, Latin American, and Latinx literary and cultural studies, and to translate thier excitement for knowledge production into diverse careers. Our recent graduates have gone on to research, write, and teach for large companies in the finance and technology sectors, non-profit organizations in Latin America, and all levels of education, from research universities to small liberal arts colleges, K-12 schools and private educational consulting firms. You can read some of their stories here . Faculty who are accepting graduate students for the 2024 entering cohort are: Sam Amago  (advisor), Allison Bigelow  (advisor), Kelly Moore (committee member),  Fernando Operé  (advisor), Ricardo Padrón  (advisor), Fernando Riva  (advisor), and Fernando Valverde  (committee member). We are not able to accept students in contemporary Latin America for the 2024-5 or 2025-6 cycles.

Our program encourages interdisciplinary training that can be formalized in graduate certificates  across the humanities and social sciences, including  Africana Studies , American Studies , Digital Humanities , Environmental Humanities , Gender & Sexuality , Historic Preservation , Leadership and Public Policy ,  Premodern Cultures & Communities , and Urban Design . Additional on-campus training is available through internships, working groups, labs, and workshops in the Scholars’ Lab , Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures , Karsh Institute of Democracy's Democracy Initiative , Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation , Center for Teaching Excellence , and PhD Plus . Students can also take advantage of professional opportunities in the wider DC area, from research fellowships to museum internships. Support within the department includes pedagogical training from faculty in linguistics, course coordination and mentorship from teaching track faculty , and a community of research mentors who work with students on conference presentations, article publications, and fellowships to support pre-dissertation and dissertation work. You and your mentor can search for support for conference travel, research trips, and language learning using resources compiled by the Graduate School and the department . Students who are historically underrepresented in higher education can find additional mentorship support from the Mentoring Institute in the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs .

PhD students participate in every aspect of department and university life, from taking and teaching classes to serving on committees and organizing events. In your first year, you will be released from teaching obligations so that you can focus on coursework, finding a research community, and getting your bearings. Beginning in your second year, you will teach language classes that are supervised by experienced teaching track faculty members (called Academic General Faculty at UVA). In subsequent years, PhD students teach at all levels of the undergraduate curriculum in order to graduate with diverse teaching portfolios.

Our 20 current graduate students are diverse, talented, and deeply engaged in the department and greater community. Some students enter the program with a Master’s degree from another institution, whereas others arrive with a BA. All students who progress satisfactorily through the program receive the MA en route to the PhD, usually after the second year. Please see the sections below for more information on progress through the program.

Our competitive fellowship package supports students for 6 years, which includes: 

• an annual stipend of $30,000 ($24,000 during the academic year and $6,000 of summer funding)
• two years of teaching release (typically taken in years 1 and 5)
• a teaching load of 1 course per semester (1-1 for the year)
• full payment of tuition and fees ($75,000-$114,000 at 2023 rates)
• full payment of single-person health insurance

How to Apply

Graduate Admissions

To apply for graduate study in the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, you must submit your application and materials online to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS). The Graduate School will no longer accept hard copy applications. The department does not require any materials in addition to those required by GSAS. For admissions information, including important deadlines, please visit the Graduate School's website . The evaluation rubric used by the department committee is available in the "Supporting Documents" of our governance page .

Students applying to and accepted into the graduate program must hold a BA in Spanish (or a closely related discipline) or the equivalent foreign degree. The process is the same for students who also hold an MA degree or its equivalent.

Students will follow the course of study outlined in the Graduate Record. Students with a BA will earn an MA in Spanish as they progress towards the PhD. The option of a terminal MA degree is Spanish is only open to self-funded students.

The admissions deadline for 2024-2025 is January 15, 2024.

Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Spanish

Required materials:

• Complete Online Application
• Unofficial transcripts from all past schools, submitted electronically ( Important: Please DO NOT mail your official transcripts to the Graduate School unless you have received an offer of admission and have decided to attend the University of Virginia. )
• Two (2) Letters of Recommendation from previous educational institutions, submitted electronically
• Two (2) academic writing samples, one in English and one in Spanish

International Students

In addition to the materials listed above, the Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese requires that you also submit the following:

• Official TOEFL Scores (Official scores must be sent directly to the University of Virginia by the Educational Testing Service.)
• Final Official Transcript (Transcripts from schools located in non-English-speaking countries must have the original language record and a direct translation into English)

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences requires a few additional items from international students. Please carefully read the guidelines for international students and the application process on the Graduate School Admissions page . Additional guidance for international students can be found here . If you have additional questions after reviewing these materials, please contact us at [email protected].

Overview of PhD

PhD Program in Spanish

Please note: Per university policy, "The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only. The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements. These publications may be found at http://www.virginia.edu/registrar/."

Program Requirements

The PhD in Spanish is divided into three phases: 1) coursework; 2) comprehensive examinations; and 3) dissertation. There is also a foreign language requirement that must be met before entering the dissertation phase, known as “doctoral candidacy.” Throughout the three phases, students receive guidance from a faculty mentor chosen with the student’s stated research interests in mind. The official account of program requirements appears in the University’s Graduate Record . A full description of the program’s operation can be found in the department’s Graduate Handbook .

Coursework is ordinarily completed during the first two years of the program. Students are required to take eight graded, three-credit courses during the first year, and six graded, three-credit courses during the second year. The courses must include SPAN 7220 (History of the Language) and SPAN 8210 (Teaching Foreign Languages). They must also include a course on media, two on theoretical approaches in the humanities or the social sciences, and at least two courses offered outside the department. The department maintains a list of approved courses for this purpose, and a single course may satisfy more than one of these requirements. Students are also expected to complete two additional, one-credit courses: 1) GHSS 6050 (Introduction to Graduate Studies); and 2) GHSS 7050 (Professional Life After Graduate School). These courses can count toward any of the graduate certificates offered in the College of Arts & Sciences ,  School of Architecture , Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy , and related programs.

At the end of the first year, students submit a Statement of Research Interests, in which they chart their progress in the program and develop a plan for the second year that will lead to a fruitful experience in the comprehensive exams and a dissertation afterwards. At the end of the second year, students revise this statement and include it in their Second Year Portfolio, which also includes samples of their writing. After a positive assessment of the portfolio by the faculty, the student proceeds to the comprehensive exams.

