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Graduate Programs

General Information

MA in Spanish

PhD in Spanish

Linguistics Track

Literature Track

UI Graduate College

UI Graduate Admissions

Ph.D. in SPANISH
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Changes are in effect starting Fall 2009.  Students who started the PhD in literature program prior to Fall 2009 may choose to be examined under the previous comprehensive exam structure.

Graduate advisory committee meetings:  PhD advisory committees should be formed by the middle of the second semester of enrollment in the PhD program and meet before the start of registration that semester, to review the student’s plan of study, advise on course selection for the coming year, and plan for the comprehensive examination.  The advisory committee should meet again in the fourth semester of enrollment to review the students’ plan of study, approve the three reading lists, and finalize plans for the comprehensive examination.
MA advisory committee meetings are optional.  The advisors should consult the other committee members before meeting individually with the student no less than 15 weeks before the start of the written exams.  MA advisory committees may meet if the advisor or another committee member considers it necessary due to concerns about the student’s performance or preparation for the examinations.

The Annual graduate meeting should be divided by discipline (linguistics or literature) and should occur in the Spring semester, by which time all the advisory committees of PhD students who are presenting themselves for examination in the next academic year should have met.  The disciplinary meetings should forward to the departmental executive committee a list of the graduate students indicating if they are in good standing or not, and direct the DGS to notify in writing students who are not in good standing.

Reapplication procedures:  A graduate student whose enrollment has lapsed for any reason should reapply to the department chair with a letter of intent that states the student’s goals in pursuing a graduate degree in Hispanic Studies at The University of Iowa.  The student should also request a letter of support from his or her advisor, who should address the student’s prospects for completion of the degree program.  The departmental executive committee should advise the department chair on readmission.

HISPANIC LINGUISTICS TRACK

Course Work: A minimum of 27 s.h. (9 courses) beyond the M.A., for a total of 19 courses beyond the B.A. The following distribution must be completed, some of which can be met by courses from the M.A.. For students who completed the M.A. at another institution, equivalent courses will be counted on a case-by-case basis.

In the Department of Spanish and Portuguese:
35:206  Spanish Language Acquisition
35:207  Topics in Comparative Romance Linguistics
35:209  Spanish Phonology
35:210  Spanish Syntax
1 300-level seminar in Hispanic Linguistics

In the Department of Linguistics:
103:110  Articulatory and Acoustic Phonetics [offered in fall semesters]
103:201  Introduction to Syntax [offered in fall semesters]
103:202  Syntactic Theory [offered in spring semesters; prereq 103:201]
103:203  Introduction to Phonology [offered in spring semesters; prereq 103:110]

In either Department: (at least) 1 additional course in the intended area of dissertation research (phonology, syntax, language acquisition, language variation)
1 course from one of the following areas: historical linguistics, sociolinguistics/language variation, language acquisition/psycholinguistics

Other requirements: Two extended revised research papers, as follows:
1.  Research paper #1: to be handed in to advisory committee no later than the beginning of third semester [see timeline below]: This will be a revised version of a paper written previously (either in M.A. work or in first year of doctoral course work)
2. Research paper #2: a paper of publishable quality, with original research, in the subdiscipline area of the intended dissertation research, to be handed in to advisory committee by end of fourth semester.
          Research papers 1 and 2 must be in different subdisciplines, from the following list: syntax, phonology, first language acquisition, second language acquisition, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics
3. Presentation of two colloquia, related to research papers 1 and 2

Time line:

Comprehensive exam format: The comprehensive exams are based on Research Paper 2 and two written exams in two subdisciplines distinct from the subdiscipline of the intended dissertation research, chosen by the candidate from the list of subdisciplines above. The exams are exams of linguistic analysis and are weekend take-home exams.  Each of these exams will be written by the appropriate faculty member or members, but will be evaluated by the entire exam committee.

The oral exam is two hours, with one hour devoted to discussion of Research Paper 2 and the other hour devoted to follow-up questions on the written exams.

The examining committee will consist of 5 members, of which one may be a faculty member from the Department of Linguistics.

The specific plan of study for each student, tailored to his/her area of emphasis, much be approved by the student's advisory committee. Ph.D. coursework (post M.A.) in Spanish must be at the 200 and 300 level, with the exception of some courses in the Department of Linguistics and the required third-year level course in Portuguese (see below). No more than 3 semester hours earned for post-M.A. independent study ("Special Work") may be applied toward the 72 semester hours required for the Ph.D. 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 Requirements: Candidates in the linguistics track must complete the equivalent of three years of college-level study of Portuguese and the equivalent of one year of college-level study for each of two other languages, one of which must be Latin for students specializing in historical linguistics. These requirements may be satisfied either by examination or through coursework at The University of Iowa or another accredited university. The language tool course work at the first- and second-year level does not count towards the 72 hours. Courses taken to fulfill the language tool requirements may be taken on a satisfactory/ unsatisfactory basis, except for third-year level study of Portuguese language and/or linguistics. This course must be taken on a graded basis and can be counted toward the 72 hours. If the first- and/or second-year level language tool requirements are satisfied by examination, documentation of the examination results must appear in the student's file.

