Princeton University - The Graduate School

To qualify for graduate work in the department, the candidate must show evidence of a comprehensive knowledge of Spanish and/or Luso-Brazilian literature and basic competence, written and oral, in the target language. A broad training in the humanities is an advantage. By the end of the second year of graduate study, all students must demonstrate reading proficiency in one foreign language other than Spanish or Portuguese that is relevant to the student’s field of specialization. Students are urged to fulfill this requirement in the first year. The language requirement must be satisfied in order for the student to be authorized to take the general examination. In addition, students specializing in Hispanic literature and culture are required to take at least one 500-level Portuguese course and, likewise, students focusing on Luso-Brazilian topics are expected to take at least one 500-level Spanish course.

·          A total of at least 15 graduate-level courses (14 for letter grade credit, and one that may be an audit in the third year)

·          Two to three course units in graduate courses other than Spanish and Portuguese (with an absolute maximum of five), usually in an allied field pertinent to the student's area of specialization

·          A foreign language reading proficiency examination

·          An oral presentation in the first year

·          A comprehensive general examination

·          A completed doctoral dissertation and its oral public defense
 

 During the first two years, students choose their courses in consultation with the director of graduate studies, with a view to achieving a basic mastery of four of the department’s five fields of concentration: 1) Medieval/Renaissance, 2) Modern Peninsular, 3) Colonial, 4) Modern Latin American, and 5) Luso-Brazilian.

     A student may, however, elect to eliminate examination in one of these four areas by fulfilling course work—for letter-grade credit—in two graduate seminars devoted to that particular field. A total of three fields would, in such a case, be tested on the general exams.

Oral Presentation. Students in their first year prepare an oral presentation that they deliver to the faculty during the second week of the final exam period of the fall semester. A text is selected by the student from a list supplied by the faculty, using it as the basis from which to develop a fifteen-minute talk, offering a clear line of reasoning in good Spanish or Portuguese. The student can use notes for the talk, but should not read a prepared text. This is a diagnostic exercise designed to assess the student’s analytical abilities and success in situating the topic chosen in the context of the literary work as a whole. After the talk, the student will respond to questions regarding the text and the talk. This examination will not be assigned a letter grade; however, the assessment made by the faculty will be recorded and communicated to the student by the director of graduate studies. Failure to perform to satisfaction will result in termination from the program. In some cases, the faculty may recommend that the student strengthen specific areas.
 

Dissertation Proposal. The articulation of the dissertation topic and the methodology that will be employed in its writing will be presented to the faculty at the end of the fifth semester. It will consist of: 1) a detailed oral presentation of the dissertation topic in the language in which the dissertation will be written; and 2) an examination by the faculty on this proposal and its implications. The faculty will make suggestions to the student, either approving the proposal as it stands, or requesting revision and resubmission. (At this time, the department may also decide to grant the student a terminal master’s degree).

     The student must submit a written version of the proposal to the director of graduate studies for transmission to the faculty no later than one week before the public presentation. This document must include an explanatory essay indicating what the thesis proposes to study and why it is important to the field. In addition, it should detail a chapter-by-chapter outline of the proposed thesis, and should include a substantial bibliography on the dissertation topic.

    After the public presentation of the proposal, the director of graduate studies will communicate the Faculty’s comments to the student. If judged unacceptable, the proposal may be resubmitted one time only after revision. 

    Students wishing to write their dissertation in Spanish or Portuguese, rather than in English, must obtain the prior approval of the director of graduate studies, who will consult with the dissertation director. If permission is granted, an explanatory letter from the thesis director and a formal request by the director of graduate studies will then be sent to the Dean of the Graduate School, who approves the request.
 

Final Public Oral Examination. The examination consists of the following three parts: 1) a brief (thirty-minute) presentation by the candidate of the dissertation in English, Spanish, or Portuguese; 2) an examination by the three principal examiners; and 3) questions by other faculty in attendance. The exercise usually lasts an hour. The final public oral is open to all members of the University community and graduate students are welcome to attend.
 

      Students are normally given an assistantship in instruction as part of their admission package. The classroom experience is of great value for the development of teaching skills. The success of our department in placing its graduates is closely linked to their training and experience in this essential professional activity. 

     Graduate students will be assigned to teach specific courses based on the following: previous course evaluations, seniority, appropriateness of field, number of incompletes, and the discretion of the professor in charge of the course. This applies to all levels of teaching, from language courses to precepts. In the case of precepts, only post-generals students will be considered.

    Students will teach during the fall semesters of their second, third, and fourth years. This will allow them time to concentrate on their graduate seminars in their first year and will also relieve the pressure during the fourth semester, when they will be preparing for their general examinations. 

     Students on outside fellowships will also be required to teach, at the department´s discretion. All graduate students will be visited at least once a semester by the head of the course they teach. After the visit, the head of course will meet with the student to discuss performance, offer suggestions, and, if necessary, arrange for a follow-up visit. The head of course will also complete a departmental evaluation form, which will be placed in the student´s file.
 

     The department offers a very lively intellectual climate, with scholarly colloquia, public lectures, workshops, and related events. Attendance of graduate students at such events is strongly urged since these events provide valuable insight into the performative aspects of our profession as speakers, respondents, and presenters.

    Students are encouraged to selectively participate and read papers related to their fields of interest at professional meetings in the United States and abroad. Given the demands of the program, however, the Department advises that students favor publications in professional journals over conference papers.

POR 583/SPA 583    Seminar in Literary Theory
      Silviano Santiago
An examination of the theoretical foundations of literary study, using selected literary and critical texts.
 

SPA 500    Methodology of Spanish Language Teaching: Seminar and Practicum
      Alberto Bruzos Moro

Practical and theoretical preparation for teachers of the Spanish language.

SPA 532    Medieval Epic Literature
      Ronald E. Surtz

The epic tradition from the primitive cantares de gesta to the romancero. The relationship between this current and other important forms of medieval literature, including the mester de clerecía, the prose chronicles, and the chivalric romances are explored.

SPA 534    Seminar in Medieval Spanish Literature
      Ronald E. Surtz

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, an intensive study of special topics, such as the representation of women, changing concepts of the hero, and first-person narratives.

SPA 535    Golden-Age Prose
      Alban K. Forcione

The main works of the Renaissance and baroque periods, comprising the novel in its various forms (romance of chivalry, picaresque, pastoral, and Cervantes), the short story, religious literature, and moral and historical writings.

SPA 536    Golden-Age Poetry
      Ronald E. Surtz

The development of Spanish poetry from Garcilaso to Quevedo. Particular attention is given to Italian influences, mysticism, the aesthetics of the baroque, and the persistence of traditional forms.

SPA 537    Golden-Age Drama
      Ronald E. Surtz

The creation of national theater by Lope de Vega and his followers. Attention is given to the development of preceding forms of religious and secular drama, Italian influences, and the crystallization of the spirit of the Spanish Counter-Reformation.

SPA 538/COM 573    Seminar in Golden-Age Literature
      Marina S. Brownlee

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, intensive study of special topics, such as the Celestina, the mystics, Don Quixote, Renaissance, and baroque.

SPA 539    Enlightenment and Romanticism in Spain
      Ricardo Krauel

Representative writers from the 18th century to the middle of the 19th (Jovellanos, Meléndez, Blanco, Larra, Rivas, Espronceda, and others). Particular stress is put on literary trends and critical approaches.

SPA 540    Main Currents of Spanish Thought, 1848 to the Present
      James D. Fernández

Krausismo and its countercurrents (traditionalism, neo-Catholicism, and positivism) and the doctrines emerging from the Institución Libre de Enseñanza; the Generation of '98 and the "problem of Spain"; and falangismo, new historicism, and post-Civil War liberalism.

SPA 541    The Modern Spanish Novel
      Staff

A study of the main formal procedures employed by the major novelists from Galdós to Cela, around a unifying topic such as first-person narrative or the character as reader.

SPA 542    Modern Spanish Poetry
      Ricardo Krauel

The crisis in modern poetics starting with Bécquer and resolving into modernismo and the poetry of the Generation of '98; Juan Ramón Jiménez, his disciples and his opponents; and pure poetry and the poetry of social commitment. The emphasis is on textual and intertextual analysis.

SPA 543    Seminar in Modern Spanish Literature
      Manuel-Angel G. Loureiro

To suit the particular interests of the students and the instructor, an intensive study of selected special topics, such as an individual author (Galdós, Unamuno, Lorca, and others), a literary movement (naturalism, the Generation of '98, and others), and theories of literary criticism.

SPA 546    Trends in Modern Latin American Poetry
      Luiza F. Moreira

Beginning with the transformation in sensibility initiated by Rubén Darío, a study of a limited number of major poets who exemplify significant modes of poetic expression up to the present time: Lugones, Huidobro, Vallejo, Borges, Neruda, Lezama Lima, and Paz.

SPA 547    Narrative Prose in Latin America
      Ricardo E. Piglia

Literary and extraliterary contexts of prose fiction in Latin America over the past hundred years through a study of representative writers, including Machado de Assis, Cambaceres, Borges, Onetti, García Márquez, Felisberto Hernández, Rulfo, and Cabrera Infante.

SPA 548/MOD 548    Seminar in Modern Spanish-American Literature
      Rubén Gallo

An intensive study of intellectuals and nationalism in Latin America and the Caribbean; the Spanish American essay from Rodó to Paz; autobiography and first-person narrative, Martí; and the generation of 1880 in Argentina, the crónica modernista, poesía gauchesca.

SPA 549    Writings of Colonial Spanish America
      Rolena Adorno

Texts from the period of 1492-1700 as seen in relation to Colonial society and metropolitan Spanish culture. Authors such as Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Alonso de Ercilla, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega may be included. Textual traditions such as Colonial historiography, epic and lyric poetry, satire, and polemical writing are examined in light of theoretical and historical considerations.

SPA 550    Seminar in Colonial Spanish American Literature
      Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel

Intensive study of topics such as Bartolomé de las Casas and the conquest of the Indies; Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz; Neoplatonism and history in El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega; criollo letters and culture (1690-1824); and research methods and literary criticism pertinent to colonial literary studies.

SPA 581    History of the Spanish Language
      Ronald E. Surtz

The development of the Spanish language within its cultural context. In addition to exploring the principles of historical linguistics, the course will discuss the foundational texts of Spanish linguistics and debate such questions as the status of Spanglish and the sex bias of dictionaries.

SPA 583/POR 583    Seminar in Literary Theory
      Silviano Santiago

An examination of the theoretical foundations of literary study, using selected literary and critical texts.