All students are expected to be familiar with the University's Undergraduate Regulations. Likewise, all students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures are expected to be familiar with the contents of this Handbook.

Prerequisites

The normal requirement to be admitted as a concentrator is successful completion of two 200-level courses in Spanish or one 200-level course in Portuguese.

Early Concentration

Qualified students are encouraged to decide on their concentration as early as possible in their sophomore year. In this way they can benefit from departmental advising on course selection and on the possibility of spending a semester or the whole junior year abroad.

Plan of Study

All concentrators are strongly advised to take one advanced language course (Spanish 207 or Spanish 307 for Spanish; POR 208 or POR 209 for Portuguese). All Spanish concentrators must take one course in pre-1800 literature. University regulations limit to 12 the number of departmental courses allowed to each student in his or her concentration.

Tracks

It requires a minimum of eight upper-division courses, at least five of which must be in the language of concentration. With the approval of the Departmental Representative, up to three cognate courses in other departments can be counted towards the concentration in this track. Up to three courses taken during one semester abroad may be approved towards the concentration. Freshman seminars on topics related to the area of concentration may be counted towards the eight upper-division courses.

It requires SPA 307, and at least seven more upper-division courses in Spanish. At least three of the seven upper-division SPA courses must focus on translation, taken from among 309, 380, 381, 382, or 384. With the approval of the Departmental Representative, up to three courses related to translation taught in other departments can be counted towards concentration in this track. Students enrolled in this track can count TRA 200 as one of the two 200-level courses required as prerequisites for the concentration. Up to three courses taken during a semester abroad may be approved towards the concentration. Freshman seminars on Hispanic topics may be counted towards the eight upper-division courses required for the concentration.

In both tracks, students have the option of combining two languages in the concentration.  The two language option requires five courses in Spanish or Portuguese, and three courses in any other language. 

In preparing their independent work, students should consistently follow the MLA Handbook or The Chicago Manual of Style.

1. Junior Papers

Students should discuss as soon as possible their area of interest with the Departmental Representative in order to find the most appropriate advisers for the Junior Papers. By the end of September (first JP), and by mid-February (second JP), all juniors should have contacted their advisers to discuss a plan of work.

The first JP (Fall semester) should be about 4,000 words, and the second JP (Spring semester) should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words. Both JPs may be written in English, in which case a three-page summary in the target language must be provided. Or, the JPs can be written in the target language in which case a summary is not needed.

Students following two languages are encouraged to write one JP in each of the languages of concentration.

2. Senior Thesis

Students should select a Senior Thesis adviser by the end of September at the latest. The Senior Thesis is normally written in English, and should be between 15,000 and 20,000 words.

Topics chosen in the past have ranged over the entire field of Spanish and Portuguese studies, from linguistic problems and literary techniques through close textual analysis to thematic and ideological studies. Students primarily interested in culture and civilization have written on art, political and economic issues, education, and a variety of social questions. The senior thesis is a major commitment of a student's time and energy, and the most important yardstick for choosing a topic is willingness to spend many hours on a particular set of texts or problems.

Resources are available to assist students with the costs of senior thesis research including, when appropriate, foreign travel. The best time to use them is the summer preceding the senior year.

A model title page and required pledge format can be found below. More details regarding thesis submission will be sent by memo in March of senior year.

No thesis may be submitted after the final University deadline without special permission from the Office of the Dean of the College.

The final grade will be determined by a consensus between the thesis adviser and a second reader.

3. Title Page Format for a Senior Thesis

1. The Senior Departmental Examination

The senior departmental examination (Comps), taken in May of the senior year, is designed to ensure that students have become familiar with a list of indispensable literary texts.

For the examination, students choose one of the reading lists. On the first day of the examination (Part I), students write essays on the required readings. On the second day (Part II), students identify and comment upon five out of eight passages excerpted from the chosen reading list. Essays in Part I have to be written in the language of concentration, while answers in Part II may be written in English.

2. Reading Lists

The faculty makes an effort to discuss in their courses many of the books included in the following reading lists. However, this is not always possible, given the great variety of topics covered in the departmental courses. Students are responsible for reading all the books on the list they choose for the Comps. It is highly recommendable that students begin working on the lists early in the fall semester of the senior year, at the latest.  Reading packets, which accompany a selected reading list, may be obtained by contacting the Undergraduate Administrator.

