phd in spanish literature

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Department of Romance Languages & Literatures

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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)

Spanish Language and Literature Ph.D.

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

Quick Links

• Spanish Program Home
• Spanish Graduate Programs
• Spanish Ph.D. Dissertation Abstracts
• Spanish Language and Literature M.A.
• Hispanic Applied Linguistics M.A. 
• Spanish Program Graduate Funding

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. 

Spanish Literature and Culture, PHD

On this page:, at a glance: program details.

• Location: Tempe campus
• Second Language Requirement: No

Program Description

Degree Awarded: PHD Spanish Literature and Culture

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.

Fields of study

Literature studies:  A typical doctoral program with a specialization on Literature will consist of a variety of graduate Spanish courses in literature, selected among various geographical areas and historical periods, as approved by the student’s supervisory committee.

Cultural studies:  A typical doctoral program with a specialization in cultural studies will consist of a variety of courses in culture, literature and linguistics, diversified between geographical areas and historical periods, as approved by the student’s supervisory committee. 

Program Overview

Outstanding phd program.

The PhD in Spanish literature and culture specializes in Caribbean, Brazilian, Portuguese and Southern Cone studies; Mexican, Mexican American, Latinx and Borderlands cultural production; the Colonial, Golden Age and Baroque periods; and the 19th and 20th centuries.

Student success

Access an abundance of materials, archives and special collections from ASU Library, which frequently partners with students on research projects. ASU's Hayden Library houses 150,000 Latin American print books, 14,000 Spanish ebooks, colonial imprints, cordels, reproductions of codices and more.

World-class faculty

Learn from prestigious faculty recognized in their fields and from affiliate faculty throughout the university. With faculty expertise across an array of regions, topics, periods and disciplines, students receive guidance from a mentor with a background that matches their interests.

Meet the faculty

Coursework, Electives and Mentorship

Students choose to focus on either literature or cultural studies with relevant courses on various geographical areas and historical periods, as approved by the student’s supervisory committee.

The coursework for each student is individualized and based upon the student's previous training, research goals and mentor and committee consensus. With a 1:2 faculty ratio, PhD candidates receive individualized attention guidance from a mentor with a background that matches their interests, allowing students to research what matters to them.

Students are required to complete a written comprehensive exam, prospectus and dissertation.

Courses and Electives

The coursework for each student is individualized and based upon the student's previous training, research goals and mentor and committee consensus. Students are required to complete a written comprehensive exam, prospectus and dissertation.

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

Under-represented minorities

Students in phd programs, international students.

"The School of International Letters and Cultures has been very supportive. My advisor's guidance has been crucial in the development of my research . In addition, I have learned a lot from my peers. SILC has fostered a very inclusive and friendly working and learning environment."  —Edurne Beltran de Heredia Carmona

Degree Requirements

Curriculum plan options.

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.

Admission Requirements

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.

Next Steps to attend ASU

Learn about our programs, apply to a program, visit our campus, application deadlines, career opportunities.

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

Program Contact Information

If you have questions related to admission, please click here to request information and an admission specialist will reach out to you directly. For questions regarding faculty or courses, please use the contact information below.

• [email protected]
• 480/965-6281

Application fee waiver

Applicants facing financial hardship may request a waiver for their application fee. Please complete the online application up to the fee payment page. Please send both Ashley Lawless ([email protected]) and Xiaoqiao Ling ([email protected]) a brief essay (about 150 words) describing why paying the application fee is difficult in your situation, along with your application ID number. If your request is accepted, we will let you know that you can submit your application without paying the fee. The School of International Letters and Cultures has established a limited budget for these waivers. Requests will be considered as they are received until the budget is spent.

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• Archivo Digital de KJCC Poetry Series y CWS Series
• UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
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• Graduate Events
• Crooked Plow: Brazil Revealed in Translation
• Book Launch: Handbook of Latin American Environmental Aesthetics
• A conversation about "Entranced Earth: Art, Extractivism, and the End of Landscape" by Jens Andermann
• De Quiltras, Chuchas y otras Perras: Lectura y Coloquio alrededor del Feminismo
• Fridays on the Patio: A Conversation about Race in Spain, Italy, and the U.S.
• Edad y Territorio como Vehículos de Otrerización
• Fridays on the Patio - Dive into the Theater!
• Fridays on the Patio - Discussion and Open Mic
• Fridays on the Patio - Across So Many Seas
• CRUCE PRIM24 - Traducción como Forma y Acto Político
• CRUCE PRIM24 - Escribir como si estuviéramos muertos
• CRUCE PRIM24 - ¿El arte de la edición?
• CRUCE PRIM24 - El movimiento: la escritura en sus faces lunares
• CRUCE PRIM24 - ¿Por qué estudiar un MFA en escritura?
• CRUCE PRIM24 - Open mic y DJ Set
• Narrativa Contemporánea: una conversación con Mariana Enriquez y Kirmen Uribe
• Acción de Gracias: 20 años de poesía en KJCC Poetry Series

