The department offers several options for advanced study. The
M.A./Ph.D. option in Spanish prepares students for careers in research
and teaching in Hispanic studies. The M.A. option in translation
prepares students for careers in commerce, industry, and the judicial
system. The M.A.T. program is designed for individuals already teaching
Spanish at the secondary or junior college level. Both the M.A. option
in translation and the M.A.T. are terminal degrees.
The
M.A./Ph.D. program deals primarily with Spanish and Spanish-American
literature and culture. It also may include course work in
Luso-Brazilian literature and linguistics. This program is open to
applicants with distinguished academic records and high GRE scores.
Doctoral candidates are expected to complete 54 credits of course work
beyond the bachelor's degree, with 12 of those credits in a major field
of concentration. Students have the option to declare a minor inside or
outside the department. Candidates must pass a written qualifying
examination and complete 24 credits of research. They are expected to
submit their doctoral thesis proposals when they take their written
examinations.
Candidates for the M.A. degree who elect to
write a thesis may devote 6 of their required credits to a research
problem. In this case, however, they are required to make an oral
defense of their thesis. At this time, faculty members screen those
M.A. candidates who wish to continue for a doctorate. Exceptional
candidates nominated by the faculty have the option to bypass the
master's examination and proceed to the 24 credits of required Ph.D.
course work.
Credit for graduate work taken at other
institutions may be accepted in partial fulfillment of the course
requirements. This normally may be no more than the equivalent of one
year of course work (24 credits) at Rutgers. Candidates must
demonstrate a reading knowledge of two foreign languages chosen from
among German, Latin, and the Romance languages other than Spanish. This
language requirement must be satisfied before the student is admitted
to the qualifying examination.
The doctoral qualifying
examination is a written examination based on reading lists covering
the student's major and minor fields of concentration and two more
general areas of study. Once the student has fulfilled the course and
language requirements and passed this qualifying examination, he or she
is admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. and may then proceed with the
preparation of the dissertation.
The master of arts option in
translation provides advanced training for translators and interpreters
who are preparing for careers in legal, commercial, medical, technical,
and social service fields. Applicants are admitted on the basis of
academic record, GRE general test scores, and a personal statement
submitted in English and in Spanish. The 24 credits of course work may
include theory and practice of translation and interpretation,
linguistics, literature, culture, and literary theory. There is a
foreign language requirement and a 6-credit thesis, which is a
translation.
The M.A.T. program is designed for individuals
already teaching Spanish. Applicants are admitted on the basis of prior
academic and/or professional performance. Scores from the GRE are not
required for admission. The 30 credits of course work may include
language, linguistics, methodology, literature, and culture.
Additionally, the graduate program in Spanish participates in the
Transliteratures program (q.u.).