The comprehensive exams normally take place during the third year.  Students register for 12 credits of SPAN 8900 (Comprehensive Exams) and use the time to develop a comprehensive exam portfolio, which includes three reading lists, two field papers, a statement of teaching philosophy, and a course syllabus. The contents of the lists, the subject matter of the papers, and the nature of the course are determined by the student, in consultation with their comprehensive exam committee. The structure of the exams allows for participation by faculty from other departments, and for significant training in another field or discipline. The student’s mastery of the portfolio materials is assessed through an oral examination, normally held at the end of the Fall semester.

The dissertation phase begins during the second semester of the third year, after successful completion of the oral exam. Students register for 12 credits of SPAN 8901 (Dissertation Proposal) and use the time to develop a proposal for the project that will occupy them during their final two years. They defend the proposal before their dissertation committee before the end of the semester. At that time, students are also expected to have fulfilled the departmental language requirement by demonstrating mastery of one language other than Spanish or proficiency in two languages other than Spanish.

The final two years of the program are devoted to developing and defending the dissertation, an original contribution to scholarship in the student’s field roughly the length of a standard academic monograph. The dissertation is developed in consultation with a committee that must include a member from outside the department and may in some cases include faculty from other universities. It may be written in either English or Spanish. It is usually defended at the end of the fifth year of study.

The department believes that learning to teach is an integral part of any graduate program, and that students need time, space, and mentorship to develop as teachers. All graduate students are required to teach one three-credit course per semester during the second, third, and fourth years of the program. They do not teach in their first and fifth years so that they can focus on coursework (including learning how to teach) and their dissertation research. Every effort is made to give students the opportunity to teach at various levels of instruction and in diverse subject areas in years 2, 3, 4, and 6. All students are carefully trained and supervised by the Director of the Language Program in Spanish, as well as other members of the department. Support for teaching is available through formal programs and workshops offered through the Center for Teaching Excellence and PhD Plus, as well as informal mentorship from experienced members of the teaching track and research track faculty.

Although the program is designed for students to take their teaching release in year 5, some students may prefer to take it in year 6. Please see the Graduate Handbook to learn more about the policy and timeline.

All entering graduate students are granted financial support in the form of Fellowships and Teaching Assistantships. Students who progress satisfactorially through the program receive 6 guaranteed years of support. Our financial package includes a stipend of $24,000 (annual stipend of $24,000, plus $6,000 of summer support), two years of teaching release, full tuition remission ($75,000-$114,000 at 2023 rates), and health insurance coverage for themselves. Students who need to enroll a partner and/or dependents should consult the rates listed by Aetna, here . Students can enroll partners or dependents during open enrollment (insurance verification) or within 30 days of a qualifying event, such as birth, adoption, or marriage. More details on student health, wellness, and insurance coverage are available here .

In addition to department funding, graduate students are frequently employed in Summer School courses in Charlottesville or in the Department’s summer undergraduate programs in Spain and Latin America. There are also a variety of opportunities to fund conference travel, language study, and dissertation research and writing. We encourage students to work with their advisors and committees to find field-specific funding sources.

Department Handbook

The Graduate Handbook serves as a guide to policies and procedures governing graduate education in the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese at the University of Virginia. To view the handboook,  please click here .

Graduate Guide

For more information on career development and diversity affairs, please see the College of Arts & Sciences Graduate Guide .

Course Descriptions & Sequences

For updates or a complete description of courses offered by the Department please visit the course description page . You may also consult the Student Information System and the Graduate Record .

For information on course sequences, current students should consult the Graduate Guide for the present academic year. Admitted students may request a copy by writing to the Director of Graduate Admissions or their intended faculty advisors.

Student Research & Support

Original, innovative research is the hallmark of graduate study; as we uncover new texts in archives, develop alternative ways of reading the classics, and collaborate with colleagues in other fields and around the world, we find new ways of thinking and new works to teach.

Part of graduate student development involves teaching undergraduate courses; such teaching is complemented by classwork and research projects.

The Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese is pleased to support all Ph.D. students for five years of graduate study, including a year-long fellowship for dissertation research and writing. We encourage you to work with your faculty advisor, subject liasons in the UVa Library, and colleagues in your field to develop research questions, identify relevant archives, and share your findings in presentations and articles. To get started with archival research, we suggest looking through something like the "Fresh from the Archives" series on Dissertation Reviews . Graduate students from around the world have helpfully described archival protocols and research topics in Latin American and Caribbean studies, including the AGI (Sevilla) , Archivo Nacional (Madrid) , and Archivo Histórico del Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamérica (Antigua, Guatemala) . Don't be afraid to reach out to other graduate students! They've been in your shoes and will be eager to share what they've learned. To generate ideas at the pre-dissertation stage and get a sense of what a finished project will look like, you should review summaries of recently finished dissertations in your area. You can find examples of such projects in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies section of Dissertation Reviews and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (Follow this link from UVa Library, click "ProQuest," and then click "ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global" from the list of databases. If you're off campus, sign in through NetBadge.)

Already finished with the dissertation? As you apply to fellowships and jobs, the University is here to help with your CV and application materials. Please contact Sonali Majumdar , Associate Director of Professional Development in the Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Affair s, to arrange an appointment. Fourth- and fifth-year graduate students are encouraged to participate in OGPA's Research Communication Training Program , a six-week workshop series that trains students across Grounds to present their work to a variety of non-specialists. Participants can also present their work the Three Minute Thesis competition , which provides excellent practice for interviews on the academic, public sector, and corporate job markets. Job seekers can find sample materials (CV, cover letter, teaching statement) on SIP Jobs ( a joinable collab site ) and in the University-recommended Academic Job Search Handbook, by Julia Miller Vick, Jennifer S. Furlong, and Rosanne Lurie. Follow the link in Virgo for an electronic edition of the text. For a list of resources dedicated to digital studies at UVa, please visit DH@UVa and consult the department list of all things digital .

Below please find additional sources of support for your work, from foundational language training to pre-dissertation research and dissertation completion fellowships.

Current Graduate Students

To learn more about current students and their research projects, please visit their profile pages .

Recent Graduate Spotlights (PhD)

Our graduate students work on diverse topics from the medieval, early modern, revolutionary/Enlightenment, and modern/contemporary periods in Spain and Latin America, with a variety of methodological approaches and theoretical orientations. They go on to work in academica, industry, non-profit organizations, and public service. To learn more about our alumni, please  click here .

Doctoral Language Exams

The Doctoral Language Exams in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, also known as Proficiency and Mastery exams, are offered twice per semester through the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The exams are available to currently enrolled graduate students who are required to demonstrate foreign language "proficiency" or "mastery" in order to satisfy certain degree requirements. The precise dates of the exams are set early in the semester, although they are generally offered in October, November, February and March.