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

College of Arts & Sciences

M.S. and Ph.D. in Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies

M.s. degree.

The program requirements for the M.S. in Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies can be found here .

Ph.D. Degree

The program requirements for the Ph.D. in Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies can be found here .

Reading Lists for M.S. and Ph.D. Programs

• Brazilian Literature and Culture
• Colonial Spanish American Literature and Culture
• Early Modern Peninsular Literature and Culture (to 1700)
• Film and Media Studies
• Medieval (to 1500)
• Modern and Contemporary Spanish American Literature and Culture
• Modern: Eighteenth-, Nineteenth-, and Twentieth-Century Peninsular Literature and Culture
• Transatlantic Literature and Culture

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 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

Graduate Programs

Hispanic studies.

The Department of Hispanic Studies at Brown University trains students to be both specialists and generalists, language teachers and literature scholars, researchers and active intellectuals.

Our faculty represents a broad range of topics and approaches, with particular strengths in early modern and colonial literature, modern and contemporary Latin American narrative, poetry and transatlantic studies.

Class sizes are kept small, to ensure close interaction between students and faculty during the six years of the program, and students receive careful guidance on individual plans of study, professional issues, and job placement.

Additional Resources

We encourage our students to take advantage of the many opportunities for disciplinary exchange and collaborations that characterize intellectual life at Brown, especially through the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Cogut Institute for the Humanities, the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, and the Program for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. Excellent general scholarly resources are available through the David Rockefeller Library, while the John Carter Brown and Hay libraries contain extraordinary holdings in special materials. Finally, our students also have the opportunity to take courses at neighboring institutions such as Harvard and Yale.

Application Information

Application requirements, gre subject:.

Not required

GRE General:

Toefl/ielts:.

Where applicable, a current TOEFL score (minimum 90 points) or IELTS (minimum overall band score: 7)

Official Transcripts:

Letters of recommendations:, writing sample:.

In Spanish on a subject related to Hispanic literature (12–15 pages double–spaced maximum; do not exceed this length, and do not submit more than one sample)

Personal Statement:

Two–page (maximum) statement of your research interests, in English

Additional Requirements:

A 2–minute video statement in Spanish about a book or article which has been important to you in your studies (please send a recorded video directly to [email protected] ; you may prepare notes in advance, but please do not read your response; we're most interested in hearing you talk about a subject of interest to you)

Dates/Deadlines

Application deadline, completion requirements.

Fifteen courses, including one in language instruction methodology; 25-30 page major paper; preliminary exam covering all periods of peninsular and Latin American literature; oral exams in specialized field; reading knowledge of two languages other than Spanish and English; six semesters of teaching are normally required; dissertation.

Alumni Careers

Contact and Location

Department of hispanic studies, mailing address.

• Program Faculty
• Graduate Alumni
• Program Handbook
• Graduate School Handbook

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

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Ph.D. in Spanish with a Concentration in US Latino Literature, Language, and Culture (FACE-TO-FACE)

Arte Público Press author reading at Houston’s Discovery Green

The Department of Hispanic Studies of the University of Houston is the first and only in the nation to offer a Ph.D. degree in Spanish with a concentration in the literature, language and culture of Latinos of the United States. Latino or Hispanic peoples have resided in the portion of North American that became the United States before the founding of the British colonies and the American Republic. Over the course of centuries, a native Latino culture developed, consistently enriched by immigrants and exiles from Spanish-speaking countries producing what is today the largest minority population in the United States. To meet the educational and cultural needs of what eventually will be a third of the national population, the Department of Hispanic Studies has created the US Latino concentration with content and methodologies not only for teaching the US Latino heritage language, literature and culture, but also for researching and preserving them. The concentration provides ample opportunities for students to conduct research and report on their work at conferences as well as to publish their findings.

