Aerial View of KU Campus

Graduate Program in Spanish & Portuguese

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a comprehensive graduate program in the literatures and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, along with a rigorous training in language instruction. The major emphasis is literary and cultural studies, with a strong component in theory. Students also have the opportunity to study Portuguese and to explore Brazilian literature and culture.

Our Department offers flexibility in the choice of fields, as defined by genre, by geographical and chronological parameters, and by theoretical paradigms. Our faculty are dynamic, professionally active, and committed to excellence in scholarship and teaching. The wide range of research interests among the faculty ranges from print culture in early modern Spain to contemporary cultural identify among Dominicans in the US. The range of dissertations produced in the department recently is equally varied, with a strong presence of cultural studies and comparative approaches.

By the Numbers:

40+
books and edited volumes published by current faculty
3
in-house publications: Latin American Theater Review, LATR Books, and La corĂ³nica
15
faculty committed to research and teaching
29
graduate students from 10 different countries

Our students represent a diverse group, and we encourage applicants from both the US and other nations. Admission to our graduate program is competitive. We are looking for applicants with outstanding academic records, regardless of undergraduate major. (An undergraduate major in Spanish is valued, but not required). Our minimum admissions requirements stipulate completion of 15 semester credit hours of literature courses in Spanish at the survey level or above. If you are applying to our program, make sure that your completed application includes all the required supporting documents. It is your responsibility to make sure all information has been received, and that it is correct and current. Please review our department's Graduate Admissions information and FAQ, then visit KU's Graduate Applications website to apply now.

For questions involving the graduate program, please contact our Interim Director of Graduate Studies, Isidro J. Rivera, at ijrivera@ku.edu.

For information regarding tuition costs, please view the Calculate Costs page on KU's Financial Aid and Scholarships website.

Lorena Mosquera

As an international student, KU is my library, my work, my stage, my happy place, and my literature and culture laboratory... It is my home.


Lorena Mosquera
Ph.D. Student