To learn more about the exams, and to register for an exam, please visit our doctoral language exam page .

Tracks and Requirements

There are three tracks of study within the department, all leading to the Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literature:

• Latin American and Iberian Literature and Culture
• Afro-Luso-Brazilian Literature, Creative Writing, and Visual Culture
• Spanish and Portuguese Linguistics

Dissertation topics may be drawn from any field in Iberian and Afro-Luso-Brazilian language, literature, and culture. Possible fields include Spanish linguistics; Portuguese linguistics; diachronic Hispanic linguistics and philology; medieval Iberian Literature; early modern Iberian literature; 18th-and 19th-century Iberian literature; 20th-century Iberian literature; colonial Latin American literature; 19th-century Latin American literature; 20th-century Latin American literature; Chicano literature; early Portuguese literature; modern Portuguese literature; early Afro-Luso-Brazilian literature; modern Afro-Luso-Brazilian literature; Spanish and Afro-Luso-Brazilian folklore.

Foreign Language Requirement

In addition to proficiency in Spanish and Portuguese, students must have a reading knowledge of one other foreign language, selected in consultation with their Advisor. Students fulfill this requirement by (1) passing the University reading examination in the language; (2) successful completion of a University course of at least level 3; or (3) successful completion of two upper division literature courses in the foreign language. Students must fulfill the requirement no later than the eighth quarter of graduate study.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 16 graduate courses is required, including directed research as appropriate. In addition, Spanish 495 (4 units), and Proseminar I and II (2 units each), all offered in the department, are required and may not replace the graduate courses. 

In the first year of the PhD program, students take Proseminar I and regularly scheduled graduate courses (200-series). In the second year, students take Spanish 495 and may take a combination of regularly scheduled graduate courses and directed research (596) courses. In the third year, students take Proseminar II and continue taking regularly scheduled graduate courses and directed research to complete the program requirements.

For the track in the Latin American and Iberian Literature and Culture : of the 16 graduate courses, one must be a theory course. Within the department, two courses must be pre-1700s, two courses must be post-1700s, and three courses must be outside the main field of expertise (i.e., Latin Americanists take courses on Iberian and vice-versa). A total of three courses (the theory course may be one of them) may be taken in other departments with the approval of the Advisor. A maximum of two courses (8 units) of directed research is permitted.

For the track in Afro-Luso-Brazilian Literature, Creative Writing and Visual Culture : of the 16 graduate courses, one must be a theory course, one course must be pre-1900s, one course must be creative writing and/or translation studies, and one course must be on visual culture. A total of six courses (24 units) may be taken in other departments and/or as directed research (596).

For the track in Spanish and Portuguese Linguistics : of the 16 graduate courses, one must be phonology, one must be syntax, one must be historical linguistics, and one must be in literature. A total of four (16 units) may be taken in other departments. A maximum of four courses (16 units) of direct research (596) is permitted.

Students who hold an MA degree in Spanish or Portuguese from another university may petition for up to six graduate courses to count toward the PhD degree.

First Stage: Capstone Plan

The examination for the first stage of the program consists of submission of two revised papers written for courses taken during the first five quarters and an oral examination on course work and seminar papers completed while in graduate study. With the assistance of the SAO and the Director of Graduate Studies, by the end of the 4th quarter of the program, students must demonstrate that they are on track to complete the course work (11 required courses) and the Spanish and Portuguese language requirement for this first stage of the program. 

Additionally, by the end of the 4th quarter, students must nominate a review committee of three faculty members from the department: the Director of Graduate Studies, the faculty member who will serve as the student’s adviser, and a third faculty member. These requirements must be completed by the 5th quarter of the program for a student to maintain satisfactory degree progress.

In consultation with the review committee, students are required to submit two of their strongest seminar papers, 20-25 pages each (with revisions) in different areas of study of the PhD Program. For literature students, one paper must be written in English and one in Spanish or Portuguese. Students must submit the papers to the review committee during the 6th quarter of the program and at least two weeks in advance of the oral exam.

The oral exam is two hours in length and consists of a review of the papers submitted and questions addressed to the student. Questions are aimed at reviewing and synthesizing what the student has learned in graduate seminars, focusing on methodology and research questions, as expressed in their papers.

The outcome and recommendation of the exams is made by the review committee as follows: (1) Pass with permission to continue in the PhD, (2) Pass with reservations and specific recommendations for improvement, or (3) Fail without permission to continue in the PhD program.

The examinations for the first stage of the program are administered only in spring quarter (6th quarter). Students are awarded the Master of Arts (MA) degree upon successful completion of the examination. 

First Stage: Thesis Plan

In lieu of taking the examination, students in any of the three tracks may seek permission to present a thesis. Students must first complete five graduate courses. In order to endorse the petition, the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the Committee of Graduate Affairs must find evidence of exceptional ability and promise in term papers and course work. Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Students are awarded the Master of Arts (MA) degree upon successful completion of the Thesis Plan. 

Teaching Experience

Although Teaching Experience is not required, virtually all students acquire teaching experience as part of their support package. 

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the new  Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution .

The qualifying examinations consist of (1) presentation of a 40-60 page paper related to the specific dissertation area; (2) a three-hour written examination in the student’s field of specialization; 3) a two-hour University Oral Qualifying Examination at which the above research paper, written examination, and a dissertation prospectus are discussed. The written examination is based on a reading list approved by the doctoral committee. The doctoral committee also prepares the questions for the written examination. The examinations are normally taken no later than nine quarters after admission into the graduate program. Only students who pass the qualifying examinations are advanced to candidacy for the PhD degree.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Required for all students in the program.

Time-to-Degree

For a full-time student taking three courses per quarter, the following figures are optimal: (a) from graduate admission to completion of the first stage of the program: six quarters; (b) from completion of the first stage to authorization to form a doctoral committee: one quarter; (c) from formation of a doctoral committee to qualifying examinations: two quarters; (d) from passage of qualifying examinations (advancement to candidacy) to presentation of the dissertation: three to six quarters; (e) from graduate admission to award of the PhD degree (or normative time-to-degree): five years (15 quarters).

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Traditionally we have recruited students from many nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, and our goal is to train this diverse body of graduates to become accomplished scholars and professors able to function effectively and successfully at any level of higher education.