Research assistants at Arte Público Press and Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage gain hands-on experience in the publication of books and electronic databases of texts, the creation and management of archives, the advanced technologies involved in Digital Humanities and the details of cultural production. Teaching assistants gain hands-on experience in heritage-language education methods and practice.

The US Latino concentration offers a state-of-the art curriculum taught by internationally renowned and award-winning scholars. Their research and publications lead the field and represent the visionary approaches and content that eventually become staple for textbooks and curriculum at the general education, undergraduate and graduate levels throughout the United States. This explains the great success in placement of Ph.D. graduates of the program, many of whom have now been tenured at such institutions as the Appalachian State University, Lamar University, North Carolina State University, Sam Houston State University, University of Houston Downtown, University of Massachusetts, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the University of Texas Rio Grande, among many others.

The concentration allows for either specialization in literature or linguistics, with opportunities for hands-on practice in teaching heritage language to undergraduates and in researching the Latino legacy as research assistants at Arte Público Press, Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage and US Latino Digital Humanities.

Among the courses offered for the Ph.D. in Spanish with the US Latino concentration are:

• Methods of Research in US Hispanic Literature and Linguistics
• US Hispanic Literature Survey
• The Literature of Immigration
• The Literature of Exile
• US Latino Theater
• US Latino Children’s Literature
• US Hispanic Culture and Civilization
• Sociolinguistic Aspects of US Spanish
• Methods for Teaching Spanish to Heritage Learners
• US Latino Film
• Spanish Language as a Resource in the US Professions
• Research in Heritage Language Education
• US Spanish Dialectology

In addition, the concentration also offers a Graduate Certificate in Spanish as a Heritage Language.

Arte Público Press is the nation’s oldest, largest and most distinguished publisher of literature by Latinos of the United States. In 2019, the press was awarded the National Book Critics Lifetime Achievement Award.

Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage is an international program that collects and preserves hundreds of thousands of texts written by Latinos of the United States from the colonial period to the present, digitizes them, publishes them and integrates them into the curriculum.

US Latino Digital Humanities is the international center for the research and teaching of DH methodologies based on Latino culture of the United States. USLDH conducts advanced research and prepares scholars from throughout the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean in this new and exciting field.

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The Ph.D. in Spanish

• 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.  

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PhD Program in Hispanic Studies - Overview

Phd in hispanic studies.

The faculty of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Washington has developed a PhD to address the needs of a new generation of doctoral students in the humanities.  The program is designed to provide a rigorous and comprehensive education in the traditional disciplines of Spanish and Latin American literary studies, while also allowing for an engagement with larger issues relating to the role of the humanities in the contemporary world.

As part of their graduate school experience, students accepted into the PhD program in Hispanic Studies at the University of Washington will participate in the Graduate Certificate in Public Scholarship, in collaboration with the Simpson Center for the Humanities.  This certificate program will provide theoretical training and practical experience relevant to the larger issues surrounding the public role of specialized scholarship in the humanities. The dissertation project may take the traditional form of a scholarly monograph.  Alternatively, the dissertation may take a more non-traditional form.  This may include a portfolio of scholarly and creative work, digital publication, an exhibition with a strong scholarly apparatus, or other configurations.  The degree is earned normally in 15 academic quarters (12 quarters, if a student already holds an MA degree).

Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is the oldest state-assisted institution of higher education on the Pacific coast. The University's beautiful 700-acre park-like campus borders two lakes in a residential section of Seattle, three miles from the city center. With a student enrollment of 35,000 and a faculty of 3,500, the University has achieved an outstanding, international reputation for its diverse academic programs and distinguished faculty, its notable and varied research contributions, and its broad range of public services.

We invite you to consult www.washington.edu/discover for additional information about the University of Washington.

The city's metropolitan population of 3,500,000 (700,000 in Seattle) supports vibrant cultural, educational and recreational institutions, including flourishing opera, symphony, ballet, and professional theater groups, and major-league sports teams. The city hosts a renowned International Film Festival and boasts a lively film, theater, book and café culture. Seattle enjoys a mild climate year-round and is one of the nation's most beautiful, cosmopolitan, and liveable cities.

The nearby Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, the state's abundant lakes and rivers, the waters of Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean, as well as the area's productive vineyards, orchards, crop lands, and forests, offer Seattle residents unsurpassed natural beauty and a rich variety of recreational opportunities.

