nyu creative writing in spanish

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Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures

Degrees and fields of study.

• Advanced Certificate  in Creative Writing in Spanish
• M.F.A.  in Creative Writing in Spanish
• Ph.D.  in Spanish and Portuguese
• Ph.D. with Certificate Program in Culture and Media (with Tisch School of the Arts)
• Ph.D.-J.D.  in Spanish and Portuguese/Law (Dual Degree)

Application Deadlines

• Late applications will be accepted to the Creative Writing in Spanish program.
• Ph.D.-J.D. applicants must submit  two separate applications  — one to GSAS, and another to NYU Law. Please consult  NYU Law Admissions  for the J.D. application deadline.

Applications and all supporting materials must be  submitted online by 5PM  Eastern Time. If a listed deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or U.S. federal holiday, then the next business day will be the actual deadline.

Requirements

In addition to the general application requirements, the department specifically requires:

Test Scores

• Please  do not send  GRE test scores — they will not be reviewed by our Admissions Committee.

TOEFL/IELTS

Applicants must submit official TOEFL or IELTS scores (TOEFL preferred)  unless they:

Are a native English speaker; OR

Are a US citizen or permanent resident; OR

Have completed (or will complete) a baccalaureate or master's degree at an institution where the language of instruction is English.

Statement of Academic Purpose

In a concisely written statement, please describe your past and present work as it relates to your intended field of study, your educational objectives, and your career goals. In addition, please include your intellectual and professional reasons for choosing your field of study and why your studies/research can best be done at the Graduate School of Arts and Science at NYU. The statement should not exceed two double-spaced pages amd should be written in English.

Writing Sample

A writing sample of literary criticism or critical analysis of a cultural topic is required. It must be a scholarly, academic work, such as a term paper, master's thesis, or published article. It must be written in Spanish or Portuguese and should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages.

Creative Writing in Spanish Programs

A writing sample in Spanish consisting of 8-10 poems or 20 pages of prose (fiction, essay) for the master’s program; 5 poems or 12 pages of prose (fiction, essay) for the advanced certificate program.

Useful Links

• GSAS Bulletin
• Department Website
• Department Email [email protected]
• Creative Writing Website
• Creative Writing Email [email protected]
• Certificate Program in Culture and Media
• Application Portal
• Back to Programs, Requirements and Deadlines

The Graduate School of Arts and Science reserves the right to change this information at any time. This page supersedes all previous versions.

Last updated August   2023.

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• Program of Study

Course Offerings

Spanish and portuguese languages and literatures (2022 - 2024), course numbering system.

Effective fall 2020, the department has extensively renumbered and reorganized many of its courses. All courses in Spanish and Portuguese above the intermediate level fall into the following categories:

50/60-level courses are bridge courses focusing on the acquisition of oral and written language skills that facilitate the transition from basic language courses to the major.

100-level courses are advanced language courses in which students can acquire specific skills in translation, creative writing, and professional vocabularies while they reinforce and deepen their knowledge and proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese. The 100 level also includes 2-point courses, independent study, and internships.

200-level courses are content courses that provide (a) historical foundations and frameworks for the study of Hispanic and Lusophone cultures; (b) critical, theoretical, and methodological tools for the study of cultural works; and (c) an emphasis on writing in the discipline. Some are taught in English.

300-level courses combine the acquisition of critical and methodological skills with a writing-intensive component, offering students the opportunity to learn and practice critical skills and expand historical knowledge at the same time as they acquire proficiency in writing in the fields of Hispanic and Lusophone cultural and critical studies. These courses are taught only in Spanish or Portuguese, and require departmental permission (an access code) to register.

400-level courses focus on critical debates and methodological skills applied to specific cultural artifacts or historical periods. These courses, some of which are taught in English, utilize research skills learned in previous courses and develop new ones; expand students’ command of critical vocabularies and debates; and emphasize the presentation of research results in a variety of formats and genres, from research papers to journalistic reports and multimedia projects. This level also includes the honors seminar and thesis course for honors-track students.

Placement in Spanish Language Courses

Please note that all SAT Subject Examinations were discontinued in the U.S. as of January 2021 and after June 2021 internationally.

For full details, students must consult the website of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, as well as the Spanish language program's polices on course placement and on AP, IB, and A Level exams in this department's section in this Bulletin. To enroll in one's first Spanish language course at NYU, students must have taken the SAT Subject Test in Spanish; have advanced standing credit for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A Levels, or equivalent; or have taken the placement examination administered by the University. The exception is students with no previous study of Spanish or who took no more than one year of Spanish in high school, who may enroll in Spanish for Beginners I (SPAN-UA 1). Students from a Spanish-speaking background who wish to study the language may not enroll in any level of Spanish for Beginners (SPAN-UA 1, SPAN-UA 2, and SPAN-UA 10) or Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 3, SPAN-UA 4, and SPAN-UA 20), but must instead enroll in Spanish for Spanish Speakers (SPAN-UA 11) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speakers (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111) after taking a special written placement test in the department. Students with transfer credit in Spanish must take a placement test if they intend to register for the language in CAS. Note that after 18 months, a completed SPAN-UA course no longer serves as a prerequisite for more advanced courses; students must take or retake the placement exam. In addition, test scores are valid for only 18 months.

Admission to Courses above Intermediate Spanish

Students who have completed Intermediate Spanish I and II (SPAN-UA 3 and SPAN-UA 4) or Intensive Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 20) must take Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) as a prerequisite for upper-level courses, unless otherwise noted in course descriptions.

Portuguese Language Courses: Elementary through Intermediate Levels

Elementary-level courses stress the structures and patterns that permit meaningful communication in and outside the classroom. Intermediate-level courses aim to promote fluency in speaking, as well as proficiency in reading and writing. Both include readings and discussions of Portuguese and Brazilian texts, film, and other media. Successful completion of Intermediate Portuguese II (PORT-UA 4) fulfills the College Core Curriculum language requirement.

Portuguese for Beginners I PORT-UA 1 Open to students with no previous training in Portuguese and no knowledge of Spanish, and to others on assignment by placement test. 4 points. Designed to teach the elements of grammar and language structure using primarily a proficiency approach involving listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Emphasis is on building vocabulary and language patterns to encourage spontaneous language use in and out of the classroom.

Portuguese for Beginners II PORT UA 2 Prerequisite: PORT-UA 1 or placement test. 4 points. Further study of grammar. Emphasis is on building vocabulary and language patterns to encourage spontaneous language use in and out of the classroom.

Intermediate Portuguese I PORT-UA 3 Prerequisite: Portuguese for Beginners Level II (PORT-UA 2), Intensive Elementary Portuguese (PORT-UA 10), Intensive Elementary Portuguese for Spanish Speakers (PORT-UA 11), assignment by placement test, or permission of the director of undergraduate studies. 4 points. Review of grammar, language structure, and culture, concentrating on fluency and accuracy through listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities.

Intermediate Portuguese II PORT-UA 4 Prerequisite: Intermediate Portuguese I (PORT-UA 3), assignment by placement test, or permission of the director of undergraduate studies. 4 points. Promotes proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking. Readings and discussions of contemporary Luso-Brazilian texts and review of major grammatical concepts. Satisfies the Core language requirement.

Intensive Elementary Portuguese PORT-UA 10 Open to students with no previous training in Portuguese and no knowledge of Spanish and to others on assignment by placement test. 6 points. Covers the equivalent of PORT-UA 1 and 2 in one semester. Designed to teach the elements of grammar and language structure using a proficiency approach involving listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Emphasis is on building vocabulary and language patterns to encourage spontaneous language use in and out of the classroom.

Intensive Elementary Portuguese for Spanish Speakers PORT-UA 11 Prerequisite: native or near-native fluency in Spanish. 4 points. Accelerated introduction to spoken and written Portuguese that relies on the similarities of the Portuguese and Spanish languages to maximize learning and language acquisition.