Before registering for each semester, students should consult with a member of the graduate committee of their program to schedule an approved combination of courses. All new M.A. or Ph.D. students are required to meet with the graduate program director during the first week of classes in order to fill out information sheets. Normally, for the M.A., three or four semesters of full-time study are required. For the Ph.D., the number of semesters necessary before advancement to candidacy varies (see below). A minimum of two consecutive semesters of full-time graduate study in residence is required for the Ph.D. It is recommended that the number of Independent Studies not exceed two. However, this is determined on an individual level.

Undergraduate courses may also be considered as part of a full-time course load, but do not count toward a graduate degree. Since undergraduate courses are not covered by a tuition waiver, students must pay for such courses. Graduate reading proficiency courses (FRN 500, ITL 500, POR 500) fulfill the language requirement and count toward a full-time course load but not toward a graduate degree. According to University requirements, a minimum of a B average must be maintained in all graduate coursework. After taking the practicum (SPN 691), students may choose to enroll in SPN 693 as part of a required 12-credit load until they reach the point where their full-time credit load is nine credits. Equivalent courses taken at other universities may be certified as fulfilling specific required courses in this department, but only six graduate course credits of any kind may be transferred.

Doctor of Philosophy

The Ph.D. degree is the highest teaching and research degree offered by the University. The Ph.D. prepares the recipient for an academic career at the level of the four-year college and/or research university, or for other careers in humanistic study, research, and writing. The entering graduate student who is considering working toward a Ph.D. should immediately consult with the graduate director to plan a broad program of reading and coursework in all areas offered by the department. The total number of required credits for the Ph.D. degree is usually 48 (16 courses). These 16 courses include the 12 general requirements specified below and four courses of the student’s choosing. Each student is also required to take at least one graduate-level course outside of the department (this course may, upon consultation with the graduate program director, be used to satisfy one of the general requirements). While this sets a general standard for Ph.D. coursework, each student’s actual plan of study will continue to be developed on an individual basis. The exact number and type of required courses will be determined based on the student’s transcript and performance during his or her first semester(s) at Stony Brook. For example, exemptions from particular subareas may be granted depending on the student’s prior study, while in cases of less than-adequate preparation in any period of Peninsular or Latin American literature (which will vary in the cases of students coming from Spanish, Latin American, or North American universities) the student will be required to take additional coursework.

Required Courses

A. Unless exempted, teaching assistants are required to take SPN691, Practicum in the Teaching of Spanish Language.

B. Theory/Applied Theory (a minimum of three courses), SPN 609 Literary Theory, Applied Theory (two courses) Note: Courses qualify as applied theory if approximately 50 percent of the course material is drawn from critical and/or theoretical texts.

C. General Literary Corpus (6 courses)

Note: A minimum of one course from each subarea to be tested in the comprehensive examination. Courses from area B (above) may be included, depending on content, but no one course may be used to satisfy both requirements B and C.

D. Special Field (2 seminars) These courses may be taken as independent studies, but generally only after the student has fulfilled requirements A, B, and C.

The goal of these courses is to prepare papers for presentation and publication that may also serve as the basis for part of the thesis.

Sample of a four-year study plan for the Ph.D.

1st year: Fall, 12 credits (including SPN 691); Spring, 12 credits (including SPN 693)

2nd year: Fall, 9 credits; Spring, 9 credits

3rd year: Fall, 6 credits; Spring, comprehensive exam

4th year: Fall and Spring, thesis

Language Requirements

In addition to proficiency in Spanish and English, the Ph.D. student must demonstrate a reading knowledge of two languages among French, Latin, Portuguese, Italian, German, Galician, Catalán, Basque and another language if related to the field chosen for the dissertation. The student is urged to demonstrate a reading knowledge of this language by the beginning of his or her second year of full-time study; he or she is required to fulfill both language requirements prior to being advanced to candidacy. A language requirement may be fulfilled by (1) passing the Princeton Graduate School Foreign Language Test (GSFLT), (2) successful completion (grade of B or higher) of a graduate reading course or regular graduate course in the foreign language, or (3) passing a special reading examination administered under the supervision of the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature. If option three is chosen, the student should consult with the graduate program director, who, along with the department chairperson, will designate an appropriate examiner. Texts will be assigned for the examination, during which a dictionary may be used for the translation of sight passages.

Qualifying Examination  

The qualifying examination is an instrument designed to give the entire faculty of the department an opportunity to evaluate the student’s academic abilities and promise. The exam seeks to assess the student’s sensitivity to literature, capacity to deal critically with the text, and ability to express him- or herself cogently. Elaborate bibliographical information regarding the texts, while not discouraged, is not required.

The qualifying examination is only offered once a year, at the beginning of the Fall semester. Students who wish to be confirmed as Ph.D. students must take and pass the qualifying examination (1) at the beginning of their third semester if they enter the program with a BA or MA in Spanish in the Fall; (2) at the beginning of their fourth semester if they enter with a BA in the Spring; (3) at the beginning of their second semester if they enter with and M.A. or its equivalent in the Spring.

The department selects six texts and submits the list to the student not later than four months before the exam. It consists of (1) six hours of written work; the student answers four of six questions, omitting the one that he or she has selected for the oral presentation, each response is expected to be a minimum of four typed, double spaced pages, at least two of the responses must be written in Spanish, and (2) an oral presentation of some 20 minutes on the selected text; notes may be used, but the student should not read from a text. The oral presentation must be given in Spanish. Following the presentation, the faculty will ask questions.

Students who pass the qualifying exam are automatically admitted to the Ph.D. program. Students who do not pass the exam will be allowed to finish their master’s degree but will not be permitted to advance to the Ph.D. program. Students are informed of the results of the exam only after all students have finished the oral portion of the exam. Traditionally, the chairperson or the graduate program director informs students privately about the exam results, and later meets with each student in order to discuss the results.

Procedure for Renewing Teaching Assistantships

All teaching assistants (M.A., Ph.D.) are evaluated by the department as a whole to determine whether their teaching assistantships will be continued during the second year. This evaluation will be conducted according to the following criteria, which include but go beyond the strict grade point average: (1) previous intellectual experience, both general and in the area of Hispanism: breadth of courses taken in related fields, and other features that can help to determine the quality of each student. If the recent experience (i.e., the work done while at Stony Brook) is significantly better or worse than the student’s previous experience, this shall be taken into consideration; (2) serious research capacity of each student as demonstrated by papers written for courses; (3) theoretical capacity of each student, as demonstrated by papers written for courses; (4) writing and speaking ability in the Spanish language; and (5) quality of each student as a teaching assistant.

The graduate committee receives evaluations from each faculty member who has worked with the student. The committee may also reread term papers written for courses. Students holding Incompletes will inevitably find themselves at a disadvantage in the process of evaluation.