Advanced Study and Research Support

The University of Washington Library system, exceeding 5,000,000 cataloged volumes and more than 50,000 serials, ranks high among the acclaimed American academic research libraries. The University's exceptional support facilities include the generously endowed Simpson Center for the Humanities, and the Center for Advanced Research Technology in the Arts and Humanities. The latter provides high-level expertise (including optical scanning, database, and programing support) for the University's humanities departments. The University's many theaters, concert halls, galleries, language-learning and media centers, broadcasting stations, and satellite reception facility, are also used by students and faculty in research, instruction, and performance projects.

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies is the home of the Center for Spanish Studies, a cooperative initiative of the Embassy of Spain and the State of Washington that provides support to teachers and students of Spanish.

Financial Support and the Cost of Study

Graduate students in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese Studies may be awarded Teaching Assistantships an entire academic year.  These Academic Student Employee positions are covered under a union contract.  These positions pay $23,850 for the 2017-2018 academic year and are expected to be similar in 2018-2019.  Teaching Assistantships also include a waiver of the Tier 1 graduate tuition.  For 2017-2018, in-state graduate tuition is $5,069 per quarter, non-resident is $9,085.  Even with this waiver, ASE’s are responsible for paying other tuition-related fees each quarter, usually costing a few hundred dollars.  In addition to departmental opportunities, there are also Study Abroad programs led by our faculty that might provide other means of TA support.

Inquiries and Applications

Applications for Teaching and Research Assistantships received by December 15th will be assured preferred consideration for the Department's financial support. Applications for admission to graduate study must also be received by December 15th, for admission the following autumn quarter. For more detailed information and/or to submit an application, please visit the Admission Requirements & Application Forms page.

The Graduate Faculty

(See also Faculty Page )

Angélica Amezcua   (Ph.D., Arizona State University)  Heritage Language Program Director, studies Spanish language Education and Research.

Ana Fernández Dobao (Ph.D., University of Santiago de Compostela) Language Program Director, studies applied linguistics and second language acquisition. Anthony Geist (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley) , studies 20th-century Spanish literature (particularly the Generation of '27 and poetry since Franco), Modernism & Postmodernism, and cultural studies. Donald Gilbert-Santamaría (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley)  studies the novel and theater of Early Modern Spain. His next major project is a study of autobiography in Early Modern Spain.

Ana Gómez-Bravo  (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley) , studies Medieval Literature.

Elizabeth Hochberg   (Ph.D., Princeton University) studies popular cultures, visual culture, and prose fiction.  Leigh Mercer (Ph.D., Brown University)  studies 18th- and 19th-century Spanish literature and Spanish cinema.

José Francisco Robles (Ph.D., El Colegio de México) Graduate Program Coordinator, research interests include science, philosophy, and literature in Colonial Latin America, and the relationship between literary production and knowledge in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Juan Pablo Rodríguez Argente   (Ph.D., Yale University) , studies Medieval Hispanic literature, Textual Studies, and Ecocriticism.

Emeriti Faculty

Farris Anderson† (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) Professor Emeritus.

Edgar O'Hara (Ph.D., University of Texas)  Professor Emeritus.  Studies Latin American poetry, especially modern and contemporary, as well as poetic theory.   

Suzanne Petersen (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin)  Associate Professor Emerita.  Studies the Pan-Hispanic ballad tradition from its origins to our time, and medieval literature, especially poetry (the popular lyric and the Libro de buen amor).

George Shipley†   (Ph.D., Harvard University) Associate Professor Emeritus.

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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

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• Literatures in Spanish

The Spanish Section is committed to the study of literature and culture in their material and political context. The faculty encourages the use of a dialectical method that combines formal analysis with a discussion of broader social issues. Following in the footsteps of section founders such as Carlos Blanco-Aguinaga, the Spanish Section continues its rich history of scholarship and teaching in all areas of Spanish peninsular cultures ranging from medieval to the early modern and contemporary periods. The section is especially strong in its coverage of Latin American and U.S. Latino topics (see Areas of Concentration). It is recommended that students conduct research across disciplines and national boundaries, e.g. literatures of the Americas or transatlantic studies. All students in the section will gain a broad knowledge of a diverse range of Spanish-speaking traditions. Because of the unique structure of the graduate program, seminars will expose students to the latest trends in Latin American and European cultural theory.

• Comparative Literature
• Cultural Studies
• Literatures in English

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Graduate program information.