Quechua Language Courses

Quechua is the most important and widely spoken indigenous language in Latin America. Increasing numbers of Quechua speakers have migrated to the United States (especially to New Jersey and New York City). The goal in the four-course sequence is effective communication through development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Successful completion of Intermediate Quechua II (SPAN-UA 84) fulfills the College Core Curriculum language requirement.

Elementary Quechua I SPAN-UA 81 Identical to LATC-UA 101. No prerequisite. 4 points.

Elementary Quechua II SPAN-UA 82 Identical to LATC-UA 102. Prerequisite: Elementary Quechua I (SPAN-UA 81) or permission of the instructor. 4 points. Continuation of SPAN-UA 81.

Intermediate Quechua I SPAN-UA 83 Identical to LATC-UA 103. Prerequisite: Elementary Quechua II (SPAN-UA 82) or permission of the instructor. 4 points. Provides students with a deeper understanding of the language.

Intermediate Quechua II SPAN-UA 84 Identical to LATC-UA 104. Prerequisite: Intermediate Quechua I (SPAN-UA 83) or permission of the instructor. 4 points. Continuation of SPAN-UA 83. Completion of Intermediate Quechua II satisfies the Core foreign language requirement.

Spanish Language Courses: Elementary through Intermediate Levels

Spanish for Beginners I SPAN-UA 1 Open to students with no previous training in Spanish or who took one year of Spanish in high school, and to others on assignment by placement test. 4 points. Designed to teach the elements of grammar and language structure using primarily a proficiency approach involving listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Emphasis is on building vocabulary and language patterns to encourage spontaneous language use in and out of the classroom.

Spanish for Beginners II SPAN-UA 2 Prerequisite: Spanish for Beginners I (SPAN-UA 1) or placement. 4 points. Continued study of grammar. Emphasis is on building vocabulary and language patterns to encourage spontaneous language use in and out of the classroom. Students who earn a B-plus or higher may proceed to Intensive Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 20).

Intermediate Spanish I SPAN-UA 3 Prerequisite: Spanish for Beginners II (SPAN-UA 2), Intensive Elementary Spanish (SPAN-UA 10), or placement. 4 points. Review of grammar, language structure, and culture, concentrating on fluency and accuracy through listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities.

Intermediate Spanish II SPAN-UA 4 Prerequisite: Intermediate Spanish I (SPAN-UA 3) or placement. 4 points. Promotes proficiency in reading and writing as well as oral performance. Further aspects of grammar, language structure, and culture with readings and discussions of contemporary Hispanic texts. Fulfills the Core foreign language requirement.

Intensive Elementary Spanish SPAN-UA 10 Open to students with one year of high school Spanish or two years of high school French, Italian, or Latin, and to others on assignment by placement exam or in consultation with the director of the Spanish language program. 6 points. Covers the equivalent of one year of Elementary Spanish (SPAN-UA 1 and SPAN-UA 2) in one semester. Students with a final grade of B+ or better in SPAN-UA 10 may enroll in SPAN-UA 20. Other students must proceed to SPAN-UA 3.

Spanish for Spanish Speakers SPAN-UA 11 Prerequisite: placement exam/permission of the director of the Spanish language program. Offered every semester. 4 points. A formal introduction to grammar for heritage speakers who understand spoken Spanish but need to further develop their speaking, reading, and writing skills. Incorporates cultural and literary readings to develop written and oral communication skills. Fulfills the Core foreign language requirement.

Intensive Intermediate Spanish SPAN-UA 20 Prerequisite: Intensive Elementary Spanish (SPAN-UA 10), Spanish for Beginners II (SPAN-UA 2) with a final grade of B+ or better, assignment by placement test, or permission of the director of the Spanish language program. 6 points. Promotes proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking. Covers the equivalent of one year of Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 3 and SPAN-UA 4) in one semester. Fulfills the Core foreign language requirement.

Bridge Courses in Spanish and Portuguese (50/60 Level)

Advanced Portuguese PORT-UA 50 Prerequisite: Intermediate Portuguese II (PORT-UA 4). 4 points. Expands and consolidates students' lexical and grammatical understanding of the Portuguese language and introduces them to the fundamental principles of expository writing. Utilizes exercises, readings, and intensive practice of various prose techniques and styles.

Advanced Spanish SPAN-UA 50 Formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition (SPAN-UA 100). Prerequisite: Intermediate Spanish II (SPAN-UA 4), Intensive Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 20), assignment by placement test, or permission of the director of the Spanish language program. For non-native speakers only. Native or quasi-native Spanish speakers should register for Advanced Spanish for Spanish-Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered every semester. 4 points. Expands and consolidates students' lexical and grammatical understanding of the language and introduces them to the fundamental principles of expository writing. Utilizes exercises, readings, and intensive practice of various prose techniques and styles.

Advanced Spanish for Spanish-Speaking Students SPAN-UA 51 Formerly SPAN-UA 111. Prerequisite: Spanish for Spanish Speakers (SPAN-UA 11) or placement/permission of the director of the Spanish language program. This course is intended for heritage or native speakers and these students may not enroll in Advanced Spanish Conversation (SPAN-UA 60; formerly SPAN-UA 101) or Advanced Spanish Conversation for the Medical Professions (SPAN-UA 61; formerly SPAN-UA 102). Offered every semester. 4 points. For native and quasi-native speakers with uneven formal training in the language. Expands and consolidates lexical and grammatical understanding of the language and introduces the fundamental principles of expository writing.

Advanced Spanish Conversation SPAN-UA 60 Formerly SPAN-UA 101. Prerequisite: Intermediate Spanish II (SPAN-UA 4) or Intensive Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 20). Recommended prerequisite or corequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100). Not open to students who have taken Advanced Spanish Conversation for the Medical Professions (SPAN-UA 61; formerly SPAN-UA 102). Offered every semester. 4 points. Intensive work designed to give the student fluency in the use of idiomatic, everyday language as well as a comprehensive, practical vocabulary. For non-native speakers only.

Advanced Spanish Conversation for the Medical Professions SPAN-UA 61 Formerly SPAN-UA 102. Prerequisite: Intermediate Spanish II (SPAN-UA 4) or Intensive Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 20), or permission of the director of the Spanish language program. Recommended prerequisite or corequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100). Not open to students who have taken Advanced Spanish Conversation (SPAN-UA 60; formerly SPAN-UA 101). Offered periodically. 4 points. Designed to expand speaking skills beyond practical, day-to-day language functions. Builds a more complex and technical proficiency in Spanish in a medical context, through the practice of pronunciation, vocabulary, idioms, and linguistic structures. For non-native speakers only.

Advanced Language Electives (100-149 Level)

Topics in Advanced Portuguese PORT-UA 100 Prerequisite: Advanced Portuguese (PORT-UA 50). 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Topics in Advanced Spanish SPAN-UA 100 Formerly SPAN-UA 190. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100). Offered periodically. 2 to 4 points. Topics vary but may include Spanish for the professions (Spanish for law, business, and medicine) or the practical use of the language (public speaking, Spanish for research).

Techniques of Translation SPAN-UA 110 Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100). Offered in the fall. 4 points. Theory and practice of translation through comparison of Spanish and English grammar, syntax, and style.

Literary Translation SPAN-UA 111 Formerly SPAN-UA 214. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or permission of the director or associate director of undergraduate studies. Offered every other fall. Zubieta. 4 points. Theory and practice of translating poetry, drama, and fiction from Spanish into English, using a cooperative translation format. Topics include the author's authority versus that of the translator.

Introduction to Creative Writing in Spanish SPAN-UA 120 Formerly SPAN-UA 125 and 225. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or permission of the instructor. Offered every semester. 4 points. Students read exemplary poems and short stories by Latin American and Spanish authors, and expand their own writing skills through related exercises.

