The Ph.D. in Spanish (Cultural Studies)

A typical doctoral program with Concentration 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. Specifically, a required prerequisite is: SPA 545 “Concepts of Literary Criticism”. Possible courses are, among others, courses in Spanish and Spanish American Culture, courses in Spanish and Spanish American Film and other areas dealing with cultural studies (Spanish and Spanish American Feminism, Women´s Writing, Gender Studies, Theoretical approaches, Popular Culture, Critical Discourse, Spanish Pragmatics, Spanish in the Southwest, Spanish Discourse Analysis, Spanish language in America  and others). The student's individual program of courses as reflected in the Program of Study will be determined in consultation with the student’s Supervisory Committee Chair. The written comprehensive and oral examination in Concentration in Cultural Studies will follow the established model of examination, with genre, period, and specialization segments possibly overlapping but not coinciding, and in genre and period covering both peninsular and Latin American culture. The examination in Cultural Studies cannot be limited to, but need not exclude literature: for example, in genre, the student will choose between taking the exam in literature or in arts and visual culture: period must cover all genres; specialization will be worked around the dissertation topic.