A&S—Hispanic Languages and Literatures
The Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures offers the degrees of Master of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Unlike many other Spanish departments, we specialize in Latin American literature and culture, including Brazil. We also offer major field concentrations in Spanish, Luso-Brazilian, and U.S. Latino literature and culture.
Candidates for the MA and the PhD may also earn certificates in Latin American studies, cultural studies, film studies, global studies and women's studies.
Contact Information
- Department Chair: John Beverley
- Main Office: 1309 Cathedral of Learning
- 412-624-5225
- Fax: 412-624-8505
- E-mail: spangrad@pitt.edu
- www.pitt.edu/~hispan
Additional information regarding the department's graduate program
may be obtained by contacting the University of Pittsburgh, Department
of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, Graduate Office, 1309
Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. You can also call 412-624-5227,
fax 412-624-8505, or
e-mail dtruhan@pitt.edu.
Applicants must submit an online application, application fee of $50, transcripts of all college-level work (along with notarized translations into English, if applicable), three letters of recommendation, a statement of academic goals, and a 15–20-page writing sample (in English, Spanish, or Portuguese).
Applicants whose native language is not English and who have not already completed a degree program in a U.S. college or university are required to submit either the TOEFL (administered by the Educational Testing Service) with a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based exam or 213 on the computer-based exam, or the IELTS (administered by Cambridge University, Local Examinations Syndicate) with a minimum score of 6.5.
Completed applications for admission in the fall term must be received by January 15.
The department awards two types of financial assistance to incoming students: teaching assistantships or teaching fellowships, which involve teaching duties, and A&S fellowships, which do not. While any student is eligible to apply for financial assistance, departmental awards of financial aid are granted on a competitive basis to those students demonstrating the strongest academic record.
Students entering with a BA are eligible for financial aid in whatever form (teaching assistantship/teaching fellowship, A&S fellowship, Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship, etc.) for two years for the MA and three additional years for the PhD, for a maximum of five years of support. Students entering the PhD program with an MA from elsewhere are eligible for up to five years of financial aid, under certain conditions.
The MA requires a minimum of 30 credits; 24 credits must be in substantive courses in the department. The remaining six credits may comprise courses taken outside of the department (including transfer credits), a maximum of one Independent Reading and one Directed Study course. A maximum of two undergraduate 1000-level courses may be taken to meet this requirement.
Teaching assistants and teaching fellows new to the department are required to take a course in teaching methodology and language learning to assist them in teaching.
Specific degree requirements, in addition to the minimum of 30 credits, are as follows:
- Students must complete a long paper in the department, which must be approved by three faculty members before the student can take the MA exam.
- Students must also pass the MA comprehensive/PhD preliminary examination based on Latin American literature and cultural studies, a minor field of specialization designated by the candidate and a long paper.
Credit Requirement: A minimum of 72 credit hours is required. Students who are working toward both the MA and PhD degrees in the department must take a total of 48 credits of substantive courses in the department. The remaining 24 credits may consist of courses taken outside of the department, credits transferred from other institutions, directed study, or PhD comprehensive exam/overview. Up to a maximum of 12 credits of PhD dissertation research credits are permitted to count toward these 24 credits.
Students who enter the department with a master’s degree in Spanish from another institution must complete 30 credits of substantive course work out of the 72 total credits required for the PhD. The remaining 42 credits may be distributed among credits transferred from the institution from which they earned their MA (normally, up to 24 are allowed), courses taken in other departments at the University of Pittsburgh, directed study and PhD comprehensive exam/overview credits, and up to 12 credits of PhD dissertation research.
PhD Preliminary Exam: Each student must pass a three-day preliminary examination before he or she can continue on for the PhD, usually within the second year of graduate study in the department.
Language Requirement: Candidates for the PhD degree must give evidence of their ability to read one language other than Spanish. Normally, that requirement is met in Portuguese.
PhD Comprehensive Exam/Dissertation Overview: After completing 60 credits of coursework and fulfilling the foreign language requirement, students take the PhD comprehensive exam made up of questions based on their proposal for doctoral research, which must also be defended before their proposed doctoral committee. Upon successful completion of this two-step exam process, the student is formally admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree.
Dissertation Defense: The final oral examination in defense of the doctoral dissertation is conducted by the doctoral committee and is open to the University community.
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