PhD in Hispanic Language & Literatures

The doctoral program allows students to develop thorough knowledge of a specific area of Spanish and/or Spanish American literature and culture. It also develops the conceptual and communicative skills needed to conduct and disseminate original research as well as the ability to be a successful teacher in the classroom.

Course Requirements

A minimum total of eight semester courses (32 credits) are required, with a minimum of two seminars (GRS LS 850) per semester of coursework. At least three courses or seminars in the area of specialization are to be elected; this requirement may be satisfied in part through directed study (GRS LS 951, LS 952). The area of specialization, chosen at the beginning of doctoral study, may focus on a specific genre, literary period, or a theoretical or historical aspect of literature and culture.

Language Requirement

Students must demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one language in addition to Spanish that will be useful in their research work. In some areas of specialization, two or more languages may be required.

Qualifying Examinations

Qualification for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is achieved by successful completion of the following: (1) a written examination on the history of the Spanish language (or successful completion of an equivalent course); (2) written examinations on four literary periods; and (3) an oral examination based on a paper (about 15 pages in length). The topic will center on a reading list agreed upon by the faculty advisor and the student.

Residency Requirement

Students must spend at least one academic year in residence enrolled as full-time students at the doctoral level before presenting themselves for qualifying examinations. (See General Requirements for the PhD in this Bulletin.)

Dissertation

See General Requirements for the PhD in this Bulletin.

Dissertation Prospectus

A detailed outline of the dissertation must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies, and subsequently to the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. The department-approved prospectus is submitted to the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Office on or before the date specified at the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Graduation Information website.

Advising

An advisor is assigned to each student and the two share responsibility for the development of an academically sound program. The student should consult with the advisor about all aspects of the academic experience.

Courses

Hispanic Language & Literatures

• CAS LS 504 History of the Spanish Language
• CAS LS 505 Topics in Spanish Linguistics
• CAS LS 551 Galdós
• CAS LS 552 Lorca and His Contemporaries
• CAS LS 553 Prose Fiction of the Spanish Golden Age
• CAS LS 554 Jorge Luis Borges
• CAS LS 555 Modern Spanish American Literature
• CAS LS 556 Contemporary Spanish American Novel
• CAS LS 557 Poetry of the Spanish Golden Age
• CAS LS 558 Contemporary Spanish American Poetry
• CAS LS 559 The Spanish Civil War in Literature
• CAS LS 560 Los Novecentistas
• CAS LS 561 The Generation of 1898
• CAS LS 562 Colonial Spanish American Literature
• CAS LS 563 Spanish Theatre Since 1868
• CAS LS 564 Spanish Realism
• CAS LS 565 The Spanish Picaresque Novel
• CAS LS 566 Spanish Romanticism
• CAS LS 567 Spanish Poetry of the Middle Ages
• CAS LS 568 Prose Fiction of the Spanish Middle Ages
• CAS LS 569 Nineteenth-Century Spanish American Literature
• CAS LS 570 Don Quixote
• CAS LS 571 Sentimental Romance
• CAS LS 572 The Spanish American Colonial Experience: Early Texts, New Interpretations
• CAS LS 573 Spanish American Literary Modernismo and Modernization
• CAS LS 574 Literature and Politics in Post-Franco Spain (1975–2000)
• CAS LS 575 Topics in Peninsular Literature
• CAS LS 576 Topics in Spanish American Literature
• CAS LS 577 Topics in Hispanic Thought and Criticism
• CAS LS 578 Spanish Drama of the Golden Age
• CAS LS 579 Topics in Hispanic Film
• CAS LS 580 Mexico City in Literature and Film
• CAS LS 581 The Mexican Revolution Revisited
• GRS LS 850 Seminar: Topics in Spanish Literature
• GRS LS 851 Writing in the Americas I
• GRS LS 852 Writing in the Americas II
• GRS LS 951, 952 Directed Study in Hispanic Language and Literatures

Italian

• CAS LI 551 Narrative Poetry of the Renaissance
• CAS LI 553 Petrarch and the Tradition of Love Poetry
• CAS LI 555 Dante’s Hell
• CAS LI 556 Dante: The Divine Comedy II: Purgatorio and Paradiso
• CAS LI 590 Topics in Modern Italian Literature and Criticism
• GRS LI 951, 952 Directed Study in Italian Language and Literature

Linguistics

See also the Applied Linguistics section for descriptions of other courses.

