Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures

The Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures offers a five-year Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with an en route Master of Arts (MA) sequence. Unlike other Spanish departments, we concentrate on Latin American Literature and Culture, including Brazil. Within that broader context, we also offer an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental PhD in film studies, and field specializations in Peninsular, Brazilian, and cultural studies.

Candidates for both the MA/PhD can also earn certificates in Latin American Studies,Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Global Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Women Studies,

Contact Information

Department Chair: Jerome Branche
Main Office: 1309 Cathedral of Learning
412-624-5468
Fax: 412-624-8505
E-mail: Branch@pitt.edu
www.hispanic.pitt.edu

For additional information regarding the department’s graduate program, or responses to questions that are not answered elsewhere, you can write to the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, Graduate Office, 1309 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. You can also call 412-624-2709, or e-mail Director of Graduate Studies Prof. Elizabeth Monasterios.

Admissions

Applicants must submit an online application, application fee of $50, transcripts of all college-level work (along with notarized translations into English, if admitted), three letters of recommendation, a statement of academic goals, and a 15-30-page writing sample (in English, Spanish, or Portuguese; if submitting the sample in English, please also send us a short sample in Spanish).

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 90 (with a minimum score of 22 in each section) 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 no later than January 18.

Financial Assistance

The department awards two types of financial assistance to incoming students: teaching assistantships (to applicants with no previous graduate studies) or teaching fellowships (to applicants who hold a MA degree), which involve teaching duties, and A&S fellowships, which do not. All students admitted receive financial assistance.

Students entering with a BA are eligible for financial aid in some combination of forms (teaching assistantship/teaching fellowship, A&S fellowship, Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship, etc.) for two years for the en route 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.

Duration of the Program

It is expected that the MA/PhD program will take five years to complete. As of Fall 2005, incoming students who are offered financial assistance in the form of teaching assistantships, teaching fellowships or non-teaching University fellowships are, assuming that satisfactory academic progress is maintained, entitled to five (5) years of support, whether or not they already have an MA degree when they enter our graduate program. However, students with an MA from another university can elect to receive only four (4) years of funding and will be entitled to transfer up to 24 credits upon successfully passing the MA Comprehensive/PhD Preliminary examinations during their fourth semester. The decision to do so must be submitted to the departmental graduate office in writing by the end of the first week of their second term in graduate program (normally first week of January).

Faculty

http://www.hispanic.pitt.edu/people/faculty

Programs

Joint Degree

Hispanic Languages and Literatures, MA/PhD

Courses

Spanish

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