Hispanic Language and Literatures

With its array of cultural resources in film, music, art, and literature and its vibrant intellectual community, Boston is an ideal place for graduate study.

Our M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Hispanic Studies prepare students for university-level teaching and other international careers.  For a list of recent graduate courses, click here.  Classes are small, and students receive individualized attention from faculty who are leaders in their respective fields:

Medieval Literature: Irene Zaderenko
Early-Modern Literature: James Iffland, Christopher Maurer
Colonial Spanish American Literature: Pedro Lasarte
Modern Latin American Literature: Alicia Borinsky, Adela Pineda, Dylon Robbins, James Iffland, Pedro Lasarte
Modern Spanish Literature: Christopher Maurer, Alan E. Smith

The Department’s graduate courses in Hispanic Studies explore a range of periods and topics. Recent courses have dealt with the contemporary city (“Writing the City/Walking the Text”); Latin American and Spanish film; the Mexican Revolution; poetry, painting and the sister arts; cannibalism; intellectual currents between Spain and the Americas; the social poetry of Central America; women’s writing in early-modern Spain; textual criticism and biography (“Lives and Texts”); and individual authors like Borges, García Lorca, García Márquez, Rubén Darío, and César Vallejo.

Each spring a Translation Seminar offered by our sister department, Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, brings to our campus some of the leading translators in the U.S.  Students interested in editing and publishing enjoy the resources of Boston University’s Editorial Institute and have served as assistants on journals such as Anales Galdosianos.

A multi-semester methodology course trains our graduate students in the techniques of classroom teaching and experienced faculty guide them in teaching language and literature courses.

The Department of Romance Studies offers a wealth of lectures and cultural events.  We also provide opportunities for community outreach; involvement with the Instituto Cervantes (a major cultural institution whose Boston branch is affiliated with our Department); and the chance to teach and advise students in our programs in Madrid, Burgos, and Buenos Aires.

A number of teaching fellowships are offered each year to qualified applicants. Applicants are also eligible for Dean’s Fellowships, with enhanced financial aid, offered by the Graduate School. Support for research is offered by the Graduate School and by the Boston University Humanities Foundation.

Further information is available from Department of Romance Studies, 718 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, 617-353-2641.