Graduate Program

The University of Pittsburgh's graduate program in Hispanic Languages and Literatures is one of the top graduate programs in Latin American literature and cultural studies in the United States. The Department's Latin American specialization has existed for more than 25 years and offers a five-year Doctor of Philosophy with an en route Master of Arts degree. Each year, the program consistently attracts a diverse, international, and highly competitive applicant pool. Students admitted to the program benefit from a multi-layered, team-based advising system that secures a rich and meaningful graduate experience while at the same time encouraging the development of their own research interests. We support related work in other Pitt programs, centers, and departments. These include the Center for Latin American Studies, the Global Studies Center, the Humanities Center, and Pitt programs in Cultural Studies; Film Studies; Gender, Sexuality, & Women's Studies; Hispanic Linguistics; and West European Studies.

The breadth of fields covered by our faculty spans a vast array of topics, genres, regions, approaches, and historical periods. The department’s strengths are in the areas of Latin American literature and cultural theory, with special depth in race, ethnicity, gender, postcolonial studies, performance studies, transpacific/transatlantic studies, feminism, film, and genetic criticism. Additionally, our teaching and research interests cover select aspects of the literature and cultural production of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the former colonies of Spain and Portugal in Africa. The department has become noted in recent years for its international conferences, symposia, and workshops, which promote discussion of issues and questions involving cultural diversity, cross-disciplinary encounters, and critical thinking as a basis for research.