The Department of Spanish and Portuguese is big enough to offer a wide variety of approaches to teaching and research, yet small enough to afford students at both the graduate and undergraduate level personal attention and mentoring. We offer an abundance of opportunities to learn and achieve mastery of the languages and cultures we study, which include Catalan, Nahuatl, Portuguese, Romance Studies, and Spanish. Our programs are specially designed for highly-motivated, imaginative students with a passion for other languages, literatures, and cultures and the ability to carefully cross traditionally defined geographic, linguistic, and disciplinary borders.
The sequence of undergraduate and graduate programs for the Department of Spanish and Portuguese is designed for students to gain competence in written and spoken Spanish or Portuguese through the structure and history of one or both of these languages, and also gain a critical understanding of the development and achievements of their literatures in the Old World and in the New through advanced study and independent research. The department's policy is to maintain a balanced strength between language and literature, and between Iberian and Latin American facets of a unified field.
Several of our faculty are formally involved with or are active in other departments or academic units on campus — for example, Comparative Literature, Rhetoric, Film Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, the Portuguese Studies Program, the Spanish Studies Program, the New Media Program, and the Center for Latin American Studies. UC Berkeley's renowned Bancroft Library contains a rich collection of materials related to the fields of study.
The variety of research interests and expertise held by our faculty is echoed in the diversity of backgrounds and academic interests among our students. While most come from California, a significant number come from other states and foreign countries. At the graduate level, about a third of our 50-some students are from Spain and Latin America. A few regularly practice, as well as study, one or more of the literary, musical, or visual arts. The graduate students publish a journal, Lucero, and organize an international conference each year, which brings leading scholars to Berkeley to engage with us over several days. The department holds professor- and student-sponsored colloquia on a regular basis.
Providing opportunities to experience the living languages and cultures studied in our department is essential to our academic mission. Besides regular co-sponsorship of cultural events and performances on campus and elsewhere in the Bay Area, we currently administer travel study programs in Spain through UC Berkeley Summer Sessions. Undergraduates are also able to study abroad for an entire year in a variety of locations in Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere through our participation in the University of California’s Education Abroad Program.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
Individual conferences on special programs of study or research in a restricted field not covered by available courses or seminars. Special Study for Graduate Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 5.5-10 hours of independent study per week
Terms offered: Fall 2015
This course provides participants with an understanding of the teaching methods used in Portuguese 101A at UCB, a forum for discussing teaching-related questions and problems, practical experience in creating and adapting materials for instruction, and experience in analyzing one’s own and other’s teaching. It is a hands on practicum that links the theory of the Portuguese language program to its in-class practice. At the end of the course, students will be prepared with strategies for effective teaching and classroom management. Students will be able to create communicative and task based activities. They will be able to develop effective exams and assessments, and be familiar with the use of classroom technology for language teaching. Teaching Portuguese at Berkeley: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Portuguese/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
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 Proseminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Spanish/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012
Applications of linguistic theory to literary texts and the analysis of fiction prose, discourse analysis, and the literary representation of speech. Literary Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2011, Fall 2009
Linguistic development of the major Romance languages (French, Italian, and Spanish) from the common Latin origin. Comparative perspective, combining historical grammar and external history. Linguistic History of the Romance Language: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Knowledge of at least two of the major Romance languages (French, Italian, and Spanish)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2016
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.). Seminar in Hispanic Linguistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2010, Fall 2005
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. Modern Spanish American Poetry: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2007, Spring 2005
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. Cervantes: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Summer 2020 8 Week Session, Spring 2020
Individual conferences on special programs of study or research in a restricted field not covered by available courses or seminars. Special Study for Graduate Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0-3 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 0-5.5 hours of independent study per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
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. Teaching Spanish in College: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate student instructor status
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Spanish/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
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. Individual Study for Master's Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Approval of graduate adviser
Credit Restrictions: Course does not satisfy unit or residence requirements for master's degree.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
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. Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Approval of graduate adviser
Credit Restrictions: Course does not satisfy unit or residence requirements for doctoral degree.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week
+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Faculty
Natalia Brizuela, Associate Professor. Spanish, Portuguese. Research Profile
Anthony J. Cascardi, Dean of Arts & Humanities. English, comparative literature, literature, Spanish, Portuguese, philosophy, aesthetics, early modern literature, French, Spanish Baroque. Research Profile
Justin Davidson, Assistant Professor. Spanish linguistics, romance linguistics, contact linguistics, bilingualism, Catalan, sociophonetics, language variation and change, quantitative methods. Research Profile
Ivonne Del Valle, Associate Professor. Colonial period in Mexico, 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 . Research Profile
Daylet Dominguez, Assistant Professor. Modern and Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures. Research Profile
Michael Iarocci, Professor. Spanish, literature. Research Profile
Tom McEnaney, Associate Professor. Connections between Argentine, Cuban, and U S literature, the history of media and technology, sound studies, linguistic anthropology, computational (digital) humanities and new media studies.
Nasser Meerkhan, Assistant Professor. Transcultural, transtemporal and translinguistic texts, Medieval Iberia.
Ignacio Navarrete, Professor. Spanish literature: poetry, poetic theory, narrative and culture, history of the book, Cervantes, Don Quixote, Medieval and Early Modern Spanish literature Modern Spain . Research Profile
Alexandra Saum Pascual, Assistant Professor. Spain, electronic literature, contemporary literature, digital humanities, new media. Research Profile
Candace Slater, Professor. Spanish, Portuguese. Research Profile
Estelle Tarica, Associate Professor. Latin America, Mexico, race, nationalism, Spanish, mestizo, Indians, Andes, Bolivia, Peru, Holocaust, Quechua. Research Profile
Nathaniel Wolfson, Assistant Professor. Avant-garde poetry and aesthetics, media studies, literature and philosophy, comparative modernisms and the history of science and technology.
Lecturers
Amelia R. Barili, Lecturer.
Jhonni Carr, Lecturer.
Agnes Dimitriou, Lecturer.
Clelia Francesca Donovan, Lecturer.
Miriam Hernandez-Rodriguez, Lecturer.
Elena B. Olsen, Lecturer.
Duarte Carvalho Pinheiro, Lecturer.
Ana Belen Redondo Campillos, Lecturer.
Victoria Martinez Robertson, Lecturer.
Donna A. Southard, Lecturer.
Tanya Varela, Lecturer.
Emeritus Faculty
Arthur L. Askins, Professor Emeritus. Spanish, Portuguese. Research Profile
Milton M. Azevedo, Professor Emeritus. Linguistics, Spanish, Portuguese. Research Profile
Emilie L. Bergmann, Professor Emeritus. Early modern Spain, colonial Spanish America, Spanish literature, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, visual studies, gender and sexuality studies. Research Profile
Jerry R. Craddock, Professor Emeritus. Spanish, Portuguese. Research Profile
Dru Dougherty, Professor Emeritus. Poetry, stage history, Valle-Inclan, Spanish poetics, war and literature. Research Profile
Charles Faulhaber, Professor Emeritus. Medieval Spanish literature, medieval rhetoric, codicology, paleography, computerization of scholarly methodology. Research Profile
+ Francine R. Masiello, Professor Emeritus. Gender theory, culture, globalization, comparative literature, Spanish, Latin American literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, comparative North and South literatures. Research Profile
John H. R. Polt, Professor Emeritus. Spanish literature, 18th century, 19th century. Research Profile
Jose Rabasa, Professor Emeritus. Spanish, Portuguese. Research Profile
Julio Ramos, Professor Emeritus. Spanish, Portuguese. Research Profile
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