Spanish and Portuguese

Degree Types: PhD

The Graduate Program in Spanish and Portuguese focuses on the diverse Latin American, Iberian, and U.S. Latino literary and cultural traditions.

The faculty’s research and teaching interests span diverse time periods, regions, and forms of Latin American, Iberian, and U.S. Latino culture. Students can also connect with faculty in other departments and programs including Anthropology, History, Performance Studies, Comparative Literary Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Latino Studies, and African Studies.

In addition to the offerings on campus, students can also engage in Evanston and Chicago's large, diverse, and vibrant Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities. Chicago boasts prominent institutions such as the Newberry Library, the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Instituto Cervantes and the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago.

Additional resources:

Degree Offered

Learning objective(s)/Students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate knowledge of literary and cultural production from Latin American, Iberian, and US Latinx communities and their intellectual and historical contexts across multiple genres and periods. Demonstrate the ability to conduct sophisticated close readings of such works, and the ability to effectively present those readings.
  • Demonstrate comparative knowledge of and ability to effectively present theoretical/interpretive approaches.
  • Demonstrate the ability to plan and conduct a lesson in a Spanish language course.
  • Demonstrate Effective Teaching of Spanish as a second language.
  • Articulate/elaborate: 
    • an original interpretive approach to a corpus related to the future dissertation topic and
    • a methodological approach related to the future dissertation topic
  • Articulate and Present an Original Research Project for the Dissertation
  • Produce an Original Interdisciplinary Scholarship related to the literary and cultural production from Latin American, Iberian, and US Latinx communities.

Spanish and Portuguese Courses

SPANPORT 401-0 Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (1 Unit)  

Introduction to theoretical and critical traditions in Latin American and Peninsular traditions and elsewhere.

SPANPORT 410-0 Topics in Early Modern Literatures and Cultures (1 Unit)  

Analysis of primary works and the major critical theories and debates regarding the literary and cultural production of the Early Modern period (Golden Age Spain and/or Colonial Latin America).

SPANPORT 415-0 Studies in 19th Century Literatures & Cultures (1 Unit)  

Analysis of the discursive models of nineteenth and early twentieth-century Latin American and/or Iberian literary and cultural production. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with a different topic.

SPANPORT 420-0 Studies in 20th Century Literatures & Cultures (1 Unit)  

Analysis of movements, trends, and issues in twentieth-century Latin American, Iberian, and/or U.S. Latino literary and cultural production. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

SPANPORT 425-0 Studies in Contemporary Literatures & Cultures (1 Unit)  

Analysis of recent movements, trends, and issues in recent Latin American, Iberian, and/or U.S. Latino literary and cultural production. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

SPANPORT 430-0 Topics in Latino/a Literatures & Cultures (1 Unit)  

Analysis of the major critical theories, debates and proposals regarding the literary and cultural production of U.S. Latino/as, including popular culture, the media, and expressive arts.

SPANPORT 450-0 Topics in Cultural Studies (1 Unit)  

Analysis of specific topics and debates within cultural studies and visual culture in Latin American and/or Iberia. Thematic focus varies. May be repeated for credit with different topic.

SPANPORT 455-0 Comparative Studies in Latin American and/or Iberian Literature & Cultures (1 Unit)  

Study of diverse works, figures, genres, and traditions from Latin America and/or Iberia that have engaged with related topics, forms, and/or currents from inside and outside these regions. Focus and materials will vary each year.

SPANPORT 480-0 Topics in Latin American Literature and/or Iberian Literatures & Culture (1 Unit)  

This seminar course explores Iberian and Latin American cultural and political issues in relation to particular representational techniques, prominent literary traditions, subject-and national-making practices, and varied forms of writing literary texts. Topics vary.

SPANPORT 490-0 Current Readings in Latina/o American and Iberian Criticism and Theory (1 Unit)  

This course will involve intensive student-driven reading and discussion on current topics in Latin American and Iberian theory and criticism. It will be run as a tutorial and an environment for intellectual exchange. It is encouraged as an alternative to independent studies. Students will compose their own reading lists and prepare an annotated bibliography and give weekly presentations.

SPANPORT 495-0 Practicum in Scholarly Writing & Publication (1 Unit)  

Workshop intended to help students to design, research and write a scholarly article. Required for all graduate students in their second year.

SPANPORT 496-0 Dissertation Prospectus Writing Workshop (1 Unit)  

This course seeks to impart to students the knowledge necessary to answer the questions: what is a dissertation, and how do I write one? In the spirit of a workshop, we will work as a group to foster and cultivate the skill sets necessary to formulate and articulate an organizing question adequate to the charge of a significant, independent, multi-year research project. We will call this first stage the prospectus, and we will figure out what it is and how best to write it. We will try to distill multiple and often conflicting statements, expectations, and/or fears about what the dissertation is so we can effectively undertake its preparation and writing.

SPANPORT 499-0 Independent Study (1 Unit)  

Independent reading under supervision. Graduate students may enroll in SPANPORT 499 as a third course in the Spring quarter of their first year, in the Fall quarter of their second year, or in the Winter quarter of their second year when SPANPORT 495 is not offered. Consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies is required. Students must file a petition for Independent Study.

SPANPORT 560-0 Foreign Language Teaching: Theory and Practice (1 Unit)  

Current approaches to the teaching of Spanish as a Second Language. This course is designed for students in the graduate program in Spanish and Portuguese who will be teaching Spanish at Northwestern University, and undergraduate students who are planning to become Spanish instructors.

SPANPORT 570-0 Teaching Assistantship and Methodologies (1 Unit)  

Tutorial arranged between individual students and faculty and taken on an ungraded basis. May include attendance at advanced undergraduate course lectures and service in teaching assistantships.

SPANPORT 590-0 Research (1-3 Units)  

This course is intended for students to conduct preliminary dissertation research while on fellowship.