Romance Languages and Literatures

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2015-16 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

About the Program

The PhD program in Romance Languages and Literatures (RLL) is taught jointly by the Departments of French, Italian Studies, and Spanish and Portuguese, and administered by a director and executive committee who are faculty members in those departments. The program is intended to afford students the opportunity to undertake more detailed comparative studies among the romance languages and their literary cultures than is normally the case in any single department’s program. It is founded upon the belief that a truly comprehensive understanding of any of the major romance languages and its literature must be nourished by a substantial degree of familiarity with all of them.

Students opt for either the program track in Literature or that in Linguistics; they choose one language/literature from among those taught in the three participating departments as their main emphasis (the primary language/literature), but must also complete substantial coursework in each of the other departments, and their eventual dissertation must deal with more than one romance language/literature. The RLL program's admissions process, funding, requirements, and administration are separate from those of the three participating departments, but RLL students are normally affiliated with the department of their primary language/literature (the host department) for social and employment purposes, and receive program-related advising from a designated faculty member (the head graduate adviser for RLL students) in that department.

Visit Department Website

Admissions

Admission to the University

Minimum Requirements for Admission

The following minimum requirements apply to all graduate programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:

  1. A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
  2. A grade point average of B or better (3.0);
  3. If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g., Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 90 on the iBT test, 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, 230 on the computer-based test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
  4. Sufficient undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.

Applicants Who Already Hold a Graduate Degree

The Graduate Council views academic degrees not as vocational training certificates but as evidence of broad training in research methods, independent study, and articulation of learning. Therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to pursue new subject matter at an advanced level without need to enroll in a related or similar graduate program.

Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree only if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.

Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.

The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:

  1. Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
  2. Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.

Applicants may apply only to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.

Any applicant who was previously registered at Berkeley as a graduate student, no matter how briefly, must apply for readmission, not admission, even if the new application is to a different program.

Required Documents for Applications

  1. Transcripts:  Applicants may upload unofficial transcripts with your application for the departmental initial review. If the applicant is admitted, then official transcripts of all college-level work will be required. Admitted applicants must request a current transcript from every post-secondary school attended, including community colleges, summer sessions, and extension programs. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) attended. 
    If you have attended Berkeley, upload your unofficial transcript with your application for the departmental initial review. If you are admitted, an official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required.
  2. Letters of recommendation: Applicants may request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
  3. Evidence of English language proficiency: All applicants from countries or political entities in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and Quebec (Canada). However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a US university may submit an official transcript from the US university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement: 1) courses in English as a Second Language, 2) courses conducted in a language other than English, 3) courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and 4) courses of a non-academic nature. If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.

Where to Apply

Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page . 

Admission to the Program

Students must apply to RLL, not to one of the single-language PhD programs in the three participating departments. The program’s executive committee, on which all three departments are represented, acts as its admissions committee.

Choice of Emphasis

One language/literature taught in the Departments of French, Italian Studies, or Spanish and Portuguese must be chosen as the student's primary language/literature; the department teaching it will become his/her host department upon admission to the program.

Writing Samples

At least two writing samples (no more than 10 pages) are required: one in English and one in the student’s proposed primary language. A third writing sample, in a romance language other than the proposed primary language, may be provided but is not required. Writing samples may include research papers or excerpts from honors theses; they should deal with a topic relevant to the field of Romance Languages and/or Literatures, and should represent what the applicant feels to be his or her best work to date.

GRE Scores

GRE Scores are required for admission to RLL. Applicants must authorize the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send the official score report to Berkeley. Berkeley’s institution code is 4833.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Normative Time Requirements

The normative time allowance for the program is set at six years or twelve semesters. The normative time for advancement to candidacy (time to qualifying examination) is four years or eight semesters.

Time to Advancement

All RLL students follow an individual program plan tailored to their own interests and goals, which is worked out in close collaboration with the faculty member serving as head graduate adviser for RLL in their host department and with the RLL executive committee. Students meet with the executive committee early in their first semester for a screening Interview at which the broad outline of their first two years in the program is sketched out. Their progress is then monitored throughout this period by their faculty adviser. They meet with the executive committee again in their fifth semester, for a progress review at which they are advised on preparation for the qualifying examination, normally taken in the seventh or eighth semester.

Before taking the qualifying examination, students must have satisfied the following requirements (the details of how and when these requirements are to be satisfied will vary from student to student, according to the individual program plan):

  • Achieve and demonstrate advanced competency in at least one Romance language taught in each of the three participating departments.
  • Achieve and demonstrate competency in Latin.