A) Emphasis in SPANISH AMERICAN LITERATURE:

Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Comentarios reales , Libro I (reading packet)
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Respuesta a Sor Filotea (selection, reading packet)
Anónimo, Lazarillo de Tormes
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
Domingo Sarmiento, Facundo
José Hernández, El gaucho Martín Fierro
José Martí, Versos sencillos , "Nuestra América"
Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones
José María Arguedas, Los ríos profoundos
Julio Cortázar, Bestiario
Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo
Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad
Selections of poetry by: Antonio Machado, Federico García Lorca, Rubén Darío, Luis Palés Matos, Gabriela Mistral, César Vallejo, Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, Nicolás Guillén (reading packet)
Margo Glantz, Genealogías
Manuel Puig, El beso de la mujer araña
José Luis González, Selección de cuentos (reading packet)
Carlos Monsiváis, Selección de textos (reading packet)
 
B) Emphasis in SPANISH PENINSULAR LITERATURE:

El cantar del mio Cid
Selection of poetry: Jorge Manrique ("Coplas"), romances, Garcilaso de la Vega, Luis Góngora, Francisco de Quevedo, Fray Luis de León, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (reading packet)
Fernando de Rojas, La Celestina
Anónimo, Lazarillo de Tormes
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
Lope de Vega, El castigo sin venganza
Tirso de Molina, El burlador de Sevilla
Calderón de la Barca, La vida es sueño
José Zorrilla, Don Juan Tenorio
Selection of poetry: José de Espronceda, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Rubén Darío, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Miguel de Unamuno, Luís Cernuda, José Martí, César Vallejo, Rosalía de Castro, Federeico García Lorca, Miguel Hernández, Juan Gil de Biedma, José Ángel Valente, Blas de Otero (reading packet)
Benito Pérez Galdós, Doña Perfecta
Ramón de Valle Inclán, Luces de bohemia
Miguel de Unamuno, Niebla
Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones
Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad
Luís Martín Santos, Tiempo de silencio
Carmen Martín Gaite, El cuarto de atrás
Antonio Buero Vallejo, El sueño de la razón

C) Combining SPANISH PENINSULAR AND SPANISH AMERICAN LITERATURES:

Selection of poetry: Jorge Manrique ("Coplas"), romances, Garcilaso de la Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, Fray Luis de León, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (reading packet)
Anónimo, Lazarillo de Tormes
Miguel Cervantes, Don Quixote
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Respuesta a Sor Filotea (selection, reading packet)
Lope de Vega, El castigo sin venganza
Calderón de la Barca, La vida es sueño
Domingo Sarmiento, Facundo
José Hernández, El gaucho Martín Fierro
José Martí, Versos sencillos , "Nuestra América"
Benito Pérez Galdós, Doña Perfecta
Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones
José María Arguedas, Los ríos profundos
Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo
Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad
Luis Martín Santos, Tiempo de silencio
Selections of poetry: Rosalía de Castro, Antonio Machado, Federico García Lorca, Rubén Darío, Luis Palés Matos, Gabriela Mistral, César Vallejo, Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, Nicolás Guillén  (reading packet)

D) Combining SPANISH AMERICAN and BRAZILIAN LITERATURES

The faculty of the Department determines which graduating seniors should be awarded Highest Honors, High Honors, or Honors.

In awarding the Honors, faculty takes into consideration the GPA in Spanish and/or Portuguese courses, the grades of JPs and Senior Thesis, senior comps, the progress showed by the student, and his/her intellectual commitment.

The Department strongly encourages its concentrators to spend as much time as they can in any country where their language(s) of concentration is (are) spoken. There are many ways of doing this within the four-year undergraduate degree: through study abroad for one or two semesters; through summer study abroad; and through a summer internship abroad.

All students must visit the Office of International Programs to become acquainted with the administrative procedures related to study abroad.

Junior Semester/Junior Year Abroad

Students planning to spend abroad a semester or their whole junior year should seek advice from the Departmental Representative and from relevant faculty in choosing a suitable program of study. For further assistance contact Nancy Kanach or Mell Bolen at the Office of International Programs. Departmental and University approval of programs abroad is required.

Grades awarded by foreign institutions for courses that are recognized in lieu of Princeton courses are not included in the consideration of Departmental Honors.

