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PhD in Hispanic Studies Requirements

 

Coursework 

Refer to most recent Bulletin for Hispanic Studies, PhD requirements for additional information.

Please note that all coursework must be completed by the end of your second academic year of the program.

 

Qualifying Exam

The students may select from the 2 exam format options below that best suits their proposed trajectory and career objectives. Students should choose their preferred exam format by the end of their fourth semester of study. This decision should be made jointly with the student’s research committee and should be communicated to the DGS in writing with the approval of the entire committee. 

Option #1: 

Reading lists (100 texts to be finalized by the end of Semester 4) + exams over 3 consecutive weekends 

  • Exam to be taken at the end of the student’s fifth semester in the program (in October & November)
  • Students will choose areas and faculty advisor during their third semester in the program (by November 15) and began elaborating exam lists.
  • The lists emerge from a consultation process with the student’s advisor and two other faculty members, selected at the beginning of semester 4 (by February 1). Students will finalize the lists for their exam at the end of semester 4 (by April 15).

Evaluation Criteria

  • Competence (adequate knowledge and preparation) to complete a dissertation
  • Ability to construct a coherent argument highlighting the student’s own critical voice
  • Ability to identify and engage with major critical debates in the field
  • Ability to define a corpus of appropriate secondary literature for the student’s field   

Exam Areas

In consultation with their advisor and two other tenure-line faculty members the students will design three separate lists. The ultimate configuration (Sample Exam Configuration) of these lists depends on the student’s project. The advisor and two other faculty members need to approve the list.    
The lists will consist of a total of 100 texts (Period: +-50%, Area: +- 25%, Theory and Criticism: +-25%)

  • Period: Medieval Literature, Early Modern, Colonial, 18th and 19th century, 20th and 21st century, for example.
  • Area: the Caribbean, Southern Cone, Iberian, Transatlantic, Global Hispanophone, etc. This section can also include historiographic and archival sources.
  • Critical and Theoretical Sources: The list should be divided into critical sources specific to the student’s field and theoretical sources.

Format of the exam:

Students will receive the questions for all three sections of the exam (Period, Area, and Critical & Theoretical Sources) on Friday at 9:00 am and will hand in answers on Monday at 9:00 am.

  • Period (Students answer 3 out of 5 questions)
  • Area (Students answer 2 out of 4 questions

Students may answer in the language they prefer, though they must answer at least one question for each of these two sections in the other language.

  • Critical and Theoretical Sources

Students answer 2 out of 3 questions. The exam will be written in the language of the dissertation. 

Oral Exam:

All students will take an hour-long oral exam. The student’s advisor and the other two faculty members will serve on the committee for the oral exam. The oral exam will be conducted in the language of the dissertation.

Option #2:

Reading list (100 texts, to be finalized by the end of Semester 4) + Portfolio centered on field of research 

The Portfolio must be framed by a two-page intellectual/research agenda statement followed by the project contents. Some examples of such projects include, but are not limited to: digital humanities work/proposals; proposals for fellowships and grants; public-facing projects that are underway or defined proposals the student will carry out as part of their dissertation; teaching and learning innovation initiatives. In the intellectual agenda statement, the student must convincingly articulate how the various elements of the portfolio, including the reading list (consisting of primary, critical, and theoretical sources from the student’s own and other related fields), work together to form a coherent program of study tailored to their intellectual and career goals. The portfolio should demonstrate deliberate planning, representing the intellectual process through which the student has formulated and defined their research project.
Portfolio contents are agreed upon by the student and their research committee. Students must configure their research committee during the first half of their fourth semester in the program, and formulate their reading list and determine the portfolio contents by the end of their fourth semester. During the 5th semester of study, students must present the Portfolio to the research committee in an oral format* and then incorporate their feedback into the final version of the materials by the end of semester 5. 
*The presentation of the Portfolio will be open to the public to encourage a culture of collegial support and community participation; however, the student may choose to have a closed event only with the committee members.


Evaluation Criteria: 

  • The student’s ability to clearly and coherently define their field and intellectual agenda through the research agenda statement, and to answer questions about it.
  • The student’s ability to justify their choice of the various components they have chosen for inclusion in the portfolio and to clearly articulate how these components relate to each other and to the overall research agenda.
  • The student’s mastery of the reading list, demonstrated by their ability not only to answer questions about its content but also to convincingly justify its relationship with the other elements of the portfolio. The reading list should provide the foundation to prepare the student to carry out the dissertation project in their chosen field of study.
  • The quality of the components parts of the portfolio and how effectively they position the student to carry out the proposed work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the research committee the same as the dissertation committee?
The research committee may very well end up constituting part of the student’s dissertation committee; however, the student is free to make adjustments to the committee at any time, through the Director of Graduate Studies. The Research Advisory Committee form must be completed and filed with the Office of Graduate Studies.

Can I choose the language of my Portfolio materials?
Yes, students may write their article in either Spanish or English, and the Portfolio may consist of materials in either or both languages.

