Pueblo Castellano by Vanderbilt Centennial Professor of Spanish Enrique Pupo-Walker.
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Pueblo Castellano by Vanderbilt Centennial Professor of Spanish Enrique Pupo-Walker. |
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For students entering the graduate program with a BA, obtaining an M.A. in Spanish or in Portuguese by examination will be the route prescribed if they are to continue beyond the MA, toward the Ph.D. in our program.
Those intending to end their studies with the M.A. at Vanderbilt will have a choice between taking the M.A. examination or writing an M.A. thesis.
The purpose of the MA examination is to ascertain that the candidate has become a generalist in Spanish and Spanish-American literature, or in Luso-Brazilian literature, that she/he has read the works currently considered the canon in these literatures and is able to situate these works in their historical context.
The Ph.D. qualifying examinations and dissertation will ensure that a candidate has become a specialist in the genre and period of Spanish or Spanish-American literature or in a combination of Spanish and Portuguese literature which will comprise the area of the candidate's dissertation.
Candidates are required to submit seminar papers in duplicate. One copy will be evaluated by the professor in charge and returned to the candidate; the second copy will form part of the candidate's permanent record.
The grade I (Incomplete) may be received only under very special circumstances and after the approval of the professor in charge. "All I's must be removed within one year; otherwise the grade automatically remains an I, and such grades are entered on the student's record."
A candidate must complete 42 or 45 hours of formal course work in Spanish, of which at least half are to be courses at the 300 level. Spanish 310 (teaching Methodology) is not to be counted as part of these 42 or 45 hours, but does count toward the required 72 hours and may be counted toward the minor.
Normally, no more than 15 hours are counted toward dissertation research.
Students may apply for up to 30 hours of transfer credit for graduate courses taken at another institution. They should write a letter to the Director of Graduate Studies with full details concerning the courses for which they are requesting credit. This request should include the name of the instructor, a description of the coures, and a course syllabus. The Director of Graduate Studies will make the decision concerning transfer credit, and upon approval, will forward the recommendation to the Graduate School.
"A minimum grade point average of B must be maintained in order to remain in good standing."
Spanish 301 (Literary Analysis), Spanish 302 (Ibero-Romance Philology), and Spanish 304 or equivalent are required of all Ph.D. candidates. Seminars with varying topics may be repeated for additional credit. Students specializing in Spanish American literature must include 6 hours of course work in 16th or 17th century Spanish Literature in their programs.
The grade I (Incomplete) may be received only under very special circumstances and after the approval of the professor in charge and the Chair of the Department. "All I's must be removed within one year; otherwise the grade automatically remains I, and such grades are entered permanently on the student's record." It is up to the student to keep track of expiring incompletes.
The first step toward the Ph.D. is having passed an M.A. examination at Vanderbilt or its equivalent elsewhere (see M.A. requirements). For students entering the program with a B.A., this exam should take place at the end of the third semester of study. Holders of an M.A. degree from elsewhere must present the reading lists upon which they were examined and make up any deficiencies as recognized by the Director of Graduate Study by the end of the second semester.
As soon as the M.A. has been completed, the candidate, while continuing the required course work, should do the following:
Candidates entering the program with an B.A. are expected to take their Ph.D.. qualifiers by the end of their seventh semester of studies. Candidates entering the program with an M.A. will take them by the end of the sixth semester.
Note: No one will be allowed to take the Ph.D. qualifiers without having presented this dissertation proposal. If a student decides to change dissertation topic after the doctoral qualifiers, this exercise will need to be repeated partially or entirely if the new topic falls outside the period or genre originally planned.
Each candidate will become a specialist in a genre (or movement + genre) within a period. If a dissertation topic spans more than period, a special reading list will be devised by the student and submitted for approval to the faculty.
Period examinations will deal with representative works and ideas reflected in all genres. Genre examinations will center on the genre in which the dissertation is to be written. Both will include a limited list of key secondary sources.
The oral would bear on a discussion and justification of a prepared critical bibliography, of genre theory, and on the candidate's presentation of a dissertation topic. This exercise will be a give and take during which faculty member present might make suggestions on how to approach or how to improve the dissertation.
