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Graduate Programs

General Information

MA in Spanish

PhD in Spanish

UI Graduate College

UI Graduate Admissions

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

M.A. in Spanish

The Master of Arts program in Spanish has two emphases: (i) a literature emphasis, which aims to provide training in literary analysis and to provide a broad knowledge of representative works in principal areas of Hispanic literature, or (ii) a linguistics emphasis, which aims to provide training in linguistic analysis and argumentation and to provide a broad knowledge of the principal subfields of Hispanic linguistics.

Thirty (30) semester hours (10 courses) are needed for graduation; they must all be taken as a graduate student. All courses taken toward the 30 s.h. requirement must be taken on a graded basis; no graduate credit is awarded for a grade lower than C-. To remain in good standing in the Graduate College, M.A. students must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 2.50.

Course Work

Literature emphasis

3 s.h.  35:200  Foreign Language Teaching Methods
3 s.h.  1 course in Spanish linguistics (35:170 & above)
6 s.h.  2 courses in Spanish (peninsular) literature (35:170 & above)
6 s.h.  2 courses in Spanish American literature (35:170 & above)
3 s.h.  1 course in literary theory
9 s.h.  3 elective courses

Of the four literature courses listed above, one must be pre-1700 (either peninsular or Spanish American). Of the ten courses above, at least eight must be taken in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The remaining two may be taken in either the Department of Spanish and Portuguese or in related departments, subject to the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Linguistics emphasis

3 s.h.  35:200 Foreign Language Teaching Methods
3 s.h.  1 course in Spanish or Spanish American literature (35:170 & above)
6 s.h.  2 courses in syntax
6 s.h.  2 courses in phonetics/phonology
3 s.h.  1 course in the history of Spanish, or language variation or
3 s.h.  1 course in language acquisition/applied linguistics
6 s.h.  2 elective

Of the ten courses above, at least six must be taken in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The remaining four may be taken in either the Department of Spanish and Portuguese or the Department of Linguistics.

For both the literature and the linguistics emphases, no more than 3 semester hours earned for independent study (“Special Work”) may be applied toward the 30 semester hours required for the M.A. Exceptions may be made under extraordinary circumstances, but must be pre-approved by the DGS. The request for such approval must be in writing from the student, and must be endorsed by the student’s academic advisor.

Language Tool Requirement: The equivalent of one year of college study of any approved second foreign language is required; Portuguese is highly recommended. This requirement may be satisfied either by examination or through courses at the U.I. or another accredited university; such coursework does not count towards the 30 s.h. required for the M.A. If a student has taken the equivalent of one year of college-level study of another language as an undergraduate or in previous graduate work, this will normally be accepted toward the M.A. language tool requirement, assuming that this coursework appears on the undergraduate or graduate transcript. Language courses taken to fulfill the language tool requirement may be taken on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. If the requirement is satisfied by examination, documentation of the examination results must appear in the student's file.

Transfer Credit: The student may request that a maximum of nine graduate s.h. be transferred from other institutions to fulfill the 30-hour course requirement. Although these credits may be substituted for any M.A. required course, all requests must be cleared with the DGS. Candidates should submit a request in writing in the first semester of graduate study to have all transfer credits evaluated. It is helpful and sometimes necessary in evaluating such requests that a course syllabus be provided.

M.A. Comprehensive Examination

The M.A. Comprehensive Examination includes both a written and an oral component. In consultation with the advisory committee, the student chooses three exam areas. The written portion of the exam consists of a two-hour examination in each of these three areas. The oral examination follows the written examinations and is usually one to one-and-a-half hours in duration. The examining committee is comprised of four members of the graduate faculty in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese (usually, but not always, the members of the student's advisory committee). Typically, of the four committee members, three direct the exam areas and the fourth is simply an additional examiner. However, it may be the case that a given area is co-directed by two faculty members. It is required that all four members of the examining committee have areas of expertise related to the three exam areas. In no case shall an individual faculty member be the sole director of more than one of the three exam areas. An individual faculty member may direct one area and co-direct an additional area.

As with advisory committees, the candidate's advisor contacts the relevant faculty members to request their participation in the examining committee, and then submits the proposed committee for approval by the DGS and the DEO. As part of the approval process, there will be consultation between these individuals and the advisor. This should be done as early as possible during the semester preceding the examinations, but not later than fifteen weeks prior to the start of examinations (see section below).