The Ph.D. program in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese explores the dynamic fields of Latin American, Luso-Brazilian, Latinx, and Iberian studies in all their rich and diverse linguistic, literary, and cultural traditions, and adopting multiple intellectual approaches. The Ph.D. program encourages students to engage with related disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, including African American Studies, Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Film and Media Studies, History of Art, Medieval Studies, Philosophy, and Early Modern Studies (formerly Renaissance Studies), as well as emerging multidisciplinary fields such as Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and Digital Humanities.

The department participates in a combined Ph.D. program in Spanish and Portuguese and African American Studies offered in conjunction with the  Department of African American Studies  and a combined Ph.D. program in Spanish and Portuguese and Early Modern (formerly Renaissance) Studies offered in conjunction with the  Early Modern Studies Program . Ph.D. students are also encouraged to obtain certificates from programs and areas complementary to their teaching and research interests; at Yale, such certificates exist in connection with the programs in Film and Media Studies; Public Humanities; Translation Studies; and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

The program is typically five or six years long. The first two years are devoted to course work and the fulfillment of the two language requirements; the third year, to the Qualifying Examination and the preparation of the Dissertation Prospectus; the fourth and fifth (or fourth through sixth) years, to the writing of the dissertation. The student participates in the Teaching and Pedagogy Program during years two through four, taking the required course in modern languages pedagogy in the second year, and teaching one course per semester in the department’s basic language sequence during the third and fourth years. Assisting in literature courses is offered as available. No teaching is done during the two years of course work or during the dissertation fellowship year.

All Ph.D. candidates at Yale can receive six years of full funding. This consists of a 12-month stipend in each of years one and two, during which students complete their course work, a 12-month stipend in each of years three and four, during which students are expected to assist in teaching in one course each semester, and a 12-month stipend during the year (usually year five) in which students take the dissertation completion fellowship. With progress on the dissertation confirmed, Yale guarantees again a 12-month stipend in the sixth year typically through teaching assignments. The University also covers the premiums for basic health care and hospitalization at the University Health Service for students, 50% of that premium for spouses, and 100% for families with children during the entire period in which a student is registered, even if registration is extended beyond the five years of the financial aid package.

Program Requirements 

The following requirements apply to students entering Fall 2021 or later. Students who entered Fall 2020 or earlier can find the previous requirements here .

1. Course work consists of fourteen elective seminars (up to four outside the department); four of the fourteen seminars as auditor (no exam or paper required), inside or outside the department; and a required course, SPAN 790, Methodologies of Modern Language Teaching.

2. Two language requirements: proficiency in two languages other than English and the primary study language (either Spanish or Portuguese); these languages could be other Romance languages, Latin, or other language families pertinent to the research interests of each student.

3. Participation in the Teaching and Pedagogy program.

4. Qualifying Examination, consisting of written and oral components.

5. Dissertation Prospectus, prepared in consultation with the student’s adviser and approved by the faculty.

6. Doctoral Dissertation, prepared in close consultation with the adviser, approved by the faculty and Graduate School, and completed during the fifth or sixth year of study.

Special Admissions Requirements

Thorough command of the language in which the student plans to specialize and a background in its literature, as well as command of at least one of the two additional languages in which the student will need to fulfill requirements, are required.

Application must include a personal statement and an academic writing sample in the language of the proposed specialization, not to exceed twenty-five pages in length. GRE scores are not accepted.

Students whose native language is not English must submit scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

For more information on the application process, please consult the website of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: https://gsas.yale.edu/admission

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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

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Ph.D. in Spanish

Below are the specific requirements to earn a Ph.D. in Spanish. Please also see the timetable to earn the degree and the checklist for course requirements .

Ph.D. in Spanish Requirements

• Maintaining good standing in the progress toward the degree
• Language requirement
• M.A. Thesis
• Selection of Academic Adviser
• Successful Comprehensive Exam
• Successful Qualifying Exam
• Successful Dissertation Defense

1. Student standing

Students must maintain a B+ average or better every semester in all graduate courses to remain in good standing. Students may request up to a maximum of two Incompletes (I) while enrolled at Vanderbilt and cannot carry an Incomplete (I) for more than one semester. Students must be conscientious classroom instructors and advance toward their degrees in a timely fashion. Students should participate actively in the academic life of the department, attending lectures, presentations, and other activities sponsored by the department. Only students in good standing may take the Comprehensive Exam, submit a dissertation proposal; and take the Qualifying Exam. Good standing is a prerequisite for financial assistance, including summer support, teaching assistantships, and dissertation fellowships.

