Spanish Language and Literature (SPAP)
Graduate Degree Program
College: Arts and Humanities
Abstract
The Faculty of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese is committed to excellence in teaching and mentoring, along with the production of new knowledge that is the hallmark of a strong department. We are known for our focus on intersections between language, literature, culture, and politics, our community engagement, and our MA track in Hispanic Applied Linguistics. We bridge several intellectual fields across Spain and Spanish America and between North, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Brazil, as we rethink the specificity of our cultures. The Department has been the home of major Latin American and Spanish literary figures, to include Juan Ramon Jimenez, who taught at the University between 1943 and 1951 and who, after being nominated by the Department, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956. His legacy, as well as that of cultural critic Angel Rama, award-winning poet Jose Emilio Pacheco, award winning writer and Professor Emeritus, Jorge Aguilar Mora, and Professor Emerita, Graciela Palau de Nemes, among others, continues to shape our thought, vision, and mission.
The Department is renowned for its multidisciplinary strengths in Latin American and Lusophone literatures and cultures as well as its faculty research in the areas of the history of ideas, Southern Cone literature, Judeo-Latin American literature, Mexican literature, theater, and performance, Latin American modernismo, colonial and transatlantic discourses, Central American transnational cultures, U.S. Latinidades, Quechua language and indigenous literatures, Caribbean-Archipelagic poetics/politics, salsa and sabor, Brazilian cinema, Lusophone Africa and African diaspora studies, deconstruction of the Cuban Revolution, and contemporary reinscriptions of the nineteenth century.
Faculty members in the area of Spanish literature are recognized for their work in the history of the Spanish language and philology from the Middle Ages to the present, Medieval historiography and women narratives, Golden Age poetics, Cervantes and Quevedo traditions, revisions of the Enlightenment, romanticism (journalism and costumbrismo) and realism (philosophical traditions), modern and postmodern narrative and poetics, as well as representations of the Spanish Civil War and exile, particularly in Latin America.
The Department is also at the forefront of Spanish Applied Linguistics, language teaching pedagogy, language teacher education, language use and identity, social and political issues in foreign language teaching and learning, instructional technology, learner variables and learning disabilities, language for specific purposes, cross-cultural communication, and heritage language learning.
Mission
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese seeks to forge a strong dialogue between, and within, our areas of specialization pertaining to Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. To that end, we offer thorough instruction in the diverse, complex, and globalized literatures, cultures, and linguistics of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking world. Our students not only develop the critical language skills to communicate in the target language but also gain an understanding of the cultures, politics, histories, and literatures of the communities and national spaces of the Americas, Spain, and Portugal.
Our goal is to foster learning and thought, develop critical perspectives, and promote intellectual growth in our students. We teach across interdisciplinary fields such as literature, film, popular and visual culture, theatre, history, philosophy, critical theory, gender and queer studies, philology, and linguistics in different cultural and geographic contexts. We strive for the creation and discussion of new forms of knowledge and the effective engagement of our students and faculty with the world. We prepare students to become promising professionals in their chosen careers.
Our M.A. and Ph.D. graduates are mentored by our faculty, engage in substantive research projects, and benefit from rigorous training in the teaching skills required by the profession. They are prepared to meet the professional demands of highly competitive academic positions in the United States and Latin America.
Financial Assistance
Financial assistance in the form of fellowships and assistantships is available for qualified applicants.
Contact
Laura Demaría, Ph.D.
Professor & Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
3215 Jimenez Hall
4125 North Library Lane
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Telephone: 301.405.0142
Email: ldemaria@umd.edu
For information regarding the MA in Hispanic Applied Linguistics please contact:
Manel Lacorte, Ph.D.
Professor and Head
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
2202 Jimenez Hall
4125 North Library Lane
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Telephone: 301.404.8233
Email: mlacorte@umd.edu
Website: http://sllc.umd.edu/spanish
Courses: SPAN
Relationships: American Studies (AMST) Comparative Literature (CMLT) English Language and Literature (ENGL) Second Language Acquisition (SLPH) Theatre and Performance Studies (THPF) Women's Studies (WMST)
General Requirements
- Statement of Purpose
- Transcript(s): Minimum 12 credits upper level literature/culture courses.
- TOEFL/IELTS/PTE (international graduate students)
Program-Specific Requirements
- Letters of Recommendation (3): The letters of recommendation must be in English or notarized translation.
- Writing Sample
- Additional Optional Writing Samples: (one optional for M.A., two optional for Ph.D.)
- CV/Resume
- Description of Research/Work Experience (optional)
- Portfolio PDF Upload (optional)
In addition to Graduate School requirements, candidates must have a bachelor’s degree with a major in Spanish Language and Literature, or the equivalent in a related field with near native fluency in the written and spoken language.