Advanced Fiction and Nonfiction Workshop in Spanish SPAN-UA 122 Formerly SPAN-UA 325. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or permission of the instructor. Offered every other semester. 4 points. Students refine their own writing skills. Close reading of short stories, a novella, and personal essays and excerpts from testimonies and autobiographies by contemporary Latin American and Spanish authors.

Advanced Poetry Workshop in Spanish SPAN-UA 124 Formerly SPAN-UA 320. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or permission of the instructor. Offered every other semester. 4 points. Collaborative work and individual guidance from the instructor as students produce their own writing. Close reading of contemporary Latin American and Spanish poets.

2-Point Courses, Independent Study, and Internships (150-199 Level)

Independent Study PORT-UA 170, 171 Formerly PORT-UA 997, 998. Prerequisite: permission of the director or associate director of undergraduate studies. Open only to majors. Offered in fall and spring respectively. 2 or 4 points per term.

Esferas SPAN-UA 150 Formerly SPAN-UA 354. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: one SPAN-UA 300-level course. Offered every spring. 2 points. Creation of the department's online undergraduate journal Esferas , from discussing the chosen topic through theoretical readings to editing, layout, and writing of contracts for online and print publication. May be repeated once to fulfill one of the electives for the major or minor.

Internship SPAN-UA 152, 153 Formerly SPAN-UA 980, 981. Prerequisite: permission of the director or associate director of undergraduate studies. Open only to majors. Offered in fall and spring respectively. 2 or 4 points per term.

Topics in Culture and Action SPAN-UA 155 Formerly SPAN-UA 555. Prerequisite: Spanish proficiency at or above Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100), or permission of the director or associate director of undergraduate studies. May be repeated once for credit. Offered every semester. 2 points. The intersection of scholarship and activism. Students work directly every week with organizations in New York City that seek to improve the lives of communities in need (of education, asylum assistance, or access to health services). Course meets once every two weeks. 

Independent Study SPAN-UA 160, 161 Formerly SPAN-UA 997, 998. Prerequisite: permission of the director or associate director of undergraduate studies. Open only to majors. Offered in fall and spring respectively. 2 or 4 points per term.

Major Requirements (200 Level)

Cultural History of the Luso-Brazilian World PORT-UA 215 Prerequisite when taught in Portuguese: one PORT-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Usually offered once a year in alternation with SPAN-UA 201, SPAN-UA 205, and SPAN-UA 260. 4 points. Examines the construction and ultimate demise of the Portuguese empire and the emergence of post-colonial nation-states (starting with the independence of Brazil at the beginning of the 19th century) through a range of literary, artistic, musical, and filmic expressions. Topics include the ideological underpinnings of colonialism and decolonization, as well as the diasporic memory-work individuals and communities carry out through poetry, music, and dance. Also considers the Portuguese heritage of New York City, from the 1654 foundation of its first Jewish congregation (by exiles from Recife, Brazil) and the presence until today of sizable Portuguese, Azorean, and Brazilian communities.

The Iberian Atlantic SPAN-UA 201 Formerly SPAN-UA 300. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: one SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Usually offered once a year in alternation with PORT-UA 215, SPAN-UA 205, and SPAN UA 260. 4 points. From Islamic Spain and Indigenous America to the era of Spanish and Portuguese conquest and colonization. How the Iberian Peninsula, Western Africa, and the Americas were tied to one another in a vast inter-culture.

Cultural History of Latin America SPAN-UA 205 Formerly SPAN-UA 305. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: one SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Usually offered once a year in alternation with PORT-UA 215, SPAN-UA 201, and SPAN-UA 260. 4 points. Examines the making of modern Latin America through the study of key cultural practices in literature, visual art, film, and performance from the 19th century to the present. Topics may vary.

Key Works: The Contested Canons of Spanish, Latin American, and Luso-Brazilian Studies SPAN-UA 220 No prerequisite. Taught in English. Offered every year. 4 points. A close study of literary texts and other cultural artifacts that have, to a greater or lesser extent, been enshrined in the canon, as well as a selection of those that have been excluded or marginalized (including films and visual artwork in addition to works of literature). Critical readings put the primary sources into wider aesthetic and political contexts or offer analytical and theoretical approaches.

Key Words: Research Approaches to Iberian, Latin American, and Luso-Brazilian Cultures SPAN-UA 225 No prerequisite. Taught in English. Offered every year. 4 points. Critical and methodological approaches to cultural production, from oral and written cultures to film, performance, and music, and from the colonial period to the present.

Cultural History of Spain SPAN-UA 260 Formerly SPAN-UA 310. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: one SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered approximately once per year in alternation with PORT-UA 215, SPAN-UA 201, and SPAN-UA 205. 4 points. Examines the making of modern Spain through the study of key cultural practices in literature, visual art, film, and performance from the 19th century to the present. Topics may vary.

Writing in the Discipline in Portuguese (PORT-UA 300 Level)

The prerequisite for all PORT-UA 300-level courses is Advanced Portuguese (PORT-UA 50), unless noted otherwise. These courses are usually taught only in Portuguese and require departmental permission (an access code) to register; this permission is usually not required when the courses are conducted in English.

Topics: Brazil PORT-UA 300 Formerly Topics in Brazil Studies (PORT-UA 700). Prerequisite when taught in Portuguese: Advanced Portuguese (PORT-UA 50); no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered periodically. Andermann, Giorgi, Robbins, Peixoto. 4 points. Topics vary. Focused on Brazilian culture, society, and/or arts and the relationship between them.

The Short Story in Brazil PORT-UA 301 Formerly The Brazilian Short Story (PORT-UA 830). Prerequisite: Advanced Portuguese (PORT-UA 50). Offered periodically. Robbins, Peixoto. 4 points. Examines formal aspects of the Brazilian short story while developing skills in written and spoken Portuguese. Authors include Machado de Assis, Lima Barreto, Mário de Andrade, Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Clarice Lispector, Rubem Fonseca, and Joao Gilberto Noll.

Fiction into Film PORT-UA 302 Formerly Fiction into Film: Brazilian Novels and their Screen Adaptations (PORT-UA 702). Prerequisite: Advanced Portuguese (PORT-UA 50). Offered every other year. Peixoto. 4 points. Provides an introduction to Brazilian literature (including the work of Machado de Assis, Graciliano Ramos, Mario de Andrade, Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Clarice Lispector, Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Paulo Lins) and to the rich tradition of Brazilian film (from Cinema Novo of the 1960s to its legacy and revision in contemporary film-making).

Modern Brazilian Fiction PORT-UA 303 Formerly PORT-UA 821 . Prerequisite: Advanced Portuguese (PORT-UA 50). Peixoto. 4 points. Introduction to the fiction of 19th- and 20th-century Brazil. Studies the development of a national literature within the broader context of cultural and literary history.

Topics: Portugal and Luso-Africa PORT-UA 360 Prerequisite: Advanced Portuguese (PORT-UA 50). Andermann. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Writing in the Discipline in Spanish (SPAN-UA 300 Level)

The prerequisite for all SPAN-UA 300-level courses is either Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111), unless noted otherwise. These courses are usually taught only in Spanish and require departmental permission (an access code) to register.

Women’s Writing in Latin America SPAN-UA 301 Formerly SPAN-UA 640. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Fiol-Matta, Torres-Rodríguez. 4 points. Feminist critical perspectives on a selection of fiction, essays, and poetry penned by women. Selected authors may vary by semester.

Latin American Cinema SPAN-UA 302 Formerly SPAN-UA 750. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Andermann, Fiol-Matta, Robbins. 4 points. May focus on particular national cinemas, transnational cinematic trends, genres, or historical periods, or may be organized thematically around specific issues and ways of examining cinema history, including the lenses of gender or class.