Third-year support for all students will be automatic provided that students remain in good academic standing and have received adequate written reviews of their teaching.

Comprehensive Examination

During their fifth semester in the PhD program, all full-time graduate students will select a Comprehensive Exam committee of three faculty members from the department. By the sixth week of the fifth semester, these students must file a Comprehensive Exam Committee Form with the Director of Graduate Studies. This form will contain the names and signatures of the faculty who have agreed to serve on the student’s Comprehensive Exam Committee. The student’s dissertation advisor must be among the members in this exam committee. Once the Comprehensive Exam Committee Form has been submitted, any changes to this committee must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Scope and timing of the Exam

During the sixth semester in the program all full-time doctoral students take the Comprehensive Examination. In close consultation with the members of their Comprehensive Exam Committee the student will define four thematic text-clusters. Each of these text-clusters will explore a specific topic, genre, debate, problematic, or issue within a research area in our discipline and/or its connections to other academic fields. The preparation of these text-clusters is an exercise designed to develop each student’s specific research interests and serve as preparation work towards their dissertation. The exam should also be considered a fundamental step in the preparation of a teaching portfolio for the student. Thus each cluster will also contain the main thematic threads to develop a proto-syllabus for a course. The text-clusters will be organized according to the following guidelines:

1) The primary specialization cluster will focus on the main area of concern for the student’s dissertation research. This cluster will consist of no fewer than 20 items between primary sources, theory, and criticism.

2) Each of the three secondary clusters will consist of no fewer than 10 primary and 4 theoretical and critical texts.

3) Both the primary and each of the secondary clusters must include an introduction (of at least one page and a maximum of two pages) articulating the main critical issues addressed in it. This introduction must also explain why the student has selected a particular combination of areas, genres, theories, and periods.

4) Each of the four clusters must also contain a set of at least three questions that invite reflection on the central issues and approaches proposed in the cluster.

Cluster preparation

The primary texts in each of the four clusters can include literature, film, art, and other cultural objects or practices. The theoretical and critical bibliography should be selected with relevance to the topic. Creative thinking about sources is encouraged: “literary” texts can be used as “secondary” sources to think about a topic (for example, Borges’s short story “Pierre Menard” for a topic related to issues of reading and interpretation, the Historia verdadera de la conquista de Nueva España as performed theory debating, for example, the links between legal, testimonial, and fictional writing). Correspondingly, theoretical texts can be used as primary texts (for example, in a cluster about film studies in the Hispanic world, or La ciudad letrada as a post-chronicle).

Clusters may be based on one literary genre and/or geographical/temporal area of study (e.g., “Novels of the Spanish Civil War,” Modernista poetry) but multi-genre/ transnational/ transatlantic/ transhistorical approaches and connections are required in at least 2 of the 4 clusters (for example, “Post-dictatorship transatlantic texts”, which could include novels, films, art, and legal writing from Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Spain and/ or other countries in addition to sites such as museums, monuments, “lugares de la memoria”, etc.).

Text-clusters should engage with the geographic and temporal breadth of Latin American/Iberian/Latino cultures:

· Every cluster should include a mix of canonical and non-canonical texts.

· If the primary thematic focus of the clusters is on modern and contemporary issues, at least two of the clusters should also include pre-modern or early-modern works, and vice-versa. This aspect can be addressed in a trans-historical manner, showing connections between pre-modern and modern/contemporary issues.

· If the primary thematic focus of the clusters is on Latin America, at least two of them should also include a comparative Iberian aspect, and vice-versa.

The oral exam

The date for the exam should be agreed on with the Committee at least one month prior. Two weeks before the exam, the student will hand in a final draft of her or his four text-clusters to the Comprehensive Exam Committee. The exam will consist of a 10-minute presentation of the primary cluster and a five-minute presentation for each of the three secondary clusters. Each presentation will be followed by 30 minutes of questions and suggestions from the faculty on the Exam Committee. The primary cluster presentation should describe the underlying rationale connecting the four clusters, foregrounding the disciplinary, interdisciplinary and theoretical dimensions of the student's research. All the presentations should address the issues that provide coherence for the cluster, describe the main issues at work in the texts, the way the existing critical/theoretical bibliography addresses these issues, and formulate questions that need to be explored within that topic and those texts. The Exam will be conducted in Spanish and English. Upon successful completion of the exam and the approval of the dissertation proposal students will be granted ABD status.

Dissertation Proposal

Following successful completion of their Comprehensive Examination, students will work closely with the Dissertation Advisor (and other members of their Dissertation Committee as appropriate) on completing their dissertation proposal. The Advisor will approve the final draft, which will then be submitted to the full committee for approval. The deadline for submission is the fourth week of the student’s seventh semester in the doctoral program. The Dissertation Committee will then move to approve the proposal or to suggest modifications and enhancements.

The proposal should be composed of three parts: (1) an introduction and description of the project consisting of approximately 15-20 pages commenting on the methodology, relevance to the field (2); an overview of each of the proposed chapters; (3) a detailed but selected bibliography of primary and critical sources. A copy of the proposal containing the signatures of the dissertation committee should also be forwarded to the Director of Graduate Studies.

Dissertation Committee

The student forms a dissertation committee with the advice of the graduate program director. This committee reviews the prospectus, the open draft, and the final draft of the dissertation. There will normally be five members: a dissertation director, who will be the first reader; a second reader; and three others (one of whom must be from outside the department). The dissertation director and student will arrange a date and a time for the defense with the committee and will take care of all necessary paperwork. A faculty member other than the dissertation director will preside as chairperson at the oral defense.

Dissertation

The initial draft of the dissertation is given first to the director of the dissertation (or the director and co-director as the case may be). After the approval of the director(s), each member of the dissertation committee should be provided with his or her own corrected draft of the dissertation and given at least one month to read it and make comments. The length of the dissertation should be a minimum of 225 pages, including notes and bibliography.

When the dissertation is nearing completion, the director of the dissertation and the student will jointly agree on a date for the defense. The candidate and/or the director will inform in writing the members of the defense committee, the graduate program director, and the graduate secretary of the defense date. Candidates should be aware that the department will not ordinarily reimburse outside readers for their travel to the defense or the cost of postage and other expenses related to the defense.

