:: PhD - Program in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies & Theory
[Updated on March 5, 2008. VMS]
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Graduate Studies, Department of Portuguese
PhD Program in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies & Theory
beginning on January 28, 2008 (deadline: December 15, 2007) or September 1, 2008 (deadline: February 1, 2008)
URL: www.umassd.edu/portgrad
The PhD in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies and Theory aims to build on the success and potential of existing Portuguese programs at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, particularly the Master of Arts in Portuguese (in operation since Fall 2004. The unique demographics of Southeastern Massachusetts, with its large proportion of Portuguese speakers of Portuguese, Brazilian and Cape Verdean descent, has long been an important factor in supporting the growth and development of Portuguese programs at UMass Dartmouth, including the ability to attract external funding at a level unparalleled in the general field of humanities and non-applied social sciences.
The PhD program aims also to maximize the use of existing faculty resources at UMass Dartmouth by drawing on the wide range of multidisciplinary scholarly competence in the area of Luso-Afro-Brazilian studies. With five tenure-line faculty, all of whom teach graduate courses in the MA program, the Department of Portuguese is the largest Portuguese program in the nation. Additionally, there are six faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts (in the Departments of Sociology/Anthropology, History, Political Science, and Art History) whose scholarly expertise falls primarily in the area of Portuguese, Brazilian, or Lusophone African studies and who, since 2004, have been formally affiliated with the MA in Portuguese Studies program, cross-listing their relevant courses at the graduate level and participating actively in the 2005-06 interdepartmental faculty and graduate student seminar on "Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies." Last but not least, one graduate course per academic year has been taught by the occupant of the Hélio and Amélia Pedroso/Luso-American Foundation Endowed Chair in Portuguese Studies, which brings to UMass Dartmouth renowned senior scholars in the field for semester-long periods of teaching and research. In Spring 2007, the Endowed Chair will be occupied by Dorle Dracklé, an eminent anthropologist and Head of the Department of Cultural Research at the University of Bremen (Germany), who will teach SOC/ANT 306/506, Cultures of Contemporary Portugal, a recommended elective course for MA candidates in the Department of Portuguese.
Program Structure
1. Credits
The PhD in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies and Theory requires a minimum of 54 graduate course credits and 12 dissertation credits. Successful applicants to the program who hold an MA degree from UMass Dartmouth or another institution will be allowed to transfer up to a maximum of 30 credits from the MA level toward their doctoral degree coursework.
Candidates who apply to and are admitted directly to the PhD program, and who do not already hold a relevant MA degree, will be evaluated by the Graduate Studies Committee at the end of their second semester of coursework. Contingent on the results of the evaluation, the Committee may authorize continuation of PhD candidacy or recommend that the candidate pursue an MA degree and be reevaluated for admission to PhD candidacy upon its completion.
2. Required Coursework
Required coursework comprises a minimum of 6 courses (18 credits) in 600- and 700-level seminars, including a minimum of 2 courses (6 credits) at the 700 level, one of which must be POR 710, Literary and Cultural Theory. The remaining 6 credits may be taken at the 500 level, either in the Department of Portuguese or from an approved list of courses in other departments.
3. PhD General Examination
The General Examination will take place in the candidate's last semester of coursework and will consist of an eight-hour (2 x 4hr.) written exam and an oral exam. The oral exam is to be taken within a week of the written examination and will serve the purpose of clarifying and expanding upon the candidate's answers to the written exam's questions. The General Examination will be based on a reading list prepared by the candidate in consultation with his or her advisor and subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Committee. The reading list and the written examination will encompass four areas: period ( e.g., Romanticism), genre (e.g., lyric poetry), area (Brazil, Portugal, or Lusophone Africa), and problematics (e.g., representation of the city in literature and the arts). As a more specific example, a candidate who intends to write his or her doctoral thesis on the novelist Paulina Chiziane's questioning of gender relations in postcolonial Mozambique will most likely be examined in the following four areas: 1) postcolonialism, particularly in the African context; 2) theory and history of the novel, with special emphasis on the development of the genre in African literatures; 3) literary and cultural history of Lusophone Africa; and 4) gender theory and African feminisms.
Candidates who successfully pass the General Examination will advance to the presentation of their dissertation proposal. A candidate who fails the examination will be allowed to retake it once; failure to pass the General Examination upon the second attempt will result in automatic termination of candidacy.
4. Approval of Dissertation Proposal
A formal oral presentation and defense of the PhD dissertation proposal will take place in the same semester as the General Examination, but at least one month later. The candidate will submit a 15-page written prospectus of the dissertation, present it before the Graduate Studies Committee and answer questions and address suggestions and concerns raised by the members of the committee.
5. PhD Dissertation
Each candidate's Dissertation Committee, consisting of three faculty members and chaired by the candidate's graduate advisor, will monitor the dissertation's timely progress. Presentation and defense of a satisfactory dissertation fulfills the degree requirements. The dissertation defense will consist of a public lecture on the dissertation and a subsequent oral examination by the candidate's dissertation committee.