• CAS LX 500 Topics in Linguistics
• CAS LX 501 Linguistic Field Methods
• CAS LX 502 Semantics
• CAS LX 503 Semantics II
• CAS LX 504 Topics in Pragmatics
• CAS LX 505 Structure of African Language
• CAS LX 506 Topics in French Linguistics
• CAS LX 510 Phonetics
• CAS LX 513 Phonology
• CAS LX 518 Focus
• CAS LX 519 Questions
• CAS LX 521 Morphology
• CAS LX 522 Syntax I
• CAS LX 523 Syntax II
• CAS LX 525 Prosody
• CAS LX 533 The Structure of Creole Languages
• CAS LX 535 Historical and Comparative Linguistics
• CAS LX 540 Acquisition of Syntax
• GRS LX 700 Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory
• GRS LX 865 Advanced Topics in Linguistics
• GRS LX 951, 952 Directed Study: Linguistics

Methodology

• GRS LL 699 Teaching College Languages I
• GRS LX 699 Teaching College Linguistics

Reading Courses in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish

• GRS LF 621 Reading French for Graduate Students
• GRS LG 621 Reading German for Graduate Students
• GRS LI 621 Reading Italian for Graduate Students
• GRS LS 621 Reading Spanish for Graduate Students
• GRS LP 621 Reading Portuguese for Graduate Students

Related Courses in the Department of Modern Languages & Comparative Literature

Department of Modern Languages & Comparative Literature faculty offer a range of courses and directed study options focusing on the literatures of the German-speaking world, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia. These courses are open to graduate students in Romance Studies and other departments. A more comprehensive program of Comparative Literature courses for graduate students is currently under development.

• GRS LC 951, 952 Directed Study in Chinese (Prereq: Consent of instructor and department)
• GRS LG 621 Reading German for Graduate Students
• GRS LG 951, 952 Directed Study in German (Prereq: Consent of instructor and department)
• GRS LH 951, 952 Directed Study in Hebrew (Prereq: Consent of instructor and department)
• CAS LJ 510 The Structure of the Japanese Language (Prereq: CAS LJ 112 or consent of instructor)
• GRS LJ 951, 952 Directed Study in Japanese (Prereq: Consent of instructor and department)
• CAS LR 554 Russian Theatre
• GRS LR 951, 952 Directed Study in Russian (Prereq: Consent of instructor and department)
• GRS LT 951, 952 Directed Study in Turkish (Prereq: Consent of instructor and department)
• CAS LY 572 Arabic Translation and Interpreting (Grad Prereq: CAS LY 650 or consent of instructor)
• GRS LY 613, 614 Advanced Arabic for Graduate Students
• GRS LY 650 Introduction to Arabic Literature
• GRS LY 684 Arabs Write War: Poetry, Prose, and Drama Since 1948
• GRS LY 741 1001 Nights in the World Literary Imagination
• GRS LY 770 Topics in Arabic Literature
• GRS LY 771 Topics in Arab Culture and Arabic Language
• GRS LY 951, 952 Directed Study in Arabic (Prereq: Consent of instructor and department)
• CAS XL 520 Theory of the Novel
• CAS XL 540 Theory and Practice of Literary Translation
• CAS XL 550 Topics in Literary Criticism
• CAS XL 556 Topics in Literature and Culture
• CAS XL 560 Topics in Religion and Literature
• GRS XL 656 The Heretical Jew
• GRS XL 741 1001 Nights in the World Literary Imagination
• GRS XL 742 Travel Writing and the Muslim World
• GRS XL 792 Introduction to Literary Study
• GRS XL 951, 952 Directed Study in Comparative Literature