Verlo. Leerlo. Fotografía y discurso en Latinoamérica SPAN-UA 303 Formerly See It, Read It: Photography and Discourse in Latin America (SPAN-UA 440). Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered every other year. Dávila. 4 points. Explores the impact of photography on writing through texts that take photography as their main concern (but where no photographs appear) and texts that play on the page with the relationship between image and word.

Armas Secretas: Leer a Julio Cortázar Hoy SPAN-UA 304 Formerly Secret Weapons: Reading Julio Cortázar Today (SPAN-UA 441). Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered periodically. Dávila. 4 points. Compares Cortázar's work with that of his contemporaries and studies his manipulation of high and low culture through his involvement with photography, painting, jazz, boxing, almanacs, and music.

Archives of the Body SPAN-UA 305 Formerly SPAN-UA 360. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Tortorici. 4 points. What is an “archive” and what does it have to do with representations of the body? How do we know (or think we know) what we do about bodies and desires in the past and present? How and why do certain bodies come to be recorded, documented, and remembered in the first place? Utilizes the lenses of sexuality, desire, and memory in the Americas. Analyzes techniques of representation in their cultural and historical contexts.

Cultures and Politics of the Caribbean SPAN-UA 306 Formerly SPAN-UA 580. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Fischer. 4 points. Main (but not exclusive) focus on the Spanish speaking islands. Topics: "discovery," slavery and the struggles against it, colonialism and independence movements, US occupations, dictatorships and revolutionary movements, and the Caribbean diaspora. Primary sources, literary texts, and essays in cultural studies/critical theory, anthropology, and history.

Narrar Lo Precario SPAN-UA 307 Formerly Intimacy and Precariousness: Problems of Contemporary Latin American Culture (SPAN-UA 645). Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered every other semester. Giorgi. 4 points. Topics: the relation between biography and fiction; new modes of constructing subjectivity; and figures of abandonment, precariousness, and disavowal that reflect transformations of the relation between politics and literature. Texts by Rodolfo Fogwill, Mario Bellatín, and Martin Kohan, and films of Lucrecia Martel and Eduardo Coutinho.

Gestos, Movimiento y Literatura SPAN-UA 309 Formerly SPAN-UA 405 and 410. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111) or equivalent. Conducted in Spanish. Seminar. Offered every spring. Dávila. 4 points. In what ways, and to what ends, are gestures, movement, and dance used in literary texts? How are they utilized in theory and criticism as metaphors for thought, or even as the grounds for knowledge and thought? What is political and/or ethical about them? How does dance produce literature and vice versa? Considers film and choreography in addition to literary and critical texts.

Topics in Latin American Literature and Culture SPAN-UA 330 Formerly SPAN-UA 550. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). May be taken up to six times for credit as topics change. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Topics in Peninsular Spanish Literature and Culture SPAN-UA 360 Formerly SPAN-UA 950. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). May be taken up to six times for credit as topics change. Offered every semester. 4 points. Recent topics include culture and memory, experimental documentary from Spain, Spanish romanticism, poetics and ethics, Spanish cultural studies, and 19th century novels.

Is Spanish One Language? SPAN-UA 362 Formerly SPAN-UA 355. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered every year. Pearce. 4 points. Familiarizes students with the historical, geographical, ethnic, and sociolinguistic factors that contributed to the large variety of Spanish dialects spoken in the Americas.

Histories of Photography SPAN-UA 363 Formerly Histories of Photography in Spain and Latin America (SPAN-UA 240). Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered periodically. Mendelson. 4 points. Theories and methods for interpreting photography, and a thematic overview of approximately 150 years of photographic practices.

Spanish Cinema, 1960s to the Present SPAN-UA 364 Formerly Spanish Cinema from Past to Present (SPAN-UA 400). Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered periodically. Labanyi. 4 points. Cultural analysis of film texts; issues of gender, memory, the gaze and spectatorship, class and ethnicity, and national history. Analysis of cinematic form and technique.

Medieval Spain in Modern Fiction SPAN-UA 365 Formerly SPAN-UA 350. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Offered periodically. Pearce. 4 points. Examines how nostalgia for a lost Andalus or Sefarad (the Arabic and Hebrew terms for the Iberian Peninsula) is explored as a theme and used as a device in modern literature. Considers the relevance of the past to the present.

Contemporary Spanish Culture SPAN-UA 366 Formerly SPAN-UA 315. Prerequisite: Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speaking Students (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111). Mendelson. 4 points. Specific topics may vary by semester.

Advanced Courses in Portuguese (PORT-UA 400 Level)

The prerequisite for all PORT-UA 400-level courses taught in Portuguese is at least one 300-level course in Portuguese (PORT-UA 300-399), unless noted otherwise.

Advanced Topics: Brazil (in Portuguese) PORT-UA 400 Formerly Topics in Brazil Studies (PORT-UA 850). Prerequisite: Intermediate Portuguese II (PORT-UA 4). May be taken up to four times for credit as topics change. Offered every year. 4 points. Topics vary. Focus on Brazilian culture, society, and/or arts and the relationship between these. Recent topics include Brazilian architecture, the Amazon, and Brazilian poetry and song.

Advanced Topics: Brazil (in English) PORT-UA 401 No prerequisites. Formerly Topics in Brazil Studies (PORT-UA 851). May be taken up to four times for credit as topics change. Offered every year. 4 points. Topics vary. Focus on Brazilian culture, society, and/or arts and the relationship between these. Recent topics include Brazilian architecture, the Amazon, and Brazilian poetry and song.

Brazilian Poetry and Song PORT-UA 402 Formerly PORT-UA 840. Prerequisite when taught in Portuguese: any PORT-UA 300-level course; no prerequisites when taught in English. Offered periodically. Peixoto, Robbins. 4 points. Popular song ( samba, bossa nova ) from 1922 to the early 1980s: its contexts and connections with poetry and politics.

On Eating Others: Cannibalism and Anthropophagy in the Circum-Atlantic World PORT-UA 403 Formerly PORT-UA 600. Prerequisite when taught in Portuguese: any PORT-UA 300-level course; no prerequisites when taught in English. Offered periodically. Robbins. 4 points. Cannibalism as an intellectual problem in Europe, the Caribbean, and Brazil. Authors include Montaigne, Shakespeare, Oswald de Andrade, Nelson Pereira dos Santos, and Suely Rolnik.

New Documentary in Brazil PORT-UA 404 Formerly The New Brazilian Documentary (PORT-UA 706). Prerequisite: any PORT-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered every other year. Andermann, Peixoto. 4 points. Critical thinking about this genre from the 1990s to the present. Topics: uses of fact and fiction and the blurring of lines between them; ethical concerns about the use of other people's images and words; and the construction of layered and complex images of Brazil.

Narrating Poverty in Brazil PORT-UA 405 Formerly Narrating Poverty in Brazilian Literature and Film (PORT-UA 704). Prerequisite when taught in Portuguese: completion of any PORT-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered every other year. Peixoto. 4 points. Explores the politics and poetics of representing scarcity and deprivation in literary works in various genres (novels, autobiography, short stories) and Brazilian films (Cinema Novo and after, including documentaries). Films include Barren Lives, The Scavengers, The Hour of the Star, Pixote, Bus 174, City of God, Babilônia 2000, and Black Orpheus .

Advanced Topics: Portugal and Luso-Africa (in Portuguese) PORT-UA 460 Prerequisite: any PORT-UA 300-level course. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Advanced Topics: Portugal and Luso-Africa (in English) PORT-UA 461 No prerequisite. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Advanced Courses in Spanish (SPAN-UA 400 Level)

The prerequisite for all SPAN-UA 400-level courses taught in Spanish is at least one 300-level course in Spanish (SPAN-UA 300-399), unless noted otherwise.