Courses
Courses to be added for the PhD
POR 710 three credits
Literary and Cultural Theory
Advanced study of major works and schools of thought in the humanities and social sciences pertinent to the field of Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies and related to research work of doctoral candidates ( e.g., postcolonial criticism, New Historicism, or cultural materialism). The second half of the course will be devoted to the analysis of relevant contributions to literary and cultural theory published in the past five years. Samples from some of the major genres and works of the Portuguese-speaking world will be analyzed. The cross-fertilization of theoretical approaches with empirical readings of specific literary works and cultural phenomena will lead the students to develop and advance their own research projects.
POR 720 three credits
Seminar in Portuguese Literature and Culture
Advanced study of a selected topic, period, author or genre in Portuguese literature and culture. Literary texts, canonical and non-canonical alike, are discussed in a broadly cultural context and from a theoretically informed perspective. Students formulate and develop independent research projects exploring theoretical meanings and consequences of literary works and/or cultural phenomena.
POR 730 three credits
Seminar in Brazilian Literature and Culture
Advanced study of a selected topic, period, author or genre in Brazilian literature and culture. Literary texts, canonical and non-canonical alike, are discussed in a broadly cultural context and from a theoretically informed perspective. Students formulate and develop independent research projects exploring theoretical meanings and consequences of literary works and/or cultural phenomena.
POR 740 three credits
Seminar in Lusophone African Literatures and Cultures
Advances study of a selected topic, period, author or genre in Lusophone African literatures and cultures. Literary texts, canonical and non-canonical alike, are discussed in a broadly cultural context and from a theoretically informed perspective. Students formulate and develop independent research projects exploring theoretical meanings and consequences of literary works and/or cultural phenomena.
POR 750 three credits
Comparative Studies in the Portuguese-Speaking World
Advanced study of a selected topic, period, or genre from a comparative perspective encompassing various literatures and cultures of the Portuguese- speaking world and including, if applicable, other Western and non-Western theoretical, literary and cultural readings. Literary texts, canonical and non-canonical alike, are discussed in a broadly cultural context and from a theoretically informed perspective. Students formulate and develop independent research projects exploring theoretical meanings and consequences of literary works and/or cultural phenomena.
Graduate Faculty
Prof. Dário Borim Jr. (Portuguese). Brazilian Literature. Brazilian cultural discourse.
Prof. Anna Klobucka (Portuguese). Portuguese and Lusophone African literatures, Portuguese language pedagogy.
Prof. Victor K. Mendes (Portuguese). Portuguese literature, critical theory.
Prof. Christopher Larkosh (Portuguese). Portuguese-American and comparative literature, theories of translation.
Prof. Frank F. Sousa (Portuguese). 19th and 20th century Portuguese and Brazilian fiction.
Prof. Michael Baum (Political Science) Portugal and the European Union, politics and the development of modern Portugal.
Prof. Memory Holloway (Art History). The art of Portugal and Brazil.
Prof. Andrea C. Klimt (Sociology and Anthropology). Cultures of contemporary Portugal, Portuguese in the Americas.
Prof. Gloria Sa (Sociology and Anthropology). Portuguese-American culture.
Prof. Timothy D. Walker (History). Early Modern Europe, the Atlantic World, the Portuguese and their empire, maritime history and European global colonial expansion.
Prof. Cristina Mehrtens (History) Latin American history, Brazilian history.
Endowed Chair (Spring 2005), Prof. Carlos Reis, University of Coimbra; Prof. George Monteiro, Brown University (Spring 2006); Prof. Dorle Dracklé, University of Bremen (Spring 2007)
Admissions Process
The Office of Graduate Studies must receive a completed application form, application fee, three letters of recommendation, official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate records, a personal statement, and reports of required examinations before an application is complete and is sent to the department for consideration. Application materials and instructions are available at http://www.umassd.edu/graduate/prospects/waystoapply.cfm or by calling 00-1-508-999-8604.
Apply now to start on January 28, 2008 (deadline: December 1, 2007) or September 1, 2008 (deadline: February 1, 2008).
The MA and PhD programs are sponsored, in part, by the Lisbon-based Fundação Luso-Americana and the US-based Millennium bcpbank.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Jean Salgado
Secretary, Department of Portuguese, Group I, Room 398G
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
Dartmouth, MA 02747. USA.
Phone: 508-910 6586. Fax 508-910-6502. E-mail: jsalgado@umassd.edu
Office hours: Monday, 9-2; Tuesday, 11-3:30; Thursday, 11-3:30; Friday, 11-3:45.
Research Assistants (RAs) 2007-2008, Alexander Lee (maraluso@gmail.com) and Valéria M. Souza (packedby774@gmail.com).
Victor K. Mendes
Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Portuguese
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
Dartmouth, MA 02747. USA.
Tel. 00-1-508-999 8338
Fax 00-1-508-910-6502
E-mail: vmendes@umassd.edu
Last Updated On: 3/5/08