A typical timeline is as follows:

Semester Requirement (Completed by end of semester)
1Screening Interview
2(Advanced competency in 1st Romance language demonstrated)
3(Advanced competency in 2nd Romance language demonstrated)
4(Advanced competency in 3rd Romance language demonstrated)
5Progress Review. (Competency in Latin demonstrated)
6Core courses completed. Statements and reading-lists for Qualifying Examination submitted.
7 or 8Qualifying Examination. Advancement to Candidacy

Time in Candidacy

After passing the qualifying examination, students:

  1. Advance to candidacy;
  2. Write a dissertation prospectus, which must be submitted within three months of the date of the QE (during the eighth or ninth semester); and,
  3. Upon approval of the prospectus, write a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation is expected (but not required) to be filed by the end of the twelfth semester since the student entered the program.

Required Professional Development

Students are required to teach for at least part of their time in the program: they normally begin by teaching a section of a language course in their host department, but opportunities to teach either in other departments, or other types of course, or both, usually become available in later semesters, according to each individual student's aptitudes and qualifications.

Students are encouraged to attend and present at relevant scholarly meetings and conferences, and are mentored for this by program faculty according to the details of their individual program plan.

Graduate Program Outcomes

Students who successfully complete the program will have made a significant contribution to scholarship, by writing a doctoral dissertation in the field of romance linguistic and/or literary studies, and will have received individualized training that equips them to accept academic positions either in departments teaching one or more romance languages and literatures, or in departments of linguistics.

Courses

Select a subject to view courses

French

FRENCH 200 Proseminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course is designed to give all new graduate students a broad view of the department's faculty, the courses they teach, and their fields of research. In addition, it will introduce students to some practical aspects of the graduate career, issues that pertain to specific fields of research, and questions currently being debated across the profession.

FRENCH 201 History of the French Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2012
A history of the French language from its Latin origins through the modern period. Emphasis on "external history" (development of the language in relation to other social and cultural phenomena) with some historical grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax, orthography) introduced through textual readings from the various historical periods. Sociolinguistic emphasis, focusing on the emergence of a standard language and its relationship to other varieties of French.

FRENCH C202 Linguistic History of the Romance Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2011
Linguistic development of the major Romance languages (French, Italian, and Spanish) from the common Latin origin. Comparative perspective, combining historical grammar and external history.

FRENCH C203 Comparative Studies in Romance Literatures and Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Topics will vary. Comparative studies in literary, cultural, or historical issues that cut across the literatures of the Romance languages.

FRENCH 205 Translation Theory and Practice 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012
Exploration of theory and practice of translation, with particular emphasis on French.

FRENCH 206 Special Topics in French Linguistics 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2010
Topics may vary from semester to semester.

FRENCH 210A Studies in Medieval Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Offerings vary from year to year. Students should consult the Department's for current topics.

FRENCH 211A Reading and Interpretation of Old French Texts 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Offerings vary from year to year. Current topics may be found in the Department's Course Description.

FRENCH 220A Studies in 16th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2013, Fall 2010
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topics.

FRENCH 220B Studies in 16th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2011, Fall 2009, Fall 2008
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topics.

FRENCH 230A Studies in 17th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Fall 2009, Spring 2008
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topic.

FRENCH 230B Studies in 17th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Spring 2003
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topic.

FRENCH 240A Studies in 18th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2012, Spring 2008
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topic.

FRENCH 240B Studies in 18th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2012, Spring 2003
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topic.

FRENCH 245A Early Modern Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Offerings vary from year to year. See the department's course description for current topic.

FRENCH 245B Early Modern Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Spring 2013
Offerings vary from year to year. See the department's course description for current topic.

FRENCH 250A Studies in 19th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topic.

FRENCH 250B Studies in 19th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2014, Fall 2008
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's for current topic.

FRENCH 251 Francophone Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Focuses upon the relationship between oral and written cultures in Francophone Africa and/or the Caribbean: lyric and narrative poetry, drama and novels; the presence of oral tradition in written forms, narrative techniques borrowed from storytelling tradition, the definition of traditional metaphors and imagery; idealization of lost worlds; the conflict of traditional culture and modernism; the search for political identity and independence.

FRENCH 260A Studies in 20th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2014
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's for current topics.

FRENCH 260B Studies in 20th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2010, Fall 2008
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's Course Description for current topics.

FRENCH 265A Modern Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2011, Fall 2009
Offerings vary from year to year. See the department's course description for current topic.

