The School of International Letters and Cultures offers the Doctor of Philosophy degree in two concentrations:
The Ph.D. in Spanish consists of 54 semester hours of graduate level work beyond the 30 M.A. credits. This means students must take up to 42 credits in courses and complete 12 dissertation credits (SPA 799). These hours of graduate course work are considered the minimum for a doctoral program and must be taken at ASU. All courses must be under the SPA prefix. Depending on the student’s educational experience, the Spanish Doctoral Committee through the student Supervisory Committee may request that s/he take more credits to correct certain areas.
The intent of the Ph.D. program in Spanish is to be as flexible as possible. Recognizing the many demands put upon the scholar in the modern world and the wide variety of specialized interests, every attempt will be made to plan a program of study that will best prepare the candidate for a productive career in the discipline of Hispanic studies. Thus, rather than specifying a general and rigid program of courses, broad areas of competence, to be measured by the written and oral comprehensive examination administered at the end of formal course work and prior to the execution of the Ph.D. Dissertation, have been established. It will be the student's responsibility to prepare these areas through formal course work, in consultation with his/her Supervisory Committee and with the Spanish Graduate Faculty in general.Admission Requirements
All candidates for the Ph.D. degree in Spanish must fulfill the general requirements of the Graduate College concerning admission and residence. Candidates for the doctorate in Spanish will be 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 the M.A. thesis. The Spanish Graduate Program requires a 3.75 overall grade point average (4.0 = A). Admission to the Spanish doctoral program requires the candidate to present a M.A. in Spanish or equivalent from an accredited institution. The committee may request letters of recommendation regarding the applicant's command of Spanish and potential for doctoral work. A personal interview may also be appropriate. It is recommended, but not required, that students applying for admission to the M.A. or Ph.D. program submit scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) ; this is especially advisable for the applicants for Spanish Graduate Fellowship Award.
For further information on admissions and applications click here.
Schedule of Milestones in the Ph.D. Program for Graduate Students
Semester 1: Establish contact with a preliminary Advisor / Chair.
Semester 2: Meet with the (Preliminary) Supervisory Committee.
Semester 3: Establish a Chair and Supervisory Committee.
Discussion of Period, Genre, Specialization, Language Reading Requirement.
Preparation of the Program of Study for approval by the Graduate College.
Semester 4: Course work
Semester 5: Course work
Semester 6: Course work
Semester 7: Course work
Semester 8: Course work completed, including the Reading Language Knowledge
Requirement.
Comprehensive Examination Presented.
Semester 9: Ph.D. Dissertation in Progress.
Semester 10: Completion of Ph.D. Dissertation and Oral Defense.
Note: Graduate students with the SGFA should follow the corresponding SGFA milestones.
Spanish Graduate Fellowship Awards
The Spanish program, through a special initiative made available by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will offer the Spanish Graduate Fellowship Award (SGFA) as a stipend to be awarded annually in addition to the Teaching Associateship to one or two of the most outstanding applicants to Ph.D. program in Spanish. The combined stipend and Teaching Associateship total $20,000. For more information click here.
Language Reading Knowledge Requirement
Each prospective candidate is expected to demonstrate a reading knowledge of two languages other than Spanish. One of these languages should be Portuguese.