HISPANIC LITERATURES TRACK

Required Coursework:  Students must complete 36 s.h. beyond the MA before presenting themselves for the comprehensive examination.

Normal timeline:  Students should normally present their PhD comprehensive examination in their fifth semester of enrollment.  They should develop the various parts of the comprehensive portfolio in conjunction with their PhD coursework.  The two broad area reading lists can be developed while taking 200-level courses in the department, and the article should be based on a research paper written in a 300-level course in the department.  By the end of the fourth semester of enrollment, students should have completed all their required coursework. Students are encouraged to complete their comps before October 15 (in the Fall semester) or March 15 (in the Spring) and to present and defend their dissertation prospectus before the end of the same semester.

Comprehensive exam format: The Comprehensive Examination contains four elements, each under the supervision of a committee member (no committee member can supervise more than two elements). The four elements of the examination are as follows:

a. Two broad areas: The broad area lists should consist of approx. 40 primary and secondary readings covering an established historical period (for example, medieval, colonial, 20th century Spanish American), one Peninsular and one Spanish American.  Selection of the two broad areas should be tied to the student’s PhD coursework (the 200-level courses s/he took after admission to the PhD program).  The lists must be developed in consultation with the faculty supervisor and approved by him or her before distributed to the rest of the committee.  Each area will be evaluated with a 3 hour written examination.  The written exam will be discussed during the oral examination.

b. One specialized area related to the thesis: The specialized area list should include approx. 25-40 secondary works that define the area.  The narrow area is examined via a 10-15 page position paper, i.e., a critical synthesis of the secondary readings. The list and essay should be written in consultation with a faculty supervisor and must be approved by that supervisor at least one month before the date of the exam. This position paper normally will form part of the introduction to the dissertation.

c. One article: This part of the examination is a 20-25 page research essay.  Usually, this article is a revised version of a paper written in one of the two required seminar courses (a 300-level course).  The article should be revised in consultation with the professor who taught the course for which the paper was originally written and with a faculty supervisor.  While the professor who taught the course may also supervise this area, students should consult with at least two different professors during the revision process.  The article must be approved by the supervisor at least one month before the date of the exam.

Oral Examination: The oral examination will last for approximately two hours.  The article and position paper should be given to the Comprehensive Examination committee at least one month before the oral exam; the two written exams should be completed no less than one week before the oral exam. Approximately half the oral will be devoted to an examination of the two broad areas and the other half will examine the article and position paper.

TRANSFER CREDIT

The department accepts up to, but not more than, 30 s.h. for a M.A. in Spanish done at another institution. No credit is awarded for coursework done after the M.A. but prior to entrance into the Ph.D. program. If, in the course of doctoral study, the advisory committee recommends the student take coursework at another institution, the student may petition the DGS--well in advance of undertaking the coursework--for approval of up to 9 s.h. of transfer credit.

Ph.D. COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

The purpose of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination is to determine whether the candidate has gained sufficient breadth and depth of research knowledge in Hispanic literatures or in Spanish linguistics to enter the profession.  The Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam includes both a written and an oral component. The examining committee is comprised of five members of the Department, or four members from the Depart­ment and one from a closely related department such as the Department of Linguistics or the Department of Cinema and Comparative Literature. Typically, of the five committee members four direct the exam areas and the fifth is 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 five members of the examining committee have areas of expertise related to the four exam areas.  In no case shall an individual faculty member direct more than two of the four exam areas.

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).

EXAMINATION PROCEDURES

Graduate students planning to take Ph.D. 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).  By departmental policy, students presenting the comprehensive exams cannot have more than one coursework requirement left to be completed, including courses for the fulfillment of the language tool requirements, after the semester in which the exams are presented.  Typically, students either have finished their coursework requirements prior to presenting the comprehensive exams, or they are finishing them in the semester of the exams.

The Graduate College requires that written and oral exams be completed within a 15-week period.  Written examinations are usually scheduled over a three- to four-week period and 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 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, reservation, or unsatisfactory.  If reservations are imposed, the examina­tion committee must send a letter to the student specifying the reservations to be met and the deadline for removal, with copies to the student's file, the DGS and the Graduate College.

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 should register for 2 semester hours of special work (35:298) with her/his advisor, on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.  By departmental policy, students may not register for thesis credits (35:299) during the semester of the comprehensive examinations (see below).