FRENCH 265B Modern Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2014
Offerings vary from year to year. See the department's course description for current topic.

FRENCH 270A Literary Criticism: Recent Work in French 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2011
A close investigation of a number of important critical works in the field of French, including an examination of the various other texts (literary and critical) with which they engage. Orients students to the varied field of French studies and develops the critical and research skills necessary for advanced work in the field.

FRENCH 270B Literary Criticism: Recent Work in French 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Fall 2007, Spring 2005
A close investigation of a number of important critical works in the field of French, including an examination of the various other texts (literary and critical) with which they engage. Orients students to the varied field of French studies and develops the critical and research skills necessary for advanced work in the field.

FRENCH 274 Traditions of Critical Thought: French Theory 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2012
This course will introduce students to canonical texts and central issues in French theory and to the philosophical texts they presuppose. The goal is to give students the conceptual tools they need to read a range of theoretical texts and to contextualize major works in French theory from the 1960s and 1970s.

FRENCH 275A Problems of Literary Theory 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2012
Offerings vary from year to year. See the Department's for current topics.

FRENCH 298 Special Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Spring 2017
Designed for students engaged in exploration of a restricted field, involving the writing of a report. May not be substituted for available graduate courses.

FRENCH 299 Individual Research 4 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Reserved for students directly engaged in writing the doctoral thesis.

FRENCH 301 Teaching French in College: First Year 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Bi-weekly lectures on methodology, grading and testing, demonstration class with required attendance five times per week; language laboratory observations; supervised classroom practice. Additional seminars and discussion sections on methodology. Required for all Graduate Student Instructors teaching FRENCH 1 for the first time.

FRENCH 302 Teaching French in College: Advanced First Year 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Bi-weekly lectures on methodology, grading and testing in FRENCH 2. Demonstration class with required attendance five times per week; laboratory observations; supervised classroom practice. Additional seminars and discussion sections on methodology. Required for all Graduate Student Instructors teaching FRENCH 2 for the first time.

FRENCH 303 Teaching French in College: Second Year 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Lectures and discussion on the methodologies used in teaching second-year French, grading and testing; occasional attendance at demonstration classes; language laboratory observations; supervised classroom teaching. Required of all instructors teaching FRENCH 3 or 4.

FRENCH 335 Teaching French in College: Practical Phonetics and Listening Comprehension--Instruction on Creating a Web-Assisted Course 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Required of all GSIs teaching FRENCH 35 for the first time. Attendance at demonstration class two hours per week. Readings. Journal of observations. Practical training in creating multimedia documents, Web pages, and exercises. Final paper and or/final project.

FRENCH 601 Special Study for Graduate Students 1 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study for the comprehensive exam in consultation with the field adviser.

FRENCH 602 Individual Study 1 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study with an adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D.

FRENCH N602 Individual Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Summer 2016 8 Week Session, Summer 2015 8 Week Session
Individual study with an adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D.

Italian Studies

ITALIAN C201 Linguistic History of the Romance Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2011
Linguistic development of the major Romance languages (French, Italian, and Spanish) from the common Latin origin. Comparative perspective, combining historical grammar and external history.

ITALIAN C203 Comparative Studies in Romance Literatures and Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Topics will vary. Comparative studies in literary, cultural, or historical issues that cut across the literatures of the Romance languages.

ITALIAN 204 Contemporary Trends in Critical Theory 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2013, Spring 2008
This course is designed to provide the student with a general view of the major developments in contemporary criticism and an opportunity to apply critical methods to literary texts. One oral report and a final paper.

ITALIAN 205 Proseminar I: Italian Literary Studies 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2010
This course introduces the study of Italian literature in its historical scope, while presenting the range of research interests represented on the Italian Studies faculty. Required of all Master of Arts candidates.

ITALIAN 212 Seminar on Dante 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2013
Studies in the and other works.

ITALIAN 215 Seminar in Renaissance Literature and Culture 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Investigation of major topics, genres, and authors in Italian literature and culture of the 15th and 16th centuries.

ITALIAN 230 Seminar in 19th Century Literature and Culture 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2009
Investigation of major topics, genres, and figures in Italian literature and culture of the 19th century.

ITALIAN 235 Seminar in 20th Century Literature and Culture 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Investigation of major topics, genres, and authors in Italian literature and culture of the 20th century.

ITALIAN 244 Special Topics in Genre and Mode 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2011
Investigation of significant genres and modes of writing as they recur in the course of Italian cultural history.

