Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literatures

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers the PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures (HLL) with two possible tracks: Hispanic and Latin American Literatures and Cultures, and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Cultures. All graduate students are required to develop broad expertise across a number of programmatic fields (literary genres, historical periods, cultural and social geographies) that ensure their ability to interact with colleagues and their competitiveness in the academic job market. The research specializations of our faculty and graduate students span all of these areas, and furthermore reflect most of the trends in contemporary scholarship, from philology, history of the book, and intersections of literature with material culture, through to aesthetics, the relationship of literature to visual culture, and performance studies. All students are required to study both Spanish and Portuguese as well as another language relevant to the student's research program, to study literature and culture from both sides of the Atlantic. As students progress through our graduate program, they are expected to formulate their own theoretical approaches to research questions regarding an individually defined area of expertise.

The following minimum requirements apply to all graduate programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:
A bachelor's degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution,
A grade point average of B or better (3.0),
If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g., Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 90 on the iBT test, 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 on a 9-point scale (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these), and
Sufficient undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field. Transcripts: Applicants may upload unofficial transcripts with your application for the departmental initial review. If the applicant is admitted, then official transcripts of all college-level work will be required. Letters of recommendation: Applicants may request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division. Applicants for admissions to the PhD program in Hispanic Languages and Literatures must hold a BA degree with studies in Spanish, Spanish-American, Portuguese, or Luso -Brazilian literatures or Hispanic Linguistics, or another field with demonstrable bearing on Hispanic and/or Luso-Brazilian studies. Native or near-native proficiency in a primary language (either Spanish or Portuguese) is required. The program requires a statement of purpose, a personal statement, and critical writing samples (Spanish, Portuguese, or English). Writing samples should be in the form of thesis or research paper on a topic relevant to the fields of Romance and/or Hispanic languages and literature (about 10-15 pages). For the purpose of campuswide fellowship competitions, applicants who submit the statement of purpose or personal history statement in Spanish should also submit an English version of both.