The defense will consist of two parts. The first part, lasting normally about 30 minutes, consists of an oral presentation of the dissertation. The public is welcome to this portion of the defense. Following the presentation, each member of the examining committee will have an opportunity to ask questions and make final suggestions regarding the dissertation. The candidate shall bring a final draft of the dissertation to the defense, not the final copy to be carried subsequently to the Graduate School, in case the committee suggests last minute changes. The candidate should also bring a draft of the dissertation abstract to the defense, which has been previously approved by the Graduate Director and submitted to the Graduate School. The abstract is to be written in English and should not exceed 350 words. The abstract should consist of a short statement of the student’s research, a brief exposition of the methods and procedures employed in gathering data, and a condensed summary of the dissertation’s conclusion.

Following the dissertation period, the candidate and any others not on the dissertation committee will be asked to leave the room while deliberations are made. If all members agree to accept the dissertation, they will sign the final version of the sign-off sheet or signature sheet, which the candidate will bring to the defense (together with the appropriate pen, which must use black permanent ink). This document must also be shown to the graduate secretary of the department so that the “Clearance for Graduation” form may be typed and forwarded to the Graduate School.

All members of the department, including graduate students, should be notified at least four weeks prior to the date and time of the public defense.

Sample Four-Year Study Timeline for PhD

-1st Semester: 12 credits (including SPN 693)*

-2nd Semester: 12 credits (including SPN 693)*

-3rd Semester: 9 credits -4th Semester: 9 credits

-5th Semester: 3 credits course work, 6 credits of preparation for comprehensive exam

- By the 6th week of 5th Semester: Comprehensive Exam Committee Form completed

-6th Semester: Comprehensive Examination. Student selects Dissertation Committee.

4th year: Dissertation

-Fourth week of 7th Semester: Proposal Submitted to Dissertation Committee.

Teaching Assistantships (TAs)

The Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature has a yearly allocation of teaching assistantships for its graduate students. Each year, the assistantships are awarded to the most promising applicants.

Teaching assistants are assigned to teach one section of a course each semester. During the first semester of their assistantship, they are required to attend an orientation session and a practicum given by the department in order to provide instruction in the methodology of language teaching. In the performance of their teaching duties, teaching assistants must conform to the program and University regulations regarding examinations, class attendance, textbooks, office hours, grading systems, and syllabi.

Meetings with a supervisor and a coordinator of language courses are regularly scheduled and attendance is mandatory. Written evaluations of each TA’s teaching performance are done periodically by the department. Renewal of assistantships will depend upon compliance with the regulations listed above.

Teaching assistantships are renewable for three years. Students who are ABD (all but dissertation) may be eligible for a fifth year assistantship. Renewal is subject to passing the qualifying examination and satisfactory course grades and teaching. There is a limited opportunity for summer teaching at an appropriate stipend. Other fellowships, loans, and work-study programs are available.

Several W. Burghardt Turner fellowships are awarded each year to promising minority students who hold American citizenship or permanent residency.

Recent Fellowships and Awards Received by our PhD Students

• Presidential Dissertation Completion Fellowship
• 2023-2024 Carlos Vincéns
• 2022-2023 Martha Chávez Negrete
• 2023 (Spring) Moisés Hassan
• 2021 Anay Rodríguez, Alberto Sánchez Medina, Carolina Vittor Medina

Humanities Institute at Stony Brook Fellowship to Attend The Summer School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University

• 2020 Isabel Murcia Estrada
• 2017 Gabriel Rudas Burgos
• 2016 José Chueca

Distinguished Travel Award

• 2018 Ignacio Arellano Torres
• 2017 Mary Kate Donovan

Graduate Council Fellowship

• 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022

Turner Fellowships

• 2023 (1 award), 2022 (1 award), 2020 (1 award), 2018 (1 award), 2014 (2 awards) , 2015 (3 awards), 2016 (2 awards), 2017 (2 awards)

LACS Summer Reaearch Travel Grants

• 2022 Paulo Soares

Guiliano Global Fellowship Program

• 2022 (Spring)  Beatriz Solas Vilas,  Jesús Jiménez Valdés

Graduate Fellowship & Faculty Research Program

• 2019-2020 Ignacio Arellano
• 2018-2019 Gabriel Rudas
• 2017-18 José Chueca
• 2015-16 Mary Kate Donovan

(*) 12 credits for students entering with a B.A. or equivalent; 9 credits for students entering with an M.A. or equivalent. Students without M.A. take 693 during both semesters of their first year.

Number of teaching, graduate, and research assistants, fall 2016: 16

[Updated Spring 2018]

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The Doctor of Philosophy Degree Program in Spanish

  Deadlines  for Fall admission, February 1, for Spring admission, October 1.

Prerequisites for admission to the Ph.D. program in Spanish include the following:

• Master's degree in Spanish or equivalent. 3.50 (on the 4.00 scale) on all graduate course work.
• Students entering the program are encouraged to show evidence of residence in a Spanish-speaking country.
• The total number of hours required for the Ph.D. is ninety hours beyond the Bachelor's degree, including credit earned for the M.A., if applicable to the Ph.D. program.
• Only graduate-level courses (4000/5000 level) preceded by a "G" in the General Course Catalog are applicable toward the Ph.D. major and concentration.

General Guidelines for the Ph.D. in Spanish

A concentration consisting of nine hours as approved by the student's committee. The following courses were strongly recommended for students who started the program before the spring of 2014, are now required for students who will start the program in the fall of 2014 or later:

• SPAN 5713 (History of the Spanish Language)
• MLLL 5063 (Early Literary Criticism)
• MLLL 5073 (Contemporary Literary Criticism)

All Graduate Teaching Assistants are required during their first year to enroll in MLLL 5813, Teaching Foreign Languages. GTAs who have already had this course or one similar to it may be exempted. Before completion of the degree, students must demonstrate reading competency in a second language. In order to do so, they may take the departmental  Graduate Reading Exam (pdf) or complete two semesters or ten hours in another language. A general examination based on coursework and a reading list established in consultation with the student's committee members is required for the Ph.D. 

Graduate Teaching Assistants are required to maintain enrollment in a minimum of five credit hours of graduate-level courses per semester.

• Apply to the Spanish PhD Program
• Fall 2018 Spanish Graduate Courses (pdf)
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• Spanish PhD Exam and Dissertation
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PhD Program

MIT Biological Engineering’s mission is to generate and communicate new knowledge in the application of engineering principles in biological systems and to educate leaders in our discipline. We focus at the interface of engineering and biology on combining quantitative, physical, and integrative engineering principles with modern life sciences research. MIT BE offers a graduate PhD degree, and only accepts PhD applications through the annual Departmental process for admission fall term of the following year.