ITALIAN 248 Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Italian Studies 2 or 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2015
Investigation of topics in Italian cultural history from a multidisciplinary perspective.

ITALIAN 260 Directed Readings in Italian Literature and Culture 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Directed readings undertaken under the direction of a faculty member of the department of Italian Studies in conjunction with an audit of a 100-series seminar.

ITALIAN 270 Seminar Research Course 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Directed research leading to the writing of a term paper under the direction of an Italian Studies department faculty member. Requires concurrent enrollment in a 100-series seminar.

ITALIAN 282 Prospectus Tutorial 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Directed reading course leading to the production of a formal dissertation prospectus with detailed bibliography. Course is required for all Doctor of Philosophy candidates.

ITALIAN 290A Graduate Colloquium in Italian Studies 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Reports on current scholarly work by faculty and graduate students.

ITALIAN 290B Graduate Colloquium in Italian Studies 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Reports on current scholarly work by faculty and graduate students.

ITALIAN 298 Special Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 10 Week Session, Spring 2017
Designed to allow students to do research in areas not covered by other courses. Requires regular discussions with the instructor and a final written report.

ITALIAN 299 Directed Research 6 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Limited to students engaged in research for the doctoral dissertation.

ITALIAN N299 Directed Research 3 - 6 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2017 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 10 Week Session
Limited to students engaged in research for the doctoral dissertation.

ITALIAN 302 Practicum in College Teaching of Italian 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016

ITALIAN 303 Practicum in the Teaching of Italian Literature, History, and Culture 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Three hours of classroom teaching per week with regular faculty supervision; attendance at faculty lectures where appropriate; routine meetings to discuss and evaluate teaching methods, including lecturing, discussion, classroom activities, grading and testing, design of syllabi and course materials.

ITALIAN 375 Seminar in Language Pedagogy 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Required of all graduate student instructors in their first semester of teaching. This course provides instruction on the theory and practice of foreign language teaching and learning with lectures on methodology, testing, grading, class preparation, textbook selection and evaluation, course design and development, and the use of audio-visual and computer aids to instruction. A final research paper is required. It also includes supervised classroom practice.

ITALIAN 601 Individual Studies for M.A. Candidates 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study in consultation with faculty member with a view to the M.A. comprehensive examination. May be taken only in the semester of the comprehensive examination.

ITALIAN 602 Individual Studies for Doctoral Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study in consultation with a faculty adviser. Intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare for the Ph.D. qualifying examination. May be taken only in the semester of the qualifying examination.

Spanish

SPANISH 200A Spanish Proseminar 1 Unit

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course is designed to introduce all new graduate students to the research conducted in the department. Readings will consist of research papers authored by members of the department.

SPANISH 200B Research Seminar I 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
This research seminar introduces students to central questions and debates in literary and cultural studies in Spanish and Portuguese. The second objective consists of developing research strategies and the mastery of different academic genres. It will function to introduce students to the research interests of the faculty and to identify potential mentors. Students write book reviews, precis, position papers, and abstracts for applying to conferences, and conference-length papers.

SPANISH 200C Reseach Seminar II 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
The objective of this course is to train students in developing article- or chapter-length critical writing. This is a writing workshop designed to assist students in writing an original research paper. Students will develop a research project conceived in one of their other courses and expand it in scope and argument to create a major paper with a significant critical bibliography. This course will serve as a forum for students to meet and discuss their projects, and as an organizational vehicle for their research.

SPANISH 201 Literary Linguistics 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Applications of linguistic theory to literary texts and the analysis of fiction prose, discourse analysis, and the literary representation of speech.

SPANISH C202 Linguistic History of the Romance Language 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2011
Linguistic development of the major Romance languages (French, Italian, and Spanish) from the common Latin origin. Comparative perspective, combining historical grammar and external history.

SPANISH C203 Comparative Studies in Romance Literatures and Cultures 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Topics will vary. Comparative studies in literary, cultural, or historical issues that cut across the literatures of the Romance languages.

SPANISH 209 Seminar in Hispanic Linguistics 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2010
This course varies in topic and fulfills requisite coursework for the Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics. Topics may range from foundational coursework (e.g. Spanish Phonetics and Phonology, History of the Spanish Language, etc.) to specialized topics in Hispanic Linguistics (e.g. Microsociolinguistics, Contact Linguistics, etc.).

