Graduate Program

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers a comprehensive graduate program in Spanish language, literature, and cultures. Our faculty is dynamic, professionally active, and committed to excellence in scholarship and teaching. While the major emphasis of teaching and research is literature, the department also offers courses in literary theory, cultural studies, Portuguese language, and Brazilian literature. Our Department offers flexibility in the choice of fields, which are defined both by traditional geographical and chronological parameters, and by thematic topics. Our students represent a very diverse group, and we encourage equally applicants from traditional and non-traditional backgrounds. To see a video about graduate studies in the department, click here.

KU is a comprehensive research and teaching university that serves as a center for learning, scholarship and teaching. KU ranks among the top 50 public, national universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. KU awarded its first doctoral degree in 1896. Today graduate students pursue degrees in more than 90 programs, and the Graduate School awards more than 250 doctorates a year. More than 6,000 graduate students call KU home.

Admission to our graduate program is competitive. We value, but do not require, an undergraduate major in Spanish. Our minimum admissions requirements stipulate completion of 15 semester credit hours of literature courses in Spanish at the survey level or above. We are looking for applicants with outstanding academic records, regardless of undergraduate major. If you are applying, make sure that you submit a completed application with all required supporting documents. It is your responsibility to make sure all required information has been received and that it is correct and current.