Program for the Degree of Masters of Arts in Hispanic Studies

Rice University

(Effective Fall 2005)

The program of Masters of Arts in Hispanic Studies at Rice University is designed to give its students a solid foundation in the areas of Spanish literature and culture, Latin American literature and culture, and Hispanic linguistics. Accordingly, the program provides a broad education in the primary periods, genres, and methodologies of the field, as well as the opportunity to develop an in-depth research project in a specific area of interest, which will culminate in the M.A. thesis. Both the coursework and research stages of the program foster the development of strong analytical and interpretive skills and sound critical thinking. In addition, the program provides training and experience in college-level instruction of the Spanish language. Funding, in the form of a tuition waiver and stipend, is generally awarded for a maximum of four semesters.

Requirements:

I. Coursework

Successful completion of 36 credit hours, which normally will be taken as three classes each semester in the first two semesters, two classes and one independent study for research on the thesis in the third semester.  In the fourth, and final semester, students must register for 9 hours of thesis research. 

• Students are required to take at least one class in each of the following three areas: Spanish literature and culture, Latin American literature and culture, and Hispanic linguistics.
• All students receiving a teaching stipend must take Spanish 507 Teaching College Spanish or its equivalent before beginning their third semester.
• A minimum of 21 credits must be taken within the department of Hispanic Studies. Others may be taken in relevant fields such as history, anthropology, literary theory, gender studies, etc.

II. Modern Language Examination

1. This exam can be taken at any time during the course of study prior to the defense of the thesis. It is recommended, however, that students take it as early in the program as possible.

III. Comprehensive Examination

Satisfactory performance on a written comprehensive exam that tests the student's competence in the department's three areas of study.

1. The exam will consist of written questions based on the reading lists in the fields of Spanish literature and culture, Latin American literature and culture, and Hispanic linguistics. In addition to the fixed lists, each section will have up to 8 additional texts based on courses each student has taken in that field.
2. The exam will be taken over a period of three separate days. Each section will consist of six questions, of which the student must answer three. Students will have a maximum of five hours to complete each section of the exam. The exam can be taken no later than the end of the third semester of the program.
3. Students will have an exam adviser in each exam area. Students should select and then meet with these advisers at the beginning of the third semester. The adviser will consult with other members of the department to determine what additional texts will be used, if any.

MA comp exams MA COMPS RULES AND REGULATIONS

IMPORTANT: After I, II, and III are completed...

IV. Thesis Proposal

1. The proposal should include a title, a summary of the project, a description of objectives and methodology, and a bibliography. The bibliography should have two parts: an active part (i.e., which titles will be analyzed in the project) and a reference part (i.e., relevant material that may or may not make a significant appearance in the development of the argument, but with which the student should be able to demonstrate familiarity).
2. Students must have chosen an adviser and two additional committee members by this time.

                                                     THESIS TIMELINES

V. Thesis

SAMPLE GRADUATE SEMINARS IN PENINSULAR AND SPANISH LINGUISTICS AND SPANISH AMERICAN LITERATURE

Literary Theory/Hispanic Texts            Cognition and L2 Acquisition
The Picaresque Novel                          Tense and Aspect in L2 Acquisition
Don Quijote                                         Civilization and Barbarism
Calderón's Theater                               (Un) Disciplined Bodies
Transatlantic 1898                                Macho Culture in Latin America
Unamuno and Ortega                           Latin American Women's Culture
The Spanish Avant-Garde                    Latin American Cultural Theory
Contemporary Spanish Literature         Europe and Latin America
20th-Century Spanish Novel                Modern Spanish American Novel
Bilingualism                                          Octavio Paz

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RECENT M.A. GRADUATES AND THESIS TITLES

Viviana Diaz, 2008.  ¡Que viva la música! De Andrés Caicedo:  Nuevas formas de la cultura popular urbana.

Lorena Gauthereau-Bryson, 2008.  Revolution on the Border:  Conflicted Loyalties and Conflicting Indentities in George Washington Gómez

Jonathan M. Palin, 2008.  Death and Degeneration in "Under the Volcano" by Malcolm Lowry

Maria E. Preti de Bertolusso, 2008.  Rememoriación y Resistencia:  Los effimeros relatos visuales del group Escombros (Argetina post dictadura) de 1988 al 2002.