SPANISH 221 Major Prose Authors of the Golden Age 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010

SPANISH 223 Major Poets of the Golden Age 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2009

SPANISH 224 Major Dramatists of the Golden Age 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Spring 2010, Spring 2008, Spring 2006

SPANISH 229 Modern Spanish Poetry (After Romanticism) 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2014, Spring 2012, Fall 2009

SPANISH 232 Colonial Spanish American Literature 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Spring 2010, Spring 2009, Spring 2008

SPANISH 234A Modern Spanish American Poetry 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2011, Fall 2010
A comprehensive survey of poetry in Latin America from 1880-1920, on the poetics of . Special attention given to the work of Ruben Dario and the heritage of Symbolism in Latin America.

SPANISH 242 Literary Theory and Criticism 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2014, Fall 2013

SPANISH 260 Cervantes 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2007
The reading and interpretation of the works of Cervantes, such as , the , the , the , and the dramatic works. Focus will change according to the needs and interests of members of the course, but will address such issues as the place of Cervantes' works in literary history, the background contexts of Cervantes' works, and contemporary approaches and movements in Cervantes criticism.

SPANISH 280 Seminar in Spanish American Literature 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016

SPANISH 285 Seminar in Spanish Literature 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016

SPANISH 298 Special Study for Graduate Students 1 - 8 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Spring 2017
Individual conferences on special programs of study or research in a restricted field not covered by available courses or seminars.

SPANISH 299 Special Advanced Study 8 - 12 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Spring 2017

SPANISH 302 Practicum in College Teaching of Spanish and Portuguese 3 - 6 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016

SPANISH 375 Teaching Spanish in College 3 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Lectures on methodology, grading and testing, class preparation, textbook evaluation, course design. Includes language laboratory observations and supervised classroom practice. Required for all new graduate student instructors.

SPANISH 601 Individual Study for Master's Students 4 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study, subject to the approval of the graduate adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for students to prepare for the comprehensive examination for the M.A. degree. May be taken only in the semester in which the examination is attempted.

SPANISH 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 4 - 12 Units

Offered through: Spanish and Portuguese
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Individual study, subject to the approval of the graduate adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for students to prepare for the qualifying examination required of candidates for the Ph.D. May be taken only in the semester in which the examination is attempted or in the immediately preceding one.

Faculty

French Faculty

Professors

Suzanne Guerlac, Professor. Nationalism, Literature, Philosophy, 19th- And 20th-century Literature, Myths Of Literature And Theory, Contemporary Cultural Criticism.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Timothy Hampton, Professor. Culture, Politics, English, Comparative Literature, French, Renaissance And Early Modern European Culture, The Romance Languages, The Ideology Of Literary Genre, The Literary Construction Of Nationhood, The Rhetoric Of Historiography.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

David Hult, Professor. Literary Theory, Medieval French Literature, Allegory, Hermeneutics, Text Editing, French Studies.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Richard G. Kern, Professor. Literacy, Second Language Acquisition, Writing, Psycholinguistics, Reading, French Language, French Linguistics, Technology And Education.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Michael Lucey, Professor. Pragmatics, The Novel, Sexuality Studies, Comparative Literature, French, French Literature, Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, British Literature And Culture, Social And Literary Theory, Cultural Studies Of Music, Studies Of Language In Use, Theories Of Practice, Twentieth-century American Literature..
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Nicholas Paige, Professor. Cinema (French New Wave), 17th- And 18th-century French Literature And Culture, History And Theory Of The Novel, Quantitative Literary History And Digital Humanities, Aesthetics And Image Theory, Subjectivity And Autobiography.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Associate Professors

Deborah Anne Blocker, Associate Professor. Early Modern French Literature And History.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Karl A Britto, Associate Professor. Africa, Cultural Studies, The Caribbean, Literature, Francophone Literature, Colonial And Postcolonial Literature, Vietnam, Gender And Identity.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Susan Maslan, Associate Professor. French, Early Modern French Literary, Political History.
Faculty Homepage  | Research Profile

Mairi Mclaughlin, PhD, Associate Professor. Translation Studies, New Media, Historical Syntax, French Language, French Linguistics, History Of French, Journalism Studies, Romance Linguistics, Italian Linguistics.
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Debarati Sanyal, Associate Professor. Violence, Poetry, The Relationship Between Literary Form, Politics In 19th-century France, The Connection Between Performance, Performativity, Ethics In Modernist Texts.
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Thoraya S Tlatli, Associate Professor. Francophone Literature, Colonial And Postcolonial Studies, Literature And Psychoanalysis, Twentieth-century Continental Philosophy.
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Assistant Professors

Eglantine L Colon, Assistant Professor.