Advanced Topics in Latin American Literature and Culture (in Spanish) SPAN-UA 400 Prerequisite: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course. May be taken up to four times for credit as topics change. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Advanced Topics in Latin American Literature and Culture (in English) SPAN-UA 401 Formerly SPAN-UA 551. May be taken up to four times for credit as topics change. 4 points. Recent topics: new borderlands in Latin America and Spain, cultures of the Mexican Revolution, myth and literature, Hispanic cities, Latin American film, performance and human rights in Latin America, and literature and animality.

Advanced Topics in Latin American Literature SPAN-UA 402 Formerly SPAN-UA 553. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. May be taken up to four times for credit as topics change. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Topics: Crosslistings SPAN-UA 403 Prerequisites vary. May be taken up to six times for credit as topics change. Lecture. 4 points. Courses that originate in other departments and programs and are crosslisted with this department.

Narrar Lo Precario SPAN-UA 404 Formerly SPAN-UA 646. Prerequisite: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Giorgi. 4 points. Recent literary work in Latin America, organized around (1) the relation between biography and fiction, between intimacy and public exhibition(ism), and new modes of constructing subjectivity; and (2) Figures of abandonment, of precariousness, and of disavowal that reflect (directly or obliquely) radical transformations of the political and of the relation between politics and literature.

Latin American Theatre SPAN-UA 406 Formerly SPAN-UA 460. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered every other year. Lane, Taylor. 4 points. History, theories, and practices in the 20th and 21st centuries. Topics: postcolonial theories of culture and art; modernist and postmodernist dramatic forms; and relations to the region's complex social, sexual, and cultural politics.

Topics: Crosslistings SPAN-UA 407 Prerequisites vary. May be repeated once for credit as topics change. Seminar. 4 points. Courses that originate in other departments and programs and are crosslisted with this department.

Contemporary Latin American Novel SPAN-UA 408 Formerly SPAN-UA 743. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300 course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Torres-Rodríguez. 4 points. Works and authors may vary by semester.

Fictions of Power SPAN-UA 409 Formerly SPAN-UA 732. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Fischer. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Queer Cultures and Democracy SPAN-UA 410 Formerly SPAN-UA 480. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered periodically. Giorgi. 4 points. Starts with the present context of growing legal and social acceptance and inclusion of queer citizens in Latin America and the U.S., then revisits the last three decades to question frequently reductive narratives of steady, linear progress. Uses Buenos Aires and New York as examples of cities that epitomize queer struggles and cultures.

Modern Hispanic Cities SPAN-UA 411 Formerly SPAN-UA 650. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered periodically. Dávila. 4 points. An interdisciplinary, multimedia, and comparative approach to the physical, spatial, literary, musical, and imaginary constructions of such cities as Mexico City, Havana, Lima, Buenos Aires, San Juan, Madrid, Barcelona, and New York.

Advanced Topics in Peninsular Spanish Literature and Culture (in Spanish) SPAN-UA 460 Prerequisite: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course. May be taken up to four times for credit as topics change. 4 points. Topics vary by semester.

Advanced Topics in Peninsular Spanish Literature and Culture (in English) SPAN-UA 461 Formerly SPAN-UA 951. Offered every semester. May be taken up to four times for credit as topics change. 4 points. Recent topics include culture and memory, experimental documentary from Spain, Spanish romanticism, poetics and ethics, Spanish cultural studies, and 19th century novels.

Cervantes and Don Quixote SPAN-UA 462 Formerly Cervantes (SPAN-UA 371). Identical to MEDI-UA 335. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered every other year. Pearce, Sierra Matute, Subirats. 4 points. Close reading of Don Quijote and/or the Novelas ejemplares , supplemented by critical and historical texts. Topics: madness and desire, authorship, seductions and dangers of reading, the status of representation, the relation between history and truth, the Inquisition, Spanish imperialism, the New World, and the Morisco expulsion.

Spanish Theatre SPAN-UA 463 Formerly SPAN-UA 450. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Dopico, Sierra Matute. 4 points. The representation and presence of race, gender, sexuality, and power in early modern Spanish drama. Topics include: courtly and civic coronations, pageantry, and tournaments; depictions of the Renaissance underworld; short-skit interludes; comedia nueva ; African dances and blackface performance; cross-dressing and gender dissidence in Tirso de Molina and Sor Juana; celebrity and the stardom of actors; clothing, cosmetics, and stage props; and architecture, urban space, and cities.

History of Spanish Art SPAN-UA 464 Formerly History of Spanish Art from 1890 to the Present (SPAN-UA 425). Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered every other year. Mendelson. 4 points. Topics: the reception of the European avant-garde; "pure" vs. "social" art; history and myth in the construction of artistic styles; center and periphery; and the role of academies, galleries, exhibitions, and cafés. Works by Gaudí, Picasso, Miró, Bunuel, Dalí, Tapies, Crónica, and Almodóvar.

Barcelona SPAN-UA 465 Formerly Barcelona: Modern (Mediterranean) Metropolis (SPAN-UA 590) . Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered periodically. Mendelson. 4 points. The city as home to famous artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and architects; as a model modern metropolis; and as the center of Catalan identity. Discussion of literature and the press, films, performance, and the visual arts.

Islam in Spain SPAN-UA 466 Formerly SPAN-UA 333. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered periodically. Pearce. 4 points. Explores the key role Spain has played in the relationship between Islam and the West and the mutual influences between Spain and Morocco, from medieval Al-Andalus to present-day colonization, de-colonization, and immigration.

Trans-Atlantic Avant-gardes SPAN-UA 468 Formerly Transatlantic Avant-gardes: Sites of Modernity (SPAN-UA 625). Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered every other year. Mendelson. 4 points. A study of mobility, travel, and cultural transmission and exchange in the artistic and literary avant-gardes of the 20th century in Europe and the Americas.

Muslim Spain: Literature and Society SPAN-UA 469 Formerly SPAN-UA 301. Prerequisite when taught in Spanish: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course; no prerequisite when taught in English. Offered periodically. Pearce. 4 points. How literary texts functioned in this medieval society and can be read as reflections of social and historical concerns. Considers material and artistic evidence alongside the textual record. Topics: interactions between Jews, Christians, and Muslims; women and the family; multilingualism; concepts of kingship and just rule; depictions of heroism and vanity; religious observance and practice; and early forms of national identity.

Structure and Variation SPAN-UA 470 Formerly Structure and Variation in the Spanish Language (SPAN-UA 230). Prerequisite: completion of any SPAN-UA 300-level course or permission of the department. Offered every other semester. Elorrieta. 4 points. Sounds, sentence structure, word order, and word meaning and formation, with attention to situational and social variations. Combines analysis with an observational study of a language community.

Senior Honors Seminar SPAN-UA 498 Formerly SPAN-UA 995. Offered in the fall. 4 points.

Honors Thesis Seminar SPAN-UA 499 Formerly SPAN-UA 996. Offered in the spring. 4 points.

• Fridays on the Patio
• CWS/Poetry Archive
• KJCC Poetry Series
• periferias, the podcast
• el taller @KJCC
• Sulo : the Philippine Studies Initiative at NYU (SPSI)
• Artist in Residence
• Postdoctoral Fellows
• Scholar in Residence
• New York City Proclamations for the KJCC
• This Space is Yours
• ATRIUM - Voices from the KJCC
• TEMPORALES Special Issue
• ESFERAS Special Issue

Past Events

Creative writing in spanish program.

Co-sponsored by the King Juan Carlos Center

With the support of NYU Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the MFA Program in Creative Writing in Spanish. The Creative Writing in Spanish Program acknowledges the generous support of Santander Bank through its Santander Universities Program.

