Portuguese Studies MA

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Completion of the MA in Portuguese Studies requires a total of 30 credits, including a minimum of 24 course credits. At least 12 credits (4 courses) must be at the 600 level, including POR 610 Topics in Literary and Cultural Analysis. The remaining credits are taken through 500-level courses. Up to 9 credits may be taken outside of the Department of Portuguese, from the approved list of courses. MA students granted a Teaching Assistantship in Portuguese are required to take POR 521 Teaching Portuguese as a Foreign Language in their first semester of teaching. MA students awarded a full-time Teaching or Research Assistantship are required to take at least 6 and no more than 9 credits per semester (including research project credit). The degree is designed to be completed within two years and must be completed within six years of beginning course work.

Students will be dismissed from the graduate school if their average falls below B (GPA of 3.0 on a four-point scale) after 15 or more semester hours of earned credit. Students will be dismissed if they receive three grades of B- or below. Individuals who have been dismissed may be allowed to reenter the program at a later time if they reapply for admission and show new evidence of academic credibility.

Two distinct end assessment options are available to MA students. Option A (recommended, but not required, for terminal MA candidates) consists of comprehensive written exams in literature based on a reading list. Option B (recommended, but not required, for students planning to pursue a PhD) consists of a two-tiered Master’s Research Project (POR 660 and POR 661). Students will declare their choice of end assessment option by the end of their second semester in the program (full-time students) or following completion of eighteen course credits (part-time students).

Option A

Students choosing to take the written MA examination will, under the direction of their advisor, prepare by reading works included on the departmental reading list in Portuguese, Brazilian, and Lusophone African literatures. The MA Examination will take place at least two weeks before the end of the semester. The graduate exam committee will consist of three faculty members, one of whom may be from outside the Department of Portuguese. The committee will prepare questions for the student’s written exam, evaluate the results of the exam, and grade it as pass, fail, or delayed decision. Students who receive a delayed decision on the written exam will also take an oral exam administered by their graduate committee approximately one week after the written exam for the purpose of clarifying their answers on the written exam.

Option B

Full-time students choosing the MA Research Project Option will register for POR 660 in their third semester in the program and for POR 661 in their fourth and last semester; for part-time students this recommendation will be adjusted as appropriate. The scope and objective of the Research Project will be devised by the student in consultation with the graduate faculty. The project will be carried out under the direction of the student’s faculty advisor, who will serve as chairperson of the student’s graduate committee. The committee will consist of three members, including at least two from the Department of Portuguese.

The first stage of the Research Project (POR 660) will consist of a comprehensive review of pertinent critical literature on the subject chosen by the student; toward the end of the semester the student will submit a 20-25 page literature review essay and a 5-page description and justification of his or her own projected contribution to the existing body of criticism. The second stage of the Research Project (POR 661) will consist in the elaboration of successive drafts of a 25-30 page manuscript with a view to submitting the approved and defended final draft for publication to an appropriate professional journal. Students will prepare the final project for library submission. The MA Research Project defense will take place at least 10 days before the end of the semester before graduation and will consist of an oral presentation by the student and discussion of the project by the graduate committee. The student will be expected to show mastery of the material presented and be able to argue successfully in support of the insights and arguments developed in the manuscript.