The Department of Spanish and Portuguese awards the degree of PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literatures with specializations in the areas of Spanish and Latin American Literature, Portuguese and Brazilian Literature, and Iberian Linguistics, and optional emphases on Translation Studies, Feminist Studies, Medieval Studies and Applied Linguistics. These programs are supported by an outstanding and internationally recognized faculty representing the following areas of teaching and research: Peninsular and Latin American culture and literature, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, US Latino studies, translation studies, drama, critical theory, new media studies, popular culture, applied linguistics, and language pedagogy. Our students and faculty work jointly with other departments and programs, including Linguistics, Latin American and Iberian Studies, Comparative Literature, Chicano/-a Studies, Film and Media Studies, and Theater and Dance.

The Department benefits from the exceptional resources of the University of California integrated library system and the UCSB Center for Portuguese Studies, and embraces Spain’s multilingual and multicultural landscape by hosting the Miguel de Barandarián Chair of Basque Studies, offering Catalan courses, celebrating the “Dia das Letras Galegas”, and working closely with scholars and institutions from Galicia, Catalonia and the Basque Country.