The concentration in Hispanic literature and cultural studies offers M.A. and Ph.D. courses. Graduate students specialize in Spanish American and Spanish literary and cultural studies. Areas of doctoral dissertations have included Hispanic Caribbean studies, U.S. Latino, Contemporary Iberia, Colonial Spanish America, and the Spanish Golden Age. The production and quality of M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Spanish sync with job market conditions which, despite being highly competitive, have been met with success by our graduates. Our doctoral graduates have obtained tenure-track employment at institutions such as the University of Central Florida, City University of New York, University of Alabama, University of North Carolina, University of North Georgia, Carthage University, Spring Hill College, College of Mount St Vincent and Ferrum College.
The concentration in Hispanic literature and cultural studies has strong support at Florida State University, as indicated by recent tenure-track faculty hires in comparative Caribbean studies and Colonial Spanish America. Our Hispanic faculty specializes in current issues including cultural identity, race, gender, ethnicity from a variety of theoretical approaches, including Post-Colonial studies, cultural studies, queer studies, eco-criticism, performance studies and material culture studies. Hispanic studies works collaboratively with other programs and specialties in the department, including Francophone studies, as well as with other university departments and programs, including art history, English, and Latin American and Caribbean studies. We welcome applicants for the M.A. degree and Ph.D. degree in Spanish with a concentration in Hispanic literature and cultural studies.
Research Areas
Early Modern
Faculty in early modern studies engage a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the literary and cultural productions of the medieval and early modern world. Particular strengths include European political theory, discourse analysis, transatlantic studies, indigenous studies and critical theory.
Recent courses include Empire and Intimacy in Colonial Spanish America, Imperial (Non)Fictions: Ethnography, Essay, and History, and Critical Inquiries into the Early Hispanic Episteme.
Faculty: Goldmark, Howard.
Iberian Peninsula
Faculty in Iberian studies teach a variety of courses from different time periods ranging from medieval and early modern, to modern and contemporary literatures and cultures. The main objectives of these courses focus on familiarizing students with the rich multicultural traditions of the Iberian Peninsula, while providing a more nuanced approach to issues related to literary and cultural analysis, such as genre, discourse, style, and historical contexts of production and reception.
Recent courses including reflect faculty specialization and include cultural theory, queer studies, women's narrative, the novela negra, and poetry. Specific topics for these courses have recently included the early modern episteme, the Spanish Golden Age, the detective novel, contemporary women writers, the Spanish Civil War, Hispanic cinema, the work of Federico García Lorca, and the poetics of the body.
Faculty: Alvarez, Howard, Cappuccio
Caribbean Studies
The Caribbean studies faculty's specializations reflect the field's interdisciplinarity, including diaspora studies, music and performance practices, transatlantic histories from the colonial encounter and the modern period through the 20th and 21st century narrative, essay and poetry. A long-standing strength in Cuban studies is joined by more recent courses on Puerto Rican cultural production and an investment in Dominican studies, in part led by the interests of our graduate students, who in the past 15 years have produced ground-breaking doctoral dissertations on Cuba as well as Puerto Rico. Our faculty create innovative courses using transnational and comparative methodologies, drawing from the multilingualism of the region, and grounded in the theoretical production on race, sexuality, and cultural identity generated from the region.
Faculty: Gomariz, Murray-Román, Poey
Amazonian Studies
Amazonian studies offer research opportunities in the entangled cultural and natural histories of the Amazon Basin since the arrival of the first explorers to the present. Coursework scrutinizes this region’s oral narratives, films, texts, and the arts, and builds on critical understandings that foster the development of ecological consciousness in Western societies. Students have the opportunity to contribute insightful perspectives that might lead to solutions to the current environmental crisis in Amazonia and beyond.
Faculty: Galeano