• February 18, 2016 Homero Aridjis: The Child Poet
• April 14, 2021 Online Event | CWS Series | A Virginian looked for meaning in poetry by living Spain and writing in Spanish
• October 11, 2017 CWS: First Round Table “Ten years of the MFA”
• March 27, 2024 De Quiltras, Chuchas y otras Perras: Lectura y Coloquio alrededor del Feminismo
• April 7, 2016 Creative Writing in Spanish: Miguel Angel Hernández and Reinaldo Laddaga
• May 7, 2018 CWS Series | Farewell Reading by Graduating Students from the MFA Program of Creative Writing in Spanish
• November 19, 2015 Unpayable Debt: Capital, Activism and the Puerto Rican Financial Crisis
• May 17, 2021 Online Event | CWS Series: Farewell Reading Featuring the Class of 2021
• May 8, 2019 Farewell Readings by Graduating Students from the MFA Program of CWS 2017-2019
• April 14, 2016 Los misterios de Rita Indiana
• February 11, 2016 Yo persigo una forma: Presencia y vigencia de Darío
• November 29, 2017 CWS: Third Round Table “Ten years of the MFA”
• December 8, 2017 CWS: Revista Temporales
• November 28, 2018 CWS Series | Conversation about the novel Sumar, by Diamela Eltit
• December 9, 2020 Online Event | CWS Series | Teatro y Pandemia
• December 12, 2018 CWS Series | Presentation of Temporales magazine
• October 31, 2018 CWS Series | Conversation with Colombian writer Juan Cárdenas
• December 8, 2021 CWS Online Series | Translating The Tradition/La Tradición. Featuring Jericho Brown (author), and Andrea Cote Botero and Nieves García Prados (translators)
• October 2, 2019 **EVENT CANCELLED** CWS Series | "Funciones y expansiones de la Crítica Literaria: Desde la Academia al Periodismo", Conversation with Patricia Espinosa and Diamela Eltit
• October 27, 2021 CWS Online Series | Vuelta a la otra margen. Alquimia, ensambles y opciones en la poesía peruana | Poetry reading
• April 22, 2020 Online Event | CWS Series | Presentation of the Spanish translation of Yusef Komunyakaa's The Emperor of the Water Clocks
• March 10, 2021 Online Event | CWS event featuring Luis Chitarroni: Continuidad de los diarios
• April 10, 2019 DramaLAB
• March 17, 2016 Cross-site videoconference by Anna Kazumi-Stahl, Director, NYU Buenos Aires
• October 25, 2017 CWS: Second Round Table “Ten years of the MFA”
• February 26, 2020 CWS Series | Ficciones rebeldes: A Conversation with Mexican Writer Álvaro Enrigue
• September 23, 2020 Online Event | CWS Series | Welcome Reading by the MFA Students
• May 9, 2016 Farewell reading
• November 12, 2015 Migraciones en la escritura: bilingüismo, translingüismo, traducción, autotraducción
• September 10, 2015 Welcome Reading. Featuring MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish students.
• October 4, 2017 CWS: Award-winning Cuban Writer Leonardo Padura In Dialogue with Journalist Jon Lee Anderson
• October 30, 2019 CWS Series | Celebrating the 11th Anniversary of Sangría Publishers (New York-Chile)
• September 28, 2022 CWS Series | Modo Chejfec. Un homenaje
• November 5, 2015 Marta Aponte Alsina and Julio Ramos
• May 1, 2019 Performance Conference: “Resistir a Barthes”, by writer Paloma Vidal
• October 29, 2015 Gabriela Mistral: Conmociones
• October 28, 2020 Online Event | CWS Series | ¿Aceptan manuscritos? Publicar en español en tiempos de pandemia.
• September 11, 2019 CWS Series | Welcome Reading
• October 7, 2020 Online Event | CWS Series | Zona de escritura with Fernanda Trías and Giuseppe Caputo
• May 6, 2020 **EVENT CANCELLED** CWS Series | Special Screening: Haydeé y el pez volador
• February 25, 2016 Javier Calvo and Alejandro Zambra
• April 3, 2019 CWS Series | Conversation about the work of María Dueñas
• May 5, 2021 Online Event | DramaLab 2021 | LEO DE SOL ASCENDENTE by Laura Galindo
• April 28, 2021 **EVENT CANCELLED** CWS Event: Los talleres del tiempo: editores hispanos en Nueva York
• May 11, 2020 Online Event | CWS Series | Farewell Reading by Graduating Students
• October 10, 2018 CWS Series | Conversation about the work of Peruvian writer Gabriela Wiener
• September 18, 2019 CWS Series | Casagrande: Art, Poetry and Performance
• September 24, 2015 La comunidad de la escritura
• October 26, 2021 CWS Online Series | Vuelta a la otra margen. Alquimia, ensambles y opciones en la poesía peruana | Round table
• September 7, 2023 Lectura de Bienvenida - Creative Writing in Spanish

Spanish and Linguistics (BA)

Program description, joint honors.

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures boasts one of the most prestigious and innovative programs in the country. Students with an interest in the Spanish and Portuguese languages and/or the cultural production of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain take a wide range of courses with a world-class faculty, who frequently collaborate with NYU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the King Juan Carlos I Center, and the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics.

The department offers a range of majors and minors. Highly qualified students may participate in the honors program, which culminates in the writing of a thesis during the student’s senior year under the supervision of a faculty member. Internships are offered for credit with educational and cultural institutions throughout the city. Students are encouraged to study away at NYU Madrid and NYU Buenos Aires, where they may fulfill many major or minor requirements through site-specific classes and immersive experiences.

In addition, the department collaborates on programs with the Residential Life Exploration Program’s Spanish language floor for freshmen, and publishes the online undergraduate journal wp.nyu.edu/esferas .

Linguistics

Linguistics is the science of human language. It seeks to determine that which is necessary in human language, that which is possible, and that which is impossible. While linguists work to determine the unique qualities of individual languages, they are constantly searching for linguistic universals—properties whose explanatory power reaches across languages. The discipline of linguistics is organized around syntax (the principles by which sentences are organized), morphology (the principles by which words are constructed), semantics (the study of meaning), phonetics (the study of speech sounds), phonology (the sound patterns of language), historical linguistics (the ways in which languages change over time), sociolinguistics (the interaction of language with society), psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics (the representation of language in the brain). Current research by faculty members extends across the field, including topics in the interaction of syntax and semantics, phonetics and phonology, languages in contact, pidgin and creole languages, urban sociolinguistics, and computer analogies of syntactic processes.

Students interested in pursuing joint honors in Spanish and Linguistics should consult with the Spanish department as well as with the director of undergraduate studies in Linguistics, in or before the second semester of their junior year.

New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU.  For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply . 

Program Requirements

Course numbering system, admission to courses above intermediate spanish.

The joint major requirements (40 credits) must all be completed with a grade of C or better.

The prerequisite for entering the major is either SPAN-UA 50 , or SPAN-UA 51 Advanced Spanish for Spanish-Speaking Students . Note that neither course counts toward the major.

The foreign language requirement is satisfied upon successful completion through the Intermediate level of a language. This may be accomplished in fewer than 16 credits, but those credits must then be completed as elective credit.

This SPAN-UA 3XX course cannot double-count toward the next requirement.

Chosen with the advice of the director of undergraduate studies. These are often at the SPAN-UA 3## level. With permission, students may meet this 16-point requirement with a combination of 2- and 4-point courses. One and only one of these additional four courses may be an advanced language elective (creative writing, conversation, or translation), chosen from the following: 

Advanced Spanish Conversation (SPAN-UA 60)

Advanced Spanish Conversation for the Medical Professions (SPAN-UA 61)

Techniques of Translation (SPAN-UA 110)

Literary Translation (SPAN-UA 111)

Introduction to Creative Writing in Spanish (SPAN-UA 120)

Advanced Fiction and Nonfiction Workshop in Spanish (SPAN-UA 122)

Advanced Poetry Workshop in Spanish (SPAN-UA 124)

Effective fall 2020, the department has extensively renumbered and reorganized many of its courses. All courses in Spanish and Portuguese above the intermediate level fall into the following categories:

50/60-level courses  are bridge courses focusing on the acquisition of oral and written language skills that facilitate the transition from basic language courses to the major.

100-level courses  are advanced language courses in which students can acquire specific skills in translation, creative writing, and professional vocabularies while they reinforce and deepen their knowledge and proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese. The 100 level also includes 2-credit courses, independent study, and internships.

200-level courses  are content courses that provide (a) historical foundations and frameworks for the study of Hispanic and Lusophone cultures; (b) critical, theoretical, and methodological tools for the study of cultural works; and (c) an emphasis on writing in the discipline. Some are taught in English.

300-level courses  combine the acquisition of critical and methodological skills with a writing-intensive component, offering students the opportunity to learn and practice critical skills and expand historical knowledge at the same time as they acquire proficiency in writing in the fields of Hispanic and Lusophone cultural and critical studies. These courses are taught only in Spanish or Portuguese, and require departmental permission (an access code) to register.

400-level courses  focus on critical debates and methodological skills applied to specific cultural artifacts or historical periods. These courses, some of which are taught in English, utilize research skills learned in previous courses and develop new ones; expand students’ command of critical vocabularies and debates; and emphasize the presentation of research results in a variety of formats and genres, from research papers to journalistic reports and multimedia projects. This level also includes the honors seminar and thesis course for honors-track students.

Students who have completed Intermediate Spanish I and II (SPAN-UA 3 and SPAN-UA 4) or Intensive Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 20) must take Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) as a prerequisite for upper-level courses, unless otherwise noted in course descriptions.

Sample Plan of Study

Note: Students may choose the "extensive" sequence of SPAN-UA 1, 2, 3, and 4 in lieu of the "intensive" sequence of SPAN-UA 10 and 20, and graduate with the minimum 128 credits. 

This course is a prerequisite for entering the major. Does not count toward major requirements.

Chosen by advisement from a list of approved courses. Each course must represent a distinct field of linguistics.

Only one of these four courses may be a pre-approved, advanced language course in creative writing, conversation, or translation.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of program requirements, students are expected to have acquired:

• Proficiency in Spanish that will enable them to communicate their ideas clearly, both orally and in writing.
• The ability to structure and develop analytical arguments and analyses (in Spanish) based on close reading of primary sources ranging from literature, to photography and film, to social activism.
• An understanding of how to approach the study of human language scientifically.
• A knowledge of methods for analyzing linguistic data in the subfields of phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and sociolinguistics.

Double Counting of Courses

Policies applying to all departmental majors, placement in spanish language courses, advanced placement policy, international baccalaureate (ib) and advanced level (a level) examinations policies, nyu policies, college of arts and science policies.

Majors may share (double count) two courses with a second major, with permission from the other department/program.

For all majors in this department, students must discuss and plan their program of study with the director of undergraduate studies (DUS). All courses must be completed with a grade of C or better (courses graded Pass/Fail do not count). Transfer students must complete at least half of the major in residence at New York University.

Note: All SAT Subject Examinations were discontinued in the U.S. as of January 2021 and after June 2021 internationally.

For full details, students must consult the website of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, as well as the Spanish language program's polices on course placement and on AP, IB, and A Level exams in this department's section in this Bulletin. To enroll in one's first Spanish language course at NYU, students must have taken the SAT Subject Test in Spanish; have advanced standing credit for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A Levels, or equivalent; or have taken the placement examination administered by the University. The exception is students with no previous study of Spanish or who took no more than one year of Spanish in high school, who may enroll in Spanish for Beginners I (SPAN-UA 1). Students from a Spanish-speaking background who wish to study the language may not enroll in any level of Spanish for Beginners (SPAN-UA 1, SPAN-UA 2, and SPAN-UA 10) or Intermediate Spanish (SPAN-UA 3, SPAN-UA 4, and SPAN-UA 20), but must instead enroll in Spanish for Spanish Speakers (SPAN-UA 11) or Advanced Spanish for Spanish Speakers (SPAN-UA 51; formerly SPAN-UA 111) after taking a special written placement test in the department. Students with transfer credit in Spanish must take a placement test if they intend to register for the language in CAS. Note that after 18 months, a completed SPAN-UA course no longer serves as a prerequisite for more advanced courses; students must take or retake the placement exam. In addition, test scores are valid for only 18 months.

For more information and tables showing appropriate course placement for specific test scores, consult the section on language placement at the department's website,  as.nyu.edu/spanish . To contact the director of the language program (DLP), call 212-998-8770 or write to  [email protected] .

Students who score a 4 or 5 on the Spanish Language exam earn 4 credits for Intermediate Spanish II (SPAN-UA 4) and are exempt from the College's language requirement.

Students who are not native speakers, who earned a 4 on the Spanish Language AP exam, and who intend to continue studying Spanish are required to take the NYU online language placement exam to confirm placement into Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100). Students who score less than 59 on the online test will be required to take Advanced Spanish Conversation (SPAN-UA 60; formerly SPAN-UA 101) before enrolling in SPAN-UA 50. On the first day of classes they will also take an in-class exam to finalize proper course placement. This may result in dropping to a lower level and losing the AP credit. AP scores over 18 months old cannot be used for placement. Native speakers who earned a 4 on the Spanish Language AP exam and intend to continue studying Spanish will need to take a written assessment with the director of the language program  ( [email protected] )  to finalize placement.  

Students who are not native speakers, who earned a 5 on the Spanish Language AP exam, and who intend to continue studying Spanish may register for Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100). On the first day of classes they will take an in-class exam to finalize proper course placement. This may result in dropping to a lower level and losing the AP credit. AP scores over 18 months old cannot be used for placement. Native speakers who earned a 5 on the Spanish Language AP exam and intend to continue studying Spanish will need to take a written assessment with the director of the language program  ( [email protected] )  to finalize placement.

Students who obtain a score of 4 or 5 on the Spanish Literature exam receive 4 credits for Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100) and satisfy the Core language requirement. If they wish to continue taking Spanish classes, they must take a special, advanced language placement evaluation at the Spanish department (not the online placement or usual written exemption exam) and consult with the director of the Spanish language program  ( [email protected] ).

Students who present a score of 6 or 7 on the High Level International Baccalaureate exam in Spanish "B," or who present a score of B or higher on the Advanced Level exam in Spanish, earn 8 credits for Intermediate Spanish I and II (SPAN-UA 3 and 4) and are exempt from the College's language requirement.

Students in these two categories who are not native speakers and intend to continue studying Spanish may register for Advanced Spanish (SPAN-UA 50; formerly Advanced Grammar and Composition, SPAN-UA 100). On the first day of classes they will take an in-class exam to finalize proper course placement. This may result in dropping to a lower level and losing the IB or A Level credit. IB and A Level scores over 18 months old cannot be used for placement. Native speakers with IB or A Level credit who intend to continue studying Spanish will need to take a written assessment with the director of the language program ( [email protected] ) to finalize placement.

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages .

A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page . 

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King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU Announces Creative Writing in Spanish Series

Admission is free.

The King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at New York University will hold a series of Creative Writing in Spanish public events during the fall semester. All the events are free and begin at 7 p.m. at the Center, which is located at 53 Washington Square South, between Thompson and Sullivan streets, New York, N.Y. No RSVP is required.

• September 13: Welcome reading. MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish students will read excerpts of their work. Introduced by MFA Director Rubén Ríos Avila.

• October 12: Presentation of the anthology Voces para Lilith. Literatura contemporánea de temática lésbica en Sudamérica. Editor Claudia Salazar will talk about the process of editing the anthology and anthologized poets Mariela Dreyfus and Ely Rosa Zamora will read selections of their work.