One month before the examinations, the candidate must submit to the Director of Graduate Studies three to five professors his completed reading list on period and genre, and four essay questions for each exam. The doctoral committee will use these questions in preparing the two examinations, each of which is to last approximately four hours. The committee has the right to modify the student's proposed topics, add to them, or discard them if they are judged inadequate.
The committee will vote on the results of the written examinations. If they are judged satisfactory, the oral will take place a week to ten days later.
Upon completing the written exams, the candidate will distribute copies of a dissertation proposal and a bibliography pertinent to the proposed topic. The entire faculty will attend the oral examination.
| PENINSULAR LITERATURE | SPANISH AMERICAN LITERATURE | |
Periods |
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4. 1500 to 1800
5. 1800-present |
Drama |
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Prose |
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Poetry |
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Students in the Spanish/Portuguese Ph.D. program will be required to take no fewer than 54 hour in both languages and literatures at the 200-300 level, with no fewer than 30 hours in one language or literature and no fewer than 21 hours in the other language or literature. The student will be able to write his/her doctoral dissertation in either area. Portuguese/Spanish 310 (Teaching Methodology) is not to be counted as part of these 54 hours, but does count toward the required 72 hours.
Students may apply for up to 30 hours of transfer credit for graduate courses taken at another institution. They should write a letter to the Director of Graduate Studies with full details concerning the courses for which they are requesting credit. This request should include the name of the instructor, a description of the course, and a course syllabus. The Director of Graduate Studies will make the decision concerning transfer credit and will, upon approval, forward the recommendation to the Graduate School.
"A minimum grade point average of B must be maintained in order to remain registered in good standing."
The procedure will be the same as that for a Ph.D. in Spanish will one additional requirement: the candidate who satisfied the requirements for M.A. in Spanish will have to acquire the same degree in Portuguese, or vice versa, before taking the Ph.D. qualifying exams.
The period-genre examinations for these exams may be taken in either field and, as in Spanish, may be tailored to the possible comparative nature of a student's dissertation topic.
Candidates for a Ph.D. in Spanish-Portuguese are expected to take their qualifiers at the end of their seventh semester or beginning of their eighth semester.
The minor specialization should in some way complement the major field. Up to 12 hours may be taken in the minor for Spanish Ph.D. candidates, in consultation with the director of graduate studies. Ph.D. candidates in Spanish-Portuguese have a built-in minor. We encourage specialists in Spanish-American literature to minor in Portuguese. A minor in Catalan studies for peninsularists can be put together on the basis of individualized courses (399). Other minors in literature, Linguistics, Communication Studies, Second Language Education, Philosophy, or Latin American Studies may also be considered.
These courses must provide a coherent complement to the major and must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies sometime during the first year of study. Spanish 310 may count toward the 12 or 15 hours of credit, if the student opts for a minor in Second Language Acquisition
Specialists in periods 4 and 5 are expected to take a course or seminar involving Brazilian literature parallel to the period of their Spanish American specialty.
Graduate teaching fellows can expect to be granted four years of support if a) they remain in good academic standing, b) they make satisfactory progress toward degree requirements, and c) their teaching, including the supervised and unsupervised preparation of all classroom materials, is judged satisfactory by course coordinators. Teaching is an important component of all graduate work and an inadequate performance in this area will have severe consequences. Judgement about graduate assignments are made by coordinators. Students should not assume that they will "automatically" move up to the next highest level.
Graduate teaching fellows will be considered for a fifth year of financial aid by the end of the second semester of their third year if the following criteria have been met:
1) Those entering the program with transfer credit of more than 16 hours of course work must successfully complete their written preliminary exams during the second semester of their third year. They must have selected a dissertation topic and established a thesis committee by the end of that year.
2) Those entering the program with transfer credit of fewer than 16 hours of course work must be prepared to take their written preliminary exams during the first semester of their fourth year. If the exams are postponed, any commitment for additional support may be withdrawn.
3) Regardless of status upon entering the program, the on-going academic accomplishments and teaching of all students seeking a fifth year of support must be regarded by the faculty as of "high quality." A recommendation on each candidate will be made on the basis of a faculty vote.
Prospective applicants can find general information at the Graduate School homepage. Application forms can be downloaded, requested from the Graduate School, or filled out online. More information, including the current Graduate School catalog, deadlines, and special requirements for international applicants (preliminary application required) can be found at the Graduate School application and information page.
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