DISSERTATION

Dissertation Committee

After the Ph.D. comprehensive examination, the candidate requests that one member of the departmental graduate faculty serve as the dissertation director, in accordance with the proposed topic of the dissertation and faculty expertise. The dissertation director, after discussion with the candidate, proposes a dissertation committee of five members,  four of whom are faculty members of the department and are chosen in accordance with their areas of expertise. The fifth member, by Graduate College policy, must be from outside the department. It is strongly recommended that the outside member be someone whose area of expertise is related in some way to the proposed dissertation topic, and able to read Spanish. Professors on phased retirement should function only as co-director of dissertations. It is the responsibility of the dissertation director to contact the faculty members to request their participation on the committee. The entire committee, including the dissertation director, must be approved by the DGS and the DEO.  As part of the approval process, there will be consultation between these individuals and the  advisor/dissertation director. The dissertation director will also serve as the student's advisor during the dissertation period.

Dissertation Prospectus

No later than the fourth week of the semester subsequent to the completion of the Ph.D. comprehen­sive examination, the candidate submits a dissertation prospectus to the disserta­tion committee for approval.  his prospectus consists of two sections:  (1) a narrative of approximately twenty pages which describes in detail the dissertation topic, the work done in the field previously on this topic, the research methodol­ogy and/or theoretical approach to the topic, and a preliminary description of chapter divisions, and (2) a preliminary bibliography indicating primary and secondary sources and a timetable for completion of the research and writing of the dissertation.  The dissertation director sets up a meeting of the dissertation committee at which the candidate gives a brief oral presentation of the prospectus and answers questions which the committee members may have.  The committee members should receive the written prospectus AT LEAST TWO WEEKS prior to this meeting. At this time two members of the dissertation committee, in addition to the director, will agree to read the dissertation on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Once approved, a copy of the prospectus and the departmental prospectus approval form are handed in to the departmental graduate secretary by the dissertation director, to be placed in the student's file.

Registration

Graduate College regulations require that students be registered during each semester after passing the comprehensive examination until the degree is awarded, excluding summers. In general, this continuing registration requirement can be met by registering for Ph.D. postcomprehensive registration, which entails a special minimal fee. There are two different post-comp registration numbers the student can register for. One is for “continuing registration” (000:002:000) and the other is for “final registration” which the student register for during the semester of graduation, if all coursework and thesis hour requirements have been met. At some point during the dissertation writing process the student must register for the required 2 semester hours of thesis credit (35:299).  Please note that students cannot register for thesis credit before the Ph.D. comprehensive examination is successfully completed, and therefore the earliest semester in which registration for 35:299 is possible is the semester following the semester in which the examination was taken.

Presentation of the Dissertation & Final Examination

One copy of the dissertation, complete and in final form, must be presented at the Office of the Graduate College before the final examination (dissertation defense), and no later than four weeks before the graduation date on which the degree is to be conferred.  (Please see the relevant sections of the Manual of Rules and Regulation of the Graduate College for information on the dissertation and final examina­tion.)  Regulations regarding preparation of the dissertation copy, available from the Graduate College, must be strictly followed.  In planning a timetable for the final semester of study, the student and his/her advisory committee should keep in mind the following filing dates on the Graduate College calendar: Application for Degree, Ph.D. Plan of Study, Request for Final Examination, First Deposit (of the dissertation), Final Examination Reports, and Final Deposit (of the dissertation). The candidate should provide the final copy of the dissertation to committee members sufficiently in advance of the defense date so as to allow committee members time for a careful reading (minimally, one month). The members of the dissertation committee must sign the Dissertation Ready for Defense Form one week prior to the oral defense as an indication that the dissertation is adequate for defense. The signing of this form does not indicate prior approval of the dissertation, only that it is adequate for defense.

Progress Toward Degree

As noted in the section on registration, the normal course load for a graduate student with a 50% teaching assistantship is three courses a semester.  The minimum number of courses required beyond the M.A. to meet the coursework requirements for the Ph.D. are nine courses in the literature track and nine courses in the linguistics track, excluding language tool requirements at the first- and second-year level.  The typical and expected progress toward degree for the Ph.D. is as follows:

Year 1, semesters 1 & 2:  6 graduate courses
Year 2, semester 3:          3 graduate courses;  approval of exam areas and reading lists
Year 2, semester 4:          comprehensive examinations
Year 3, semester 5:          presentation and approval of prospectus (by week 4)
              semester 6:          research and work on dissertation
Year 4, semester 7:          research and work on dissertation, job search
Year 4, semester 8:          draft of dissertation complete; defense of dissertation;
                                             degree awarded

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