2. Language requirement

As part of the M.A. students must demonstrate competence in Portuguese by taking PORT 5203 or a more advanced course taught in the target language. Other possibilities for meeting this requirement will be entertained and reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

3. Coursework

The Ph.D. in Spanish requires 63 credit hours of coursework, including the 30 credit hours earned for the M.A. at Vanderbilt.

Required courses (12 hours):

• SPAN 6010 Literary Analysis and Theory;
• SLS/SPAN 6030 Foreign Language Learning and Teaching;
• SPAN 6020 Ibero-Romance Philology (Students entering with a B.A. or Licenciatura should take SPAN 6020 in the 5 th semester of residence, if offered; students entering with an M.A. must take 6020 in the 3 rd semester of residence, if offered);
• SPAN 6040 Research and Grant Proposal Writing (Students entering with a B.A. or Licenciatura should take 6040 in the 5 th semester of residence, if offered; students entering with an M.A. should take 6040 in the 3 rd semester of residence, if offered).

Core courses (36 hours):

A minimum of 36 additional credit hours should be in graduate seminars in Spanish, numbered 7000 and above.  A maximum of 6 credit hours of Independent Study (SPAN 9560, 9660, 9670) may be applied to the Spanish requirements. Each Independent Study must be approved by the DGS upon the submission of a detailed syllabus prepared by the instructor. Note that SPAN 6080, a special graduate course to be used for Comprehensive Exam preparation, does not count toward these required credit hours.

Required minor (9 hours):

There is a mandatory minor for the Ph.D. in Spanish, which consists of a minimum of 9 credit hours. This minor is often Portuguese. After the Comprehensive Exam and within the following academic year, students will send their academic advisor in writing their plan to complete the minor. The academic advisor will assess the coherence and relevance of the minor and send the plan for the minor to the DGS. Some minors are pre-established and do not require prior approval; they must simply be declared. These minors are: 1. the Certificate in Latin American Studies issued by the Center for Latin American Studies, 2. the interdisciplinary minor in Philosophy and Literature; and 3. the Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies, issued by the Program of Women’s and Gender Studies (for details see the Graduate Catalog and contact the director of the program).

Electives (6 hours):

6 additional hours of graduate-level courses in Spanish, Portuguese or another discipline approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

4. M.A. Thesis

See Master of Arts in Spanish .

5. Selection of Academic Adviser

6. comprehensive exam.

A Comprehensive Exam is mandatory for all students (accepted with or without an M.A. from another institution) and will be completed by the end of the fourth semester of residence.

Preparation

• All students must take the Comprehensive Exam no later than the end of their fourth semester of residence.
• The Spanish Comprehensive Exam is based on both the Spanish Peninsular and Spanish American literature lists.
• Optional Comprehensive Research/Reading course: during their fourth semester, students may take a special graduate course to be used for Comprehensive Exam Preparation (SPAN 6080 Comprehensive Exam Study) for 3 credit hours. The course will not count toward the credit hours needed for completion of the M.A. or Ph.D. degrees. For this course, students will produce, in agreement with their academic advisors a list of works to be read during the semester.

Both parts of the Comprehensive Exam will be taken over spring break. One will cover the Spanish Peninsular list and the other will cover the Spanish American list. The questions for both parts will be sent to the student by 4:00 pm on the Friday before the beginning of Spring Break and the answers to all of the questions must be sent by email to the DGS by 9:00 am of the Monday following the end of Spring Break.

The exam is take-home and open book. The answers to all of the questions are expected to be fully original to each individual student. Examinees are expected to adhere to the Vanderbilt Honor Code: “Vanderbilt University students pursue all academic endeavors with integrity. They conduct themselves honorably, professionally and respectfully in all realms of their studies in order to promote and secure an atmosphere of dignity and trust. The keystone of our honor system is self-regulation, which requires cooperation and support from each member of the University community.”

• Identifications with Brief Analysis: Answer six out of eight questions involving identifications and analyses of elements from literary works on the lists. These elements may be a character, a quote, the title of a book, a literary phenomenon, trend or school, among other features of works or literary criticism. The answers may run from one to two pages. At least four of the answers should be in Spanish.
• Literary analysis in English: Answer one of two questions requiring literary analysis. This short essay should be written in English (four to five pages).Literary analysis in Spanish: Answer one of two questions with a longer essay written in Spanish (six to eight pages).