For more admissions information or to apply to the program, please visit our Graduate School website.
Application Deadlines
| Type of Applicant | Fall Deadline |
|---|---|
| Domestic Applicants | |
| US Citizens and Permanent Residents | January 17, 2025 |
| International Applicants | |
| F (student) or J (exchange visitor) visas; A,E,G,H,I and L visas and immigrants | January 17, 2025 |
Other Deadlines: Please visit the program website at http://sllc.umd.edu/spanish
In addition to the resources of the University libraries, students have easy access to the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution and other Washington-based libraries and archives. National Archives-II, located on University grounds, is readily accessible to the Campus community. Dr. Sosnowski is the founder and editor of the literary journal Hispamérica. The graduate students publish Animal de fondo.
In association with the Latin American Studies Center, the Department promotes original initiatives on Latin American topics. Postdoctoral Fellows and Visiting Professors are an integral part of our academic program. Also the Department hosts the Juan Ramón Jiménez Distinguished Lectures, the José Emilio Pacheco Distinguished Series, the interdisciplinary seminar "Hoy: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Present", and a series of lectures. In recent years, our faculty has been the recipient of major grants and fellowships from The Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.
| Last Name | First/Middle Name | Graduate Faculty Status | Academic Credentials | Positions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguilar Mora | Jorge | Full Member | B.A., Universidad Nacionel de Mexico, 1966; Ph.D., El Colegio de Mexico, 1976 | Professor Emeritus, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Benito-Vessels | Carmen | Full Member | B.A., University of Salamanca-Spain, 1977; M.A., 1977; Ph.D.,University of California-Santa Barbara, 1988. | Professor, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Cypess | Sandra M. | Full Member | B.A., Brooklyn College, 1963; M.A., Cornell University, 1965; Ph.D., University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 1968. | Professor Emerita, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Demaria | Laura | Full Member | B.A. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina, 1988; M.A. Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 1990; Ph.D. Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 1997. | Professor, Spanish Language and Literature Graduate Director, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Gironzetti | Elisa | Full Member | Spanish Language Teaching (University of Alicante, 2013) and a Ph. D. in English Applied Linguistics (Texas A&M University-Commerce, 2017) | Assistant Professor, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Harrison | Regina | Full Member | B.S., University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 1965; M.A., University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 1973; Ph.D., 1979. | Professor Emerita, Spanish Language and Literature Affiliate Professor, American Studies |
| Igel | Regina | Full Member | M.A., State University of Iowa, 1969; Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 1973. | Professor, Spanish Language and Literature Professor Emerita, Spanish Language and Literature Affiliate Professor, Jewish Studies |
| Lacorte | Manel | Full Member | B.A., University of Barcelona; M.A., University of Illinois at Chicago; Ph.D., University of Edinburgh, Scotland | Head, Spanish Language and Literature Professor, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Lavine | Roberta Z. | Full Member | B.A., City University of New York-Queens College, 1974; M.A.,Catholic University of America, 1976; Ph.D., 1983. | Associate Professor Emerita, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Leal Lima | Thayse | Full Member | Assistant Professor, Spanish Language and Literature | |
| Long | Ryan F. | Full Member | B.A. Macalester College, 1994; PhD, Duke University, 2002 | Professor, Spanish Language and Literature Associate Professor, Comparative Literature |
| Merediz | Eyda | Full Member | B.A., University of Southern California-Los Angeles, 1989; M.A., Princeton University, 1991; Princeton University, Ph.D., 1998. | Associate Professor, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Naharro-Calderon | Jose M. | Full Member | B.A., Allegheny College, 1974; M.A.,University of Pennsylvania, 1977; Ph.D., 1985. | Professor, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Penrose | Mehl | Full Member | B.A., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1990; M.A., Kansas University, 1993; Ph.D., UCLA, 2000. | Associate Professor, Spanish Language and Literature Affiliate Associate Professor, Women's Studies |
| Quintero-Herencia | Juan Carlos | Full Member | B.A. Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras 1986; M.A. Princeton University, 1988; Ph.D. Princeton University, 1995 | Professor, Spanish Language and Literature |
| Rodriguez | Ana Patricia | Full Member | B.A., University of California-Berkeley, 1987; M.A., University of California-Santa Cruz, 1994; Ph.D., 1998. | Associate Professor, Spanish Language and Literature Affiliate Associate Professor, Women's Studies |
| Sosnowski | Saul | Full Member | B.A., University of Scranton, 1967; M.A.,University of Virginia, 1968; Ph.D., 1970. | Professor, Spanish Language and Literature Affiliate Professor, Jewish Studies |
| Uriagereka | Juan | Full Member | M.A., University of Connecticut, 1986; Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1988 | Professor, Linguistics Professor, Neurosciences and Cognitive Science Professor, Spanish Language and Literature |