Students who study abroad are not exempted from independent work requirements. The Department usually can make arrangements to find a JP adviser in the location where the student spends the semester or year abroad.

Approved courses taken abroad in one semester will normally count for up to three departmental courses. Students must complete the program abroad to the standards required by the foreign institution. For more information, please see the Guide to Study Abroad on the web page of the Study Abroad Program.

1.  Student-Initiated Events
Provided sufficient notice is given, the Department is pleased to support student-initiated events. Students interested in initiating a special seminar are asked to see the Departmental Representative as early as possible in the new academic year.

2.  Funding of Research
The Office of the Dean of the College as well as the Department have funds available to help students with costs of research for JPs and Senior Thesis.  Please see the Departmental Representative as early as possible if you foresee the need for this type of support.

3.  Scholarships for Summer Study Abroad
The Department also offers summer scholarships to concentrators who wish to improve their language competency in Portuguese or Spanish. Please see "Scholarships for Summer Study Abroad" on our web site.

1. For All Students

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
MLA International Bibliography (see Databases on University's library web site)
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetics

2. Spanish

Moliner, Diccionario del uso del español
Real Academia Española, Diccionario de la lengua española 
Casares y Sánchez, Diccionario ideológico de la lengua española 
American Heritage Larousse, Spanish Dictionary (Spanish-English, English-Spanish) 
Amado Alonso, Gramática castellana 
Real Academia Española, Esbozo de una nueva gramática española 
Carlos & Yolanda Solé, Modern Spanish Syntax 
Rafael Lapesa, Historia de la lengua española 
Leonardo Gómez Torrego, Gramática didáctica del español 
Real Academia Española, Ortografía de la Lengua Española 
Manuel Seco, Diccionario de dudas 
Emile Slager, Pequeño diccionario de construcciones preposicionales 
Graciela Reyes, Cómo escribir bien en español
Ana Roca and John M. Lipski (ed.), Spanish in the United Status: linguistic contact and diversity

Literature: General

T. Navarro Tomás, Métrica española 
Juan Luis Alborg, Historia de la literatura española . I: Edad media y renacimiento ; II: Época barroca ; III: Siglo XV III ; IV: El romanticismo
History of Spanish Literature . I: A.D. Deyermond, The Middle Ages ; II: R.O. Jones, Golden Age: Prose and Poetry ; III: E.M. Wilson and Duncan Moir, Golden Age: Theatre ; IV: Nigel Glendinning, Eighteenth Century ; V: Donald L. Shaw, Nineteenth Century ; VI: Gerald G. Brown, Twentieth Century 
Jean Franco, An Introduction to Spanish American Literature 
Sylvia Molloy, Las Letras de Borges 
Angel Rama, Más allá del boom: literatura y mercado
Angel Rama, La ciudad letrada

 Historical Background

Joseph O'Callagan, History of Medieval Spain
J.H. Elliott, Imperial Spain
Domínguez Ortíz, Golden Age Spain
Américo Castro, De la edad conflictiva
Raymond Carr, Spain, 1808-1975
John Lynch, The Spanish American Revolutions
Stanley Stein, The Colonial Heritage of Latin America
James Lockhart and Stuart Schwartz, Early Latin America 
Cambridge History of Latin America

3. Portuguese

Antônio Houaiss, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa
Domingos Paschoal Cegalla, Novíssima Gramática da Língua Portuguesa
António José Saraiva e Óscar Lopes, História da Literatura Portuguesa
Antonio Candido, Formação da Literatura Brasileira
Alfredo Bosi, História Concisa da Literatura Brasileira
Alfredo Bosi, Dialética da Colonização
Lourenço Dantas Mota (ed.), Introdução ao Brasil: um Banquete no Trópico
João Cezar de Castro Rocha (ed.), Brasil Nenhum Existe: uma pequena enciclopédia
Sérgio Buarque de Holanda (ed.), História Geral da Civilização Brasileira
Fernando Antonio Novais (ed.), História da Vida Privada no Brasil

At their first meeting with the Departmental Representative in the Fall term, junior and senior concentrators are encouraged to elect a Student Representative whose task will be to express the concentrators' opinions and suggestions regarding academic issues and cultural activities.

Senior Calendar

Junior Calendar