Comprehensive Exam committee

The Comprehensive Exam committee will be formed by three faculty members: the student’s academic advisor (chosen by the student during the third semester of study) and two other faculty members chosen by the DGS. If the student’s academic advisor is not available, a substitute member will be chosen by the DGS in consultation with the graduate student being examined. The Comprehensive Exam committee is ultimately responsible for the outcome of the Comprehensive Exam, and has the final say on the outcome of the exam. Exams will be made available to all Faculty members of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese upon request.

Possible outcomes of the Comprehensive Exam:

• Pass with distinction and admission to the Ph.D. program.
• Pass with admission to the Ph.D. program.
• Fail with the automatic possibility of retaking the exam. The exam can only be retaken once. The retake will take place during the week immediately following the official final exam period of the same semester when the first exam is taken. The student will have one week to take the new exam under the same conditions as described above. The retake will be evaluated by the original committee. The outcome of the retake will be determined by the committee and will be final. The graduate student can opt out of retaking the exam, choosing instead to leave the program.

Possible outcomes of the retake of the Comprehensive Exam:

• Pass and admission to the Ph.D. program.
• Fail and dismissal from the program.

7. Qualifying Exam

• There are two reading lists for the Qualifying Exam: the Period List and the Specialized Research List.
• The Period List consists of primary and secondary works in all genres from a particular period that is directly related to the dissertation topic.
• The Specialized Research List consists of works based on the dissertation topic. The dissertation and resulting list may be organized around a genre, an issue, a theme, or any combination of these elements, as well as around a particular theoretical problem. The list should include primary works as well as theoretical, historical, and critical works. It may, as deemed necessary by the doctoral committee, include works from different periods, from both sides of the Atlantic, and from Africa, Asia, or any other part of the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world. Accompanying the Specialized Research List should be a two-page statement that explains and justifies it in relation to the dissertation topic and proposal.
• Each list consists of approximately 30 to 50 books, as well as complementary chapters of books, articles, and specific works of literature, theory, and criticism. Each list should be compiled by the student in consultation with his or her advisor and committee.
• The final proposal for the dissertation (including bibliography), approved by the student’s advisor, should be submitted to the dissertation committee and the DGS one month prior to the Qualifying Exam.
• The dissertation committee will consist of three faculty members from the department and one outside member chosen by the student in consultation with his or her advisor. The student must appoint the dissertation committee in the semester prior to the Qualifying Exam. After securing the agreement and permission of all parties involved, the student must provide the DGS with a list of the faculty members who will serve on the committee and indicate who will serve as committee chair.

Qualifying Exam format

• Written portion: The written exam will be designed by the student’s academic advisor and agreed upon in advance by the entire committee. It will be divided into two sections: one based on the Period List and the other on the Specialized Research List and the Proposal. The student will answer 3 of the 4 questions in each section. Each essay answer must be from 10 to 15 pages long (double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point) and must demonstrate dedicated work and sophisticated thinking, and reflect the student’s readiness to begin work on the dissertation. Twelve days will be allotted for this exam. The dissertation advisor will distribute copies of the written exam to each member of the committee and the DGS.
• Oral portion: Five to fifteen days after the satisfactory completion of the written exam, the student will take an oral exam. During this oral exam, the student will present the dissertation proposal, discuss it with the committee, and answer questions regarding the written exam. The main purpose of the oral exam is: 1) to strengthen the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of the proposal; 2) to discuss the material and content of the proposed dissertation; and 3) to define both a plan and a timetable for the completion of the dissertation.

Qualifying Exam outcomes

Possible outcomes of the Qualifying Exam:

• Pass with distinction and Candidacy for the Ph.D
• Pass and Candidacy for the Ph.D.
• Depending on the nature of the failure, the student may be asked to repeat either part or all of the exam. If the exam shows that the student is unlikely to be successful in future exams, he or she may not be given the option of additional testing.

8. Dissertation Defense

Students are required to attend an oral defense of their dissertation. The Department strongly recommends that the final draft of the dissertation be in the hands of the “readers” at least one month prior to the anticipated date for the defense. The student, in consultation with the DGS, the advisor and with the members of the Dissertation Committee, will schedule an oral defense of the dissertation after the Dissertation Committee has received it. The form to request a date for the defense must be signed by the DGS and delivered to the Graduate School at least two weeks in advance.