Andrea Holman, 2007.  Spanish Language Development in an Elementary School Two-Way Immersion Program

Renee Rasmussen, 2007.  Character Representation in "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents," "In the Time of the Butterflies," and "¡Yo!" By Julia Álvarez

Michael Casey Bonfield, 2006.  Un análisis teórico de dos obras de Angel Rama:  "La ciudad letrada" (1984) y "Transculturaración narrativa en América Latina" (1982)

Christine Cepeda, 2006.  Tres generaciones de mujers en "The House on Mango Street", "Caramelo" y "Never Marry a Mexican" por Sandra Cisneros

Hao Chen, January 2006 conferral.  ¿Representación Realista o Visión Personal?  Análisis de la objetividad de Los de abajo de Mariano Azuela."

Paul E.Kasper, August 2005 (January 2006 conferral).  The New Face of Mexican Identity Seen through The Crystal Frontier by Carlos Fuentes.

Genevieve Gonzales, May 2005.  Tiempo y Aspecto:  Una comparación del ambiente del aprendizaje de espanñol como segunda lengua.

Noble Novitzki, May 2005.  Enterrados en papel:  Excavaciones e investigaciones como técnicas narrativas en Estrella distante de Roberto Bolaño, Cuidad asusente de Ricardo Piglia, y Los plantas de Serio Cheifec.

Elizabeth Howes, May 2004.  A Generic Study of María Zambrano's Delirio y destino:  Delirio y destino as an auto-biography.

April Ewing, May 2004.  Three Variations on Don Juan:  Treatments on Ramon Maria del Valle-Inclan, Manuel and Antonio Machado, and Miguel de Unamuno:  1926-1929.

Dylon Robbins, May 2003.  Elegua's Surrealist Shroud:  Surrealism and Afro-Cubanism in the Negrista works of Alejo Carpentier and Wifredo Lam.

Ruben Builes, May 2002. ¿Realismo o posmodernidad?  Una lectura de La tejedora de coronas.

Rebecca Phillips, January 2002.  Spanglish As a Marker of Identifcation Among Hispanics in the United States:  A Case Study of Two Tejano Radio Stations.

Armanda Lewis, January 2001.  El impacto de la Revolución Haitiana en el pensamiento político de José Martí.

Lucia Lima, May 2000.  Análisis sobre los usos incorrectos del español en estudiantes universitarios mayahablantes.

Victoria Arbizu-Sabater, May 1999.  La sátria misógina en el Cancionero de obras de burlas provacantes a risa (Valencia, 1519).

Jose Narbona, May 1999.  Análisis vexiológico del color rojo en Facundo de Domingo F. Sarmiento y sus implicaciones orientalistas.

Todd Alan Deveau, May 1998.  Error Analysis in the Interlanguage of Beginning Spanish Students.

Nancy Dean Faires, May 1998.  Evidencias lèxicas del euskera en el castallano de Pamplona.

Meilin Juliette Jao, May 1998.  La demitificación del papel dela mujer buena y la mujer mala en los cuentos de Rosario Ferré.

Araceli Noemi Jonsson, May 1998.  Guerra en el paraíso de Carlos Montemayor y la literatura testimonial.

Gema López-Pérez, May 1998.  Mujer y sociedad en "La regenta."

William Pardue, May 1998.  La falta de interlocutores en "Fragmentos de Interior" de Carmen Martín Gaite.

Kristen Miura Woiwode, May 1998.  El uso del bildungsroman en "Arráncame la vida," la desmitificación del estereotipo femenino en la literatura mexicana.

Henry Furman Means III, May 1997.  La sociedad de la edad de oro en "Don Quijote de la Mancha"

Lourdes Verde-Garcia, May, 1997.  A Study of Language Transfer in Third-year Spanish Students.

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FACULTY

José Aranda, Associate Profess.  Ph.D. (1995) Brown University.  American Literature.

James Augustín Castañeda.  Professor.  Ph.D. (1958)  Yale University.  Golden Age liteature.

Luis Duno-Gottberg. Associate Professor. Ph.D. (2000) University of Pittsburgh. Latin American Literature.

Beatriz González Stephan.  Lee Hage Jamail Chair of Latin American Literature.  Ph.D. (1985)  University of Pittsburgh.  Nineteenth-century Spanish American literature and Latin American cultural studies, gender issues, Hispanic film, visual culture.