M.A. comprehensive exams are taken during weeks 10, 11, and 12 of each semester on a Saturday morning. The dates of exam for fall 2005 will be October 29th, November 5th, and November 12th. The spring ’06 exam dates will be March 25th, April 1st, and April 8th.

Examination areas:

The possible exam areas are listed below, and are grouped into six categories: (a) Hispanic Linguistics Group I, (b) Hispanic Linguistics Group II, (c) Spanish peninsular literature, (d) Spanish-American literature, (e) Luso-Brazilian literature, and (f) Latin American film. Candidates following the literature emphasis may choose to be examined in three literature areas or in two literature areas and one linguistics area. At least one literature area must be in Spanish literature and at least one must be in Spanish American literature. If three literary areas in Spanish and Spanish-American are chosen, at least one must represent literature written before 1700 (peninsular and/or Spanish American). The third area may also be Luso-Brazilian literature or film. Candidates following the linguistics emphasis may choose to be examined in three linguistics areas or in two linguistics areas and one literature or film area. At least one of the linguistics areas must be in syntax or phonology.

Hispanic Linguistics, Group I

Spanish phonology: Theory and analysis
Spanish syntax: Theory and analysis

Hispanic Linguistics, Group II

History of the Spanish language
Language acquisition
Language variation

Spanish Peninsular Literature

Medieval literature
Renaissance and Baroque literature
Modern drama and poetry (19th and 20th centuries)
Modern narrative: 19th century to the Civil War
Post Civil War narrative

Spanish American Literature

Colonial literature
19th and 20th century Spanish American Theater and Performance
19th and 20th Century poetry
Narrative and essay: Independence through Modernism
Narrative and essay: Avant Garde to the present

Luso-Brazilian Literature

Portuguese literature
Brazilian literature

Film: Latin American

Each of the above areas has a standard core reading list for which all students being examined in that area are responsible. In addition, the candidate prepares a supplementary reading list for each area, in consultation with the faculty member(s) directing the exam area, based on but not merely duplicating his or her coursework in that area. The exam areas and reading lists must be approved by the examining committee and then by the DGS and the DEO for approval not later than ten weeks prior to the start of examinations (i.e., ten weeks prior to the date set for the first written examination). By Graduate College policy, the M.A. comprehensive examination may not duplicate course examinations.

Examination procedure: Graduate students planning to take M.A. Comprehensive Exams must file, by the third week of the relevant semester, the "Notification of Intent to Take M.A. or Ph.D. exams" form (available in the department office).

The Graduate College requires that written and oral exams be completed within a 15-week period. Written examinations are usually scheduled over a two- to three-week period, and they terminate at least one week before the oral exam. Between the time of the written exams and the oral exam, examining faculty individually evaluate and discuss the written exams with the candidate. The information provided in this evaluation should guide the candidate in final preparation for the oral component of the examination; however, it does not include specific questions to be asked in the oral, nor does it limit the questions which may be asked. The oral examination provides the opportunity for further development of the written examinations as well as examination of other aspects of the candidate's reading lists. At the end of the oral exam, the candidate will be asked to leave the examining room in order for the committee to determine its evaluation of the exam. S/he will then be invited to return to the room in order to learn of the committee's evaluation of the exam, including an appraisal of specific areas of strength and/or weakness and recommendations for future academic work.

The official evaluation of the examination as reported to the Graduate College is satisfactory or unsatisfactory. When an examination is judged by the committee to be unsatisfactory, the committee will determine whether a second examination may be administered. If only one area of the exam is evaluated as unsatisfactory, the committee may require that only that area be retaken. If more than one area is evaluated as unsatisfactory, the entire exam must be retaken (please see the departmental MA Comprehensive Examinations Report form). The faculty member(s) supervising the failed exam area(s) should write a paragraph explaining to the student the reasons for his or her failure, and then submit it to the chair of the committee, who will incorporate this paragraph into a letter notifying the student of failure. The re-examination must take place in the following semester; as per Graduate College rules, the examination may be repeated only once.

Students must be registered during the semester in which they take the comprehensive examinations. If all course work has been completed prior to that semester, then the student registers for Master's Final Registration (000:1).

Students who anticipate receiving the M.A. degree must file an application for degree with the Registrar's Office by the deadline announced for that semester (usually not later than ten weeks after the start of the semester or one week after the start of the summer session).

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