Restrictions

• Transfer credit from other institutions may not exceed 15 hours.
• No undergraduate courses in Spanish may be transferred.
• The Graduate School requires that the Qualifying Exam be taken within four years of admission to the Ph.D. program.
• The Graduate School also requires that the dissertation be completed within four years after the student has been admitted to Candidate status (successful completion of Qualifying Exam).
• The department considers these time limits to be reasonable and will not grant extensions except for compelling reasons related to issues of health.

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The Spanish and Portuguese Section offers undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan. It is unique in its commitment to exploring the trans-historical and cross-cultural interrelations between all these language areas and their corresponding cultural formations. The research interests of its academic staff thus span a wide range of areas including Medieval and Golden Age Spanish cultures and their consolidation in dialogue with the diverse cultures and faith systems of Africa and the "New World"; the literature, art and cinema of Portugal, Brazil and Lusophone Africa; the literature of modern Spain and its relationship with the Enlightenment, colonialism, and modernity; the cinema of the Ibero-American world from early silent film through to its avant-garde, indigenous, popular and transnational dimensions today; and the culture of Catalonia from its rebirth in the Renaixença, through its resistance to Franquismo in literature and film, to its vibrant contemporary artistic, architectural and cinematographic expressions.

The Section also has one of the largest contingents of Latin American specialists in the United Kingdom, whose interests span the poetry and chronicles of the colonial period; the formation of national cultures in post-Independence Spanish America and Brazil; the experimental literatures of the Spanish American "Boom"; and the literature, cinema, and visual art produced in the interlocking contexts of post-dictatorship, mass urbanisation, narcotráfico and neo-liberal globalisation. The intellectual vitality of the Section is further evidenced by a dynamic research culture of public lectures, section seminars, postgraduate workshops and conferences, all of which add to a close-knit system of graduate supervision and mentoring that encourages both individual and collective endeavour within the section.

In British universities, the PhD (Doctorate of Philosophy) is traditionally awarded solely on the basis of a thesis, a substantial piece of writing which reports original research into a closely defined area of enquiry. The completion of the PhD thesis is generally expected to take three to four years, and most funding is based on this assumption. It's also possible to take a part-time route through research degrees, the expected timeframe for which would be five years.

During your research, you will have the opportunity to work closely with a supervisor who is a specialist in your research area.  In addition to your supervisor, you will normally also be able to draw on the help and support of other members of the Section with expertise in your field of study

In addition to the specialist supervising provided by the Section, the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics runs a programme of professional training for the benefit of all research students. The programme includes seminars and workshops on library resources, giving conference papers, publishing, applications and interviews, and teaching skills. The School of Arts and Humanities runs a central programme covering a range of skills relevant to doctoral students. Doctoral students may also be offered opportunities to do small group teaching for the undergraduate colleges and, in some cases, language teaching for the Faculty.

The Spanish and Portuguese Section and the Centre of Latin American Studies are pleased to details of a Consortium in Latin American Cultural Studies for PhD students. This new flexible arrangement will foster a greater exchange of ideas between students and scholars in the Section and the Centre and provide more opportunities for them to access relevant training, funding and other resources. Please visit the Latin American Cultural Studies Consortium page on the Department of Modern and Medieval Languages website for further information.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the programme, candidates will have acquired excellent skills, experience and knowledge to undertake postdoctoral work (research and teaching) or another related profession.

For Cambridge students applying to continue from the MPhil by Advanced Study to PhD, the minimum academic requirement is an overall distinction in the MPhil.

For Cambridge students applying to continue from the MPhil by Thesis to PhD, the usual academic requirement is a pass in the MPhil.

All applications are judged on their own merits and students must demonstrate their suitability to undertake doctoral level research.

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Day usually takes place at the end of October. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the  Postgraduate Open Day  page for more details.

See further the  Postgraduate Admissions Events  pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

Departments

This course is advertised in the following departments:

• Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics
• Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Key Information

3-4 years full-time, 4-7 years part-time, study mode : research, doctor of philosophy, department of spanish and portuguese this course is advertised in multiple departments. please see the overview tab for more details., course - related enquiries, application - related enquiries, course on department website, dates and deadlines:, lent 2024 (closed).

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Michaelmas 2024 (Closed)

Funding deadlines.

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2024, Lent 2025 and Easter 2025.

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