Lecturers

Daniele Boucher, Lecturer.

Seda A. Chavdarian, PhD, Lecturer.

Desiree M Pries, Lecturer.

Rachel Shuh, Lecturer.

Nelly A Timmons, Lecturer.

Italian Faculty

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Professors

Albert R. Ascoli, Professor. Italy, National Identity, Literature And History, Dante, Authorship And Authority, Ariosto, Machiavelli, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Epic And Romance, Renaissance, Early Modern, Middle Ages.
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Barbara Spackman, Professor. Feminist Theory, Psychoanalysis, Culture, Fascism, Gender Studies, Comparative Literature, Italian Studies, Narrative, European Decadence, Travel Writing.
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Associate Professors

Steven N. Botterill, Associate Professor. Italian Literature, Italian Culture, Dante, The Middle Ages, Nineteenth-century Italian Poetry, Twentieth-century Italian Poetry, Medieval Religion, Spirituality.
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Mia Fuller, Associate Professor. Anthropology, Italy, Fascism, Urban Design, Architecture, Italian Colonialism.
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Gavriel Moses, Associate Professor. Violence, Body, Comparative Literature, Italian Studies, Film Studies, English Literatures, Philology, Film Making, Italian Cinema History & Genres, Auteur Effects In Antonioni Kieslowski & Rohmer, Cultural Objects In Cinema, Novels On Film, Love.
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Assistant Professors

Diego Pirillo, Assistant Professor.

Lecturers

Anna M. Bellezza, Lecturer.

Mara Mauri Jacobsen, Lecturer.

Spanish and Portuguese Faculty

Professors

Anthony Cascardi, Professor. English, Comparative Literature, Literature, Spanish, Portuguese, Philosophy, Aesthetics, Early Modern Literature, French, Spanish Baroque.
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Milton M. Azevedo, Professor. Linguistics, Spanish, Portuguese.
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Emilie L. Bergmann, Professor. Early Modern Spain, Colonial Spanish America, Spanish Literature, Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz, Visual Studies, Gender And Sexuality Studies.
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Dru Dougherty, Professor. Poetry, Stage History, Valle-inclan, Spanish Poetics, War And Literature.
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Francine R Masiello, Professor. Gender Theory, Culture, Globalization, Comparative Literature, Spanish, Latin American Literature Of The 19th And 20th Centuries, Comparative North And South Literatures.
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Ignacio Navarrete, Professor. Poetry, Poetic Theory, Narrative And Culture, History Of The Book, Cervantes, Don Quixote, Medieval And Early Modern Spanish Literature.
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Candace Slater, Professor. Spanish, Portuguese.
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Associate Professors

Michael Iarocci, PhD, Associate Professor. Spanish, Portuguese.
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Natalia Brizuela, Associate Professor. Spanish, Portuguese.
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Michael Iarocci, PhD, Associate Professor. Spanish, Portuguese.
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Estelle Tarica, Associate Professor. Latin America, Mexico, Race, Nationalism, Spanish, Mestizo, Indians, Andes, Bolivia, Peru, Holocaust, Quechua.
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Ivonne Del Valle, Associate Professor. Imperial Politics And Early Modern Political Theory, Colonialism And Capitalism, Globalization, Colonial Period In México, Internal Colonialism In Mexico, Jesuits (Loyola, Acosta, Baegert), Baroque And Enlightenment From A Colonial Perspective, Technology And Environment, Drainage Of Mexico City Lakes, Christianity And Pre-hispanic Religions..
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Assistant Professors

Alexandra Saum-Pascua, Assistant Professor. Spain, Contemporary Literature, Digital Humanities, Media Convergence.
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Daylet Dominguez, Assistant Professor. Modern And Contemporary Latin American And Caribbean Literatures And Cultures.
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Lecturers

Amelia R Barili, Lecturer. 
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Clelia Francesca Donovan, Lecturer. 
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Contact Information

Romance Languages and Literatures

4125 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-2714

Visit Department Website

Head Graduate Adviser: French Emphasis

Mairi McLaughlin

mclaughlin@berkeley.edu

Program Director

Ignacio Navarrete, PhD

ignacio@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Services Adviser: French Emphasis

Mary Ajideh

frenchga@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Services Adviser: Italian Emphasis

Seth Arnopole

issag@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Services Adviser: Spanish Emphasis

Verónica López

spanga@berkeley.edu

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