PhD-level training in BE prepares students to conduct research that will:

• Explain how biological systems function in terms of biological/chemical/physical mechanisms, and how they respond when perturbed by endogenous, environmental, and therapeutic factors
• Engineer innovative technologies based on this understanding and apply technologies to address societal needs across all sectors including, but not limited to, biomedicine
• Establish new biology-based paradigms for solving problems in areas of science and engineering that have not historically been impacted by biological approaches

In addition, PhD-level training in BE prepares students to translate this research for positive impact in the world by developing skills to:

• Explain technical subject matter clearly, accurately, and in a compelling and contextual manner for a range of audiences
• Engage collaboratively in diverse teams to contribute biological engineering expertise needed for multidisciplinary projects
• Exercise intellectual and operational leadership to advance on goals in technically and organizationally complex scenarios
• Exhibit integrity and ethical judgment in the design of research and the application of research results

Degree Requirements

BE PhD students complete two core courses in the first year, supplemented with four additional electives ( Course Requirements ). Individual students pace their own progress through elective coursework in consultation with their academic advisor.

In addition to the course requirements, students present an oral thesis qualifying exam to be completed by the end of the fall term in their third year.

BE PhD students complete research rotations in the fall and winter of their first year and select a BE Faculty member as a research and thesis advisor. Students carry out thesis research with the guidance and support of their advisor and a thesis committee formed by the student. Technical communication is an important part of the BE PhD curriculum. Students gain and practice scientific communication skills through one or more terms of teaching experience at the graduate or undergraduate level and research-focused activities including poster and oral presentations at Departmental events including our retreat, the Bioengineering and Toxicology Seminar (BATS) seminar series, and culminating in delivery of a written PhD thesis and oral defense of their thesis work.

For More Information

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Please contact the BE Graduate Academic Office for additional information regarding BE educational programs.

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Want To Learn Spanish? This Immersion Travel Program Will Take You Around The World To Make It Happen.

I love traveling throughout Latin America because it gives me an opportunity to practice the Spanish language I spent four years learning as an undergrad but rarely have the occasion to use in my everyday life. Still, the further away I get from my graduation date, the less I remember—and the less confident I feel striking up conversations with Spanish speakers.

Two years ago, while traveling to Mexico City , a publicist friend of mine told me she was going to be spending a week doing an immersive Spanish-language experience with a company called Fluenz . And after toiling over the idea of trying it out for myself since that time, this summer I finally took the plunge and inquired about booking an experience.

What is Fluenz: It’s a program started by Sonia Gil to help users realistically achieve their goal of becoming fluent using three tools: the Fluenz app , one-on-one Zoom lessons , and immersion trips . While the app offers modules in Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French, and Mandarin, immersion trips are only offered for Spanish and include destinations throughout South and Central America, from Argentina to Colombia, Costa Rica , Spain, Peru, and multiple cities in Mexico. The hardest part will be choosing a location. Once you do, the Fluenz team will take care of everything, from your accommodations to your hotel transfers, group reservations for dinners and excursions, and any personal requests, such as extending your stay or setting up private tours.

How it works: Over the course of six days, you’ll spend a total of 20 hours (two hours each morning and two hours each afternoon), either paired with other students or in one-on-one classes with a language coach, learning and practicing Spanish in sessions tailored to your specific level of proficiency. You’ll be given a workbook to take physical notes, while your coach will also keep digital notes from your sessions in a Google Drive folder that you can reference throughout the week and after your travels.

Outside the classroom, you’ll share lunch with program participants on the property where you can choose to sit at a Spanish table, if you’d like more practice, or an English table if your brain needs a break. You’ll also share dinners at top-notch restaurants on select nights and visit the city’s cultural hubs while using your free time to further explore and engage locals.

Who you’ll travel with: With the time and financial commitment that Fluenz requires ($6,920 for a single occupancy room in CDMX), it’s a guarantee that you’ll be traveling with fellow professionals who have a shared goal of learning Spanish, many because of their careers. My group consisted of lawyers, healthcare workers, a professor, a psychologist, and other business owners who employ Spanish speakers. Language proficiency ranged from one student who was so advanced his classes mostly consisted of perfecting pronunciation, to another who had never studied Spanish a day in her life and decided to jump in headfirst with a trip, and another student who’d just done an immersion trip in Oaxaca weeks prior.

Who’ll be teaching you: Equally diverse will be your coaches’ backgrounds, including architects, musicians, and former journalists from different parts of Latin America. The coaches will rotate on your schedule throughout the week to expose you to various Spanish accents and teaching styles.

What to know before you go: Prior to traveling, you’ll be sent a questionnaire to assess your level of Spanish, and from there a Zoom assessment will be scheduled where you’ll talk with a coach to determine the module level you should begin practicing with on the Fluenz app and where to start your Spanish journey upon arrival. You’ll also be provided with your hotel information, pickup details, and an itinerary for the week. Each night you’ll receive emails detailing the next day’s schedule as well.

Here’s how my immersion trip to Mexico City unfolded.

Day 1: I arrived at Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez early Sunday morning and was promptly picked up by my driver, who held a sign for me outside of baggage claim and transported me to Pug Seal Anatole France where I was staying for the week. The boutique hotel in the posh neighborhood of Polanco is charming with its antique details and has incredibly spacious suites. I felt much more like I was renting an apartment for an extended stay versus being cooped up in a tiny hotel room, which enhanced my immersion experience. And the food on the property—which included delicious soups at every lunch made from recipes crafted by Fluenz’s founder—was fresh, flavorful, and filling.

I spent the afternoon strolling around the neighborhood on foot. I grabbed a quick lunch at Goy’s Plant-Based Burgers and had dinner at La Única , a contemporary Mexican cantina Fluenz recommended. The menu is sophisticated and extensive across its meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes.

Day 2: I won’t lie, I went into my first Spanish class feeling pretty confident and walked out wondering what I’d gotten myself into. The beauty in that is my teachers were going over the exact things I told them I wanted to work on, so I guess one could say I brought that on myself. That evening, I was more than happy to wind down with tamales and mezcal at the hotel, followed by a talk on Mexico’s storied political history by Mexican actor and screenwriter Adrián Pascoe.

Day 3: My frustration peaked in my Tuesday afternoon class when I was overthinking my Spanish to the point of being verbally paralyzed. My coach for my fourth class, Pepe, reassured my command of the language while also telling me he’s known for challenging his students, which made me feel a bit better.

That evening, we were treated to a private tour of the Museo Nacional de Antropología , which is so expansive it requires multiple visits to sit with all the wonders inside. It was such a treat to see centuries-old crafts and figures from the Mayan and Teotihuacan cultures on display and learn the stories of how these items were used and later discovered and procured.