R. Lane Kauffmann.  Associate Professor.  Ph.D.  (1981)  University of California, San Diego.  Modern Spanish literature and art, comparative literature, literary theory.

J. Bernardo Pérez.  Associate Professor.  Ph.D.  (1982)  University of Iowa.  Modern Spanish literature.

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HISPANIC STUDIES COLLOQUIUM

Our department hosts a colloquium in which faculty and graduate students periodically meet to present and discuss specific research projects.  Recent presentations have included:

"Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz y la comedia de enredo" 
given by James Castañeda

"José Ortega y Gasset, Inventor of the 'Generación del 98'"
given by R. Lane Kauffmann.

"La historia en la reciente ficción hispanoamericana:  perspectivas y problemas para una agenda crítica"
given by Carlos Pacheco, Visiting Professor.

"Las exhibiciones y la nueva sensibidad escópica en América Latina." 
given by Beatriz González-Stephan

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DISTINGUISHED VISITORS AND VISITING SCHOLARS

In cooperation with the Center for the Study of Cultures, the Insitute of Hispanic Culture of Houston, and other local cultural institutions, the Department of Hispanic Studies hosts frequent guest lecturers.  Recent visitors have included José Alvarez Junco, Roger Bartra, Roberta Johnson, Alberto Ruy Sánchez, Noé Jitrik, Carlos Pacheco, Nicólas Shumway, Javier Lasarte, Dale Koike, Ronald Surtz, Evodio Escalante, Nadia Lie, Kristien Vanden Berghe, Yvon Grenier, and Christopher Domíngez Michael.

In spring 2002, the department organized a conference on "The invention of Landscape in Spanish Art, Literature and Culture, 1850-2000."  It was organized by Lane Kauffmann and speakers included Lee Fontanella, Gayana Jurkevich, and Thomas Mermall.  In academic year 2003-04, Rafael Salaberry organized a two-part symposium on "The Future of Spanish-English Bilingualism in the United States."  Speakers included Carmen Silva-Corvalán, Jacqueline Aleida Toribio, Ana Roca and Guadalupe Valdés.  In February 2005, the department hosted a symposium on "Reinventing Hispanism in the Age of Globalization."  Speakers at the symposium were Jorge Gracia, Sebastiaan Faber, Alvaro Félix Bolaños, Candace Slater, José Aranda, Marc Zimmerman and Joan Ramón Resina.  The symposium was organized by Beatriz González-Stephan.  In additional to the above mentioned lectuers, our department co-sponsors lectures with Humanities Research Center, as part of the Global Hispanism Workshop. During 2006-2007 lecturers included: Michele Wucker, Gina Saraceni, John Hart, Carl Good, Fiamma Montezemolo, and Desiree Martin. And during 2007-2008 academic year, Conference Cycle: Transnational Caribbean Cultures. Speakers included: Juan Carlos Rodriguez, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Alexander X. Byrd, Jossianna Arroyo, Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel, and Angel Quintero Rivera.

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ADMISSION

Students must submit the following materials with their completed application forms:

• Original transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
• Results of Graduate Record Examination
• If English is a second language, tests scores from Test of English as a Second Language (TOEFL) are required*
• Five-minute C.D. in Spanish describing their reasons for choosing this field of study
• Three letters of recommendation (must arrive under separate cover, or a signature of the evaluator must appear on the back flap of the sealed envelope, if given to and sent in by the applicant)

* For inquiries regarding the TOEFL exams, contact:

Educational Testing Service PO BOX 955, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

Application Deadline: February 1, 2009 (for Fall '09)

Application Fee: $35.00

Tuition: $29,960 (for 2008-09)

Fees: $500 (approximately)

In addition, all graduate students are required to have health insurance. Two plans are available for purchase through the university by students not otherwise insured.

International Students, please note:  Once you are admitted to program, Rice will reimburse you $100 for the SEVIS (Student Exchange Visitior Information System) fee which you must pay at the time of your VISA application in your home country.  When you arrive on campus to begin your studies, speak with department coordinator to process proper paperwork for the reimbursement.

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If you have further questions contact our Department Coordinator, Ms. Beverly Konzem (span@rice.edu).

Or these alumni are willing to answer additional questions:

Mr. Ruben Builes, Ph.D.candidate, Stanford University, builes@stanford.edu

Mr. Dylon Robbins, Ph.D. candidate, Princeton University, dylon@princeton.edu

APPLY ON-LINE