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The Doctor of Philosophy Degree Program in Spanish

 Deadlines for Fall admission, February 1, for Spring admission, October 1.

Prerequisites for admission to the Ph.D. program in Spanish include the following:

  • Master's degree in Spanish or equivalent. 3.50 (on the 4.00 scale) on all graduate course work.
  • Students entering the program are encouraged to show evidence of residence in a Spanish-speaking country.
  • The total number of hours required for the Ph.D. is ninety hours beyond the Bachelor's degree, including credit earned for the M.A., if applicable to the Ph.D. program.
  • Only graduate-level courses (4000/5000 level) preceded by a "G" in the General Course Catalog are applicable toward the Ph.D. major and concentration.

General Guidelines for the Ph.D. in Spanish

A concentration consisting of nine hours as approved by the student's committee.
The following courses were strongly recommended for students who started the program before the spring of 2014, are now required for students who will start the program in the fall of 2014 or later:

  • SPAN 5713 (History of the Spanish Language)
  • MLLL 5063 (Early Literary Criticism)
  • MLLL 5073 (Contemporary Literary Criticism)

All Graduate Teaching Assistants are required during their first year to enroll in MLLL 5813, Teaching Foreign Languages. GTAs who have already had this course or one similar to it may be exempted.

Before completion of the degree, students must demonstrate reading competency in a second language. In order to do so, they may take the departmental Graduate Reading Exam (pdf) or complete two semesters or ten hours in another language.

A general examination based on coursework and a reading list established in consultation with the student's committee members is required for the Ph.D. 

Graduate Teaching Assistants are required to maintain enrollment in a minimum of five credit hours of graduate-level courses per semester.