Language Requirement

Competence in one language other than Spanish and English, and which pertains to the proposed area of research for the dissertation, must be demonstrated prior to the Prospectus Defense. To demonstrate competence, the student may:
1)     Take a translation examination prepared by the department lasting two hours. The first hour of translation is of a text with which the student is familiar. The examiner will approve the text and select approximately 800 words to be translated without a dictionary. During the second hour the student may use a dictionary to translate an unfamiliar passage of some 800 words in length selected by the examiner. Students may translate the selected passages into either Spanish or English.

Faculty in charge of Language Exams in RLL are below, but you may do the translation test in any other language by contacting the DGS in the appropriate Department (please speak with the DGS for Hispanic Studies first). 

For the French exam, please contact Seth Graebner. 

For the Italian exam, please contact Rebecca Messbarger. 

For the Portuguese exam, please contact the DGS for Hispanic Studies to inquire

OR

2)     Earn at least a B one 4000 or 5000-level course in the language in which the student seeks to develop competence.

OR 

4)    Take the sequence in Portuguese for Spanish Speakers I & II (please contact the DGS for Hispanic Studies first)

Prospectus Guideline:

In the sixth semester students will submit and defend a 20-25 page prospectus (not including bibliography). The dissertation prospectus should follow the most recent MLA Style guidelines. The student must prepare the dissertation prospectus with the help of the principal adviser and two additional committee members. The committee members must receive the prospectus four weeks before the date of the prospectus defense, though no later than March 1 of a student’s sixth semester. The dissertation prospectus should contain the following elements:

  • Statement of Thesis & Rationale for selecting the subject / area of research focus.
  • Statement of Significance and Impact (also with regards to field and historical period)
  • Critical overview; State of the Discussion of this Topic with clear articulation of where / how the dissertation project will contribute to the field of scholarship
  • Outline of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
  • Chapter Outline (note: while these outlines may include succinct summaries of chapters and material to be studied, they should also present tentative guiding arguments for each chapter)
  • Preliminary Bibliography
  • Timetable for Completion

Students are encouraged to strive to weave these elements into a compelling narrative, using the prospectus as a way to begin mapping rhetorically the the project framework. Thus, while the prospectus will need to address the listed components, it can also provide students with the first opportunity to experiment with the organization and authorial voice of the project work. 

The student will present the prospectus before a committee of our faculty members in a ninety-minute defense. The faculty members will include the thesis director, two members of the thesis committee, and the Director of Graduate Studies. Should there be overlap between the DGS and the thesis committee, another faculty member will participate to maintain the committee of four. Prospectus defense will be in the language of the dissertation.
 

Dissertation

The student has a dissertation committee to be determined by mutual agreement consisting of a professor in charge and two other members. The Dissertation Defense Committee Form must be completed and filed with the Office of Graduate Studies before the defense is scheduled.

The following steps must be completed:

The dissertation proposal to the department needs to be signed by the three faculty members in the student's dissertation committee;

The dissertation is submitted to the advisor chapter by chapter;

Once approved by the advisor, chapters should be submitted to two other members of the committee.

As soon as the dissertation begins to take shape, the student must file a "Notice of Title,Scope, and Procedure of Dissertation" with the Office of Graduate Studies (“at least six months before the month in which the degree is expected to be conferred (August, December, or May) or before beginning the 5th year of full-time enrollment in the Office of Graduate Studies, whichever is earlier”). When a near-final draft of the dissertation has been approved by the three members of the committee, the student must carefully prepare the typescript according to the rules of the Office of the Graduate Studies. The department usually recommends following the MLA Style Sheet for footnotes and bibliography. The student will prepare a curriculum vitae and an abstract of the dissertation, which must be turned in to the DGS and the Office of Graduate Studies two weeks before the defense. The dissertation committee must receive the final dissertation four weeks prior to the defense date. The defense lasts no more than two hours. The committee often requests corrections before the dissertation is finally submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies.

*Comprehensive overview of the Dissertation Process:  https://wustl.app.box.com/s/ofjcgnhpi50x33e39dsdjg51yp2s6e40

MTE/MPE Hispanic Studies

Refer to the most recent Bulletin for Mentored Experience Requirement (MER) requirements.

Once a student has committed to a Mentored Experience--particularly the MTE, which will have an impact on the Department's staffing needs--any request for change must be discussed with the DGS, the Dept. chair and the colleague(s) in charge of course scheduling by the first day of the semester before that of the assigned experience (i.e., before Course Listings are finalized), and approved by all.

MPE Office of Graduate Studies School FAQs

MPE Registration Form

Opportunities available for completing an MPE
In addition to serving as an Assistant in Instruction, there are many innovative ways in which students may fulfill a Mentored Experience requirement with a Mentored Professional Experience. One example is working as an editorial assistant for the Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, one of the world's top five journals in Hispanic Studies that our department publishes. Internships at think tanks in the U.S., Spain, or Latin America could provide another opportunity for an MPE. Likewise, students could fulfill an MPE with humanities or arts organizations locally or beyond St. Louis, or by connecting with units on campus, such as those listed below. All of these options would expand the opportunities for our students to gain experience in areas of higher education/humanities work, though not in the classroom per se, and thus enhance their professional profile and portfolio.

Examples of on-campus MPE opportunities:

 Examples of local off-campus opportunities:

Search RLL Dissertations at WUSTL Libraries Open Scholarship

See some of our recent student dissertations

Thesis and Dissertation Resources