Day 4: By mid-week, I started feeling like I was hitting my stride in my one-on-one classes and got more comfortable making small talk with my coaches when we walked to sessions outside of the hotel. That night we had dinner in a private room at Pujol , a Michelin-starred restaurant where reservations are nearly impossible without months of advance notice. The menu takes Mexican gastronomy to unexpected heights—and your palate as well. Be prepared for unique ingredients like grasshopper and mango sake sorbet that will be surprisingly satisfying.

Day 5: All those courses (and wine pairings) at Pujol made for a sluggish Thursday morning class, but the day was broken up by a trip to Casa Gilardi , the colorful home built between 1975 and 1977 by minimalist Mexican architect Luis Barragán. The red, blue, and pink pool room has become Instagram-famous, but the entire space is captivating, from the yellow hallway on the first level to the rail-less stairway leading to the floors above.

Another field trip awaited us Thursday afternoon when, after a quick vocabulary lesson, we had a chance to make the Museo Soumaya our classroom. The museum boasts over 66,000 works of art, which doesn’t include the silver-tiled building itself with its unique structure. The items within are donated entirely from the private collection of Lebanese-Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú.

Day 6: By Friday, I’d felt like I’d made notable progress, and I was reassured of that when my morning session was a group class with two other students, during which we spent most of the time using prompts to work on our conversation skills. That afternoon we had a celebration where each student could share a short story they wrote and show off what they’d learned during the week. That night, we continued the party with dinner at Sylvestr e , where the wine pairings, once again, perfectly complemented the Mexican-fusion dishes within the colonial-style space.

Day 7: Before my afternoon flight home Saturday, I took an Uber to Chapultepec Castle, which sits inside the Bosque de Chapultepec , a massive park filled with lakes, sculptures, walking paths, botanical gardens, and more. The 18th-century neo-classical palace sits on a hill—be prepared to walk—rewarding you with spectacular views of the city below, including the Paseo de la Reforma. Inside, you’ll find paintings, jewels, armor, and more relics from Mexico’s former monarchs on display.

Perhaps most rewarding was my driver, Oscar, noting how much I spoke with him in Spanish on the way to the airport compared to when I arrived. I knew I’d achieved my goal for the week, and those around me could see the improvement, too.

After the trip: I left Mexico City with an unexpected souvenir of sorts: tarea (homework). At the end of your immersion, your lead coach will put together a homework assignment for you to work on no sooner than a week after you’ve returned to give your brain some time to process all of the information you learned during your travels. I knew after my last class I’d want to continue sessions via Zoom, which I just started last week. Between writing and other travels, I didn’t work on my Spanish as much as I’d initially intended, but seeing a familiar face, my head coach Camila, during my first Zoom session calmed any anxiousness I felt, as did continuing the same class structure we had in person, with my coach building on my Google Drive with notes as well as music and film recommendations to expand my exposure to Spanish. The wide availability of classes has made fitting coursework into my schedule easy, and the weekly reminders are helpful when other obligations arise. I must admit, 90 minutes flies by on Zoom when you’re having fun—and finally accomplishing a long-term goal.

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Nuclear Engineering Graduate Program

The School of Nuclear Science and Engineering offers three graduate degrees in nuclear engineering: master of science, master of engineering, and doctor of philosophy. Graduate students work with world renowned faculty and have access to a breadth of unique research facilities and laboratories.

You can put your innovative stamp on real world research projects such as advanced reactor design and medical isotope production with partners like Idaho National Laboratory, NuScale Power, and the Department of Energy. Please refer to our  research areas . 

The program is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities ( view our accreditation information ).

Academics and Admission

Prospective graduate students apply through the  Oregon State University Graduate School  and will be required to submit the following. 

• Statement of purpose.
• University-level academic references are preferred.
• An official transcript from every institution attended. 

Applicants must meet the  minimum academic requirements . International applicants must meet the  minimum requirements for international applicants . GRE scores are currently being waived for Fall 2023 admission cycle.

Admission decisions are based on many factors, such as the quality of the applicant’s prior academic degree and record of accomplishment, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation from professors or others familiar with the applicant’s academic work, performance in aptitude and achievement tests, relevant work experience, preparation in the proposed field of study, and the suitability of the applicant’s academic goals with the faculty’s research interests.

Particularly at the graduate level, a critical consideration in the decision is whether your academic objectives can be satisfactorily fulfilled by the graduate programs at Oregon State. Admission to Oregon State is competitive and meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee admission. Following approval of the School, the Office of Admissions will determine whether the general university admission requirements have been met.

The  four-year undergraduate program example plans  provide an indication of the level of math and science required of our undergrads in preparation for our graduate programs. 

Each applicant is judged on their entire application and a decision is made on the strength of each application in relation to the pool of applicants in any given year.  Meeting the minimum application requirements does not guarantee admission. 

Questions regarding applications and the program should be directed to  Heidi Braly , NSE graduate student liaison. 

Application Dates

Admissions Fall 2023

• Applications open Sept. 17, 2022
• Final Deadline: May 1, 2023
• Full priority funding consideration (GTA/GRA positions) Dec. 31, 2022

Degree Requirements

• Nuclear Engineering Graduate Majors
• Nuclear Engineering Graduate Minor

Graduate Learning Outcomes

M.Eng. 

• Conduct research or produce some other form of creative work.    
• Demonstrate mastery of subject material.    
• Conduct scholarly or professional activities in an ethical manner.
• Conduct scholarly or professional activities in an ethical manner.   

Ph.D. 

• Produce and defend an original significant contribution to knowledge. 
• Demonstrate mastery of subject material.   
• Conduct scholarly or professional activities in an ethical manner.  

Assistantships and Fellowships

NSE offers a limited number of graduate teaching assistantships (GTA) and graduate research assistantships (GRA). There is no separate application process. Students whose applications are complete by the priority funding deadline are automatically considered for available GTA/GRA positions.

Graduate teaching assistants and research assistants are appointed on a term-by-term basis. They receive tuition remission, a monthly stipend starting at $1,700*, and a $430* per term lump sum for fees. 

Fellowships are also available to incoming graduate students. Stipends range from $1,160* to $2,200* per month for the nine-month academic year. There are typically four to six fellowships awarded per academic year. There is no separate application process for fellowships, qualified graduate applicants to the department are automatically considered for available fellowships.

*Award offers and amounts are subject to change at the discretion of department administrators.