• October 25: La palabra en el espacio, lecture by Miguel Rubio, Peruvian actor, playwright and founder of legendary Grupo cultural Yuyachkani. A discussion with Rubén Ríos Avila will follow.

• December 6: A reading by renowned Puerto Rican writer and gay activist Luis Negrón, author of the outstanding short-story collection Mundo cruel. A discussion with Rubén Ríos Avila will follow.

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Ph.D. in Spanish with a Concentration in Creative Writing (Ph.D. en Español con Concentración en Escritura Creativa) (PRESENCIAL/FACE-TO-FACE)

Department of Hispanic Studies University of Houston 3553 Cullen Boulevard, Room 416 Houston, TX 77204-3062 713.743.3007 Contact Us

First Class of the Ph.D. in Spanish with a Concentration in Creative Writing On August 21st, the same day as the solar eclipse, the first class of the Ph.D. in Spanish with a concentration in creative writing program took place at Arte Público Press. María José Delgadillo, Dinorah García, Emilia Felker, Judith Santopietro, Daniele Zaratin, Nayeli García, Úrsula Fuentesberain, Natalia Trigo and Génesis Guerrero attended Dr. Cristina Rivera Garza’s class “Writing and Community.” This Ph.D. program is the first of its kind in the U.S.

Ph.D. in Spanish with a concentration in creative writing (concentración en escritura creativa en Español-Ph.D./ECE)

Cristina Rivera Garza

The Ph.D. in Spanish with a concentration in creative writing provides an interdisciplinary approach to literary arts through workshops and seminars designed to explore writing — prose and poetry, essay and crónica , as well as writing modes that exist between or beyond established literary genres — and digital writing. As part of a cosmopolitan metropolis and a greatly diverse campus, the program emphasizes the relationship between writing and community, non-traditional methods of editing and literary distribution, research of experimental aesthetics and their relationship to ethical intervention.

The Ph.D./ECE is part of the department of Hispanic studies that offers Ph.D. programs with specialization on literature — Latin American, Peninsular and U.S. Latino — and linguistics. Our relationship with the MFA and Ph.D. in Creative Writing incentivizes the teaching and practice of translation as well as bilingual Spanish-English writing in its multiple variations. In the same way, our relationship with the Non-Invasive Brain Machine Systems Laboratory  and the program of visual arts encourages students to produce writing informed by other disciplines and in alternative supports. The program benefits from Arte Público Press and G ulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts , which provide theoretical and practical emphasis on editing methodology and contemporary literary distribution. The program is also enriched by the historical and literary documents at the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project  and the Serie de Escritores [Author Series] invited and organized by the ECE, as well as the various Reading Series that take place on campus on regular basis.

The Ph.D./ECE will accept a small number of students every year, which will assure a close working relationship between students and faculty in creative writing and the department and will provide economic support through competitive teaching and research assistantships. Aside from taking seminars in the department of Hispanic studies, students may choose to take seven of the seminars/workshops specially designed by the Ph.D.-ECE: Theory and Writing; Community and Writing; Editing; Cross-Genre Writing; Digital Writing; Translation; and Creative Writing in English (with approval from the Ph.D./MFA Program in Creative Writing).

Each candidate must submit official copies of their diploma and transcripts, three letters of recommendation, TOEFL scores, an academic writing sample (15 pages), creative writing sample (15 pages), personal poetic statement and a short essay on the relationship between writing and community.

The candidates who do not have an M.A. will have to complete that degree in literature before continuing with Ph.D./ECE. These students may indicate, on their personal statement, that they want to be considered for the M.A./Ph.D. program, which means that even though they are seeking admission to the M.A. program, they would like to also obtain a Ph.D. at the University of Houston. The students in the Ph.D. in Spanish with a concentration in creative writing can graduate with a dissertation in creative writing with a substantial theoretical analysis in order to receive a Ph.D. in Spanish with a concentration in creative writing. Applications can be submitted until January 15 th .

With its interdisciplinary approach to theory and practice, its community and collaborative service, as well as its attention to the cultural and linguistic diversity of the campus and city where it takes place, this is the first national Ph.D. program in Spanish with a concentration in creative writing in the United States and offers a unique opportunity for writers of the 21st century.

Concentración en Escritura Creativa en Español (Ph.D./ECE) Cristina Rivera Garza

El concentración en escritura creativa en Español (Ph.D./ECE) ofrece un enfoque interdisciplinario a las artes verbales a través de talleres de producción y seminarios de análisis diseñados para la exploración de escrituras — la prosa y la poesía, el ensayo y la crónica, así como modos de escritura que existen entre o más allá de los géneros literarios reconocidos — y escrituras digitales. Como parte de una metrópolis cosmopolita y un campus de gran diversidad, el programa enfatiza las relaciones entre escritura y comunidad, métodos no tradicionales de edición y distribución literaria, investigación de estéticas experimentales, y las relaciones entre la innovación formal y la intervención ética.

El Ph.D./ECE es parte del departamento de estudios Hispánicos, el cual ofrece programas de doctorado con concentraciones en literatura —Latinoamericana, Peninsular y Latina de Estado Unidos— y lingüística. Nuestra relación con el MFA y Ph.D. en escritura creativa incentiva la enseñanza y práctica de la traducción así como la escritura bilingüe español-inglés en sus múltiples variantes. De la misma forma, nuestra relación con Non-Invasive Brain Machine Systems Laboratory  y el programa de Artes Visuales alienta a los estudiantes a producir escrituras informadas por otras disciplinas y en distintos soportes. La articulación con Arte Público Press y Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts   permite un énfasis teórico y práctico en métodos de edición y distribución literaria contemporánea. El programa también se beneficia de los archivos concentrados en el Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Litearary Heritage Project , la Serie de Escritores invitados organizada desde el ECE, así como de las distintas Readings Series que se llevan a cabo en el campus.   

El Ph.D./ECE aceptará un número reducido de estudiantes cada año, lo cual incentivará relaciones cercanas de trabajo entre estudiantes y profesores de la sección y el departamento, y hará posible brindar apoyo económico en forma de teaching assistanships o research assistanships, las cuales son competitivas. Además de cursar los seminarios de análisis ofrecidos por el departamento de estudios Hispánicos, los alumnos podrán elegir entre 7 seminarios-talleres especialmente diseñados para el Ph.D./ECE: Teoría y Escritura; Comunidad y Escritura; Edición; Taller de Escrituras Cross-Genre, Escritura Digital; Traducción; y Creative Writing in English (en colaboración con el Ph.D./MFA Program in Creative Writing).

Cada candidato deberá presentar el título y las calificaciones, tres cartas de recomendación, el TOEFL, el GRE, una muestra de no más de 15 páginas de trabajo académico y no más de 15 páginas de trabajo creativo, una breve poética personal, y un ensayo corto sobre la relación entre escritura y comunidad. Los candidatos que no tengan una maestría podrán solicitar ser admitidos al Ph.D., pero tendrán que cursar primero la maestría en literatura dentro del programa M.A./Ph.D. Los estudiantes del Ph.D.concentración en escritura creativa en Español (Ph.D./ECE) podrán graduarse con una disertación de escritura creativa con un componente analítico-teórico importante, recibiendo un título de doctorado en estudios Hispánicos con concentración en escritura creativa en español. El período de recepción de solicitudes estará abierto hasta el 15 de enero.

Con su enfoque teórico-práctico e interdisciplinario, su vocación comunitaria y colaborativa, así como su atención a la diversidad cultural y lingüística del campus y ciudad en el que está situado, este primer Ph.D. en concentración en escritura creativa en Español (Ph.D./ECE) a nivel nacional es una oportunidad única para la formación de los escritores del siglo XXI.