Structured Ph.D (Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences) (Spanish Studies)

Course Overview

The Structured Ph.D. in Spanish Studies at NUI Galway offers students a unique opportunity to study under the guidance of academics with expertise in Spanish Cultural Studies, translation, linguistics, second language acquisition, detective fiction, gender studies, issues of identity in literature and issues of space and place in literature. Perhaps one of the most exciting elements of the Structured Ph.D. is the wealth of cross-disciplinary modules offered to the student, which serve to consolidate the student’s learning and guide them towards very interesting and innovative interdisciplinary theoretical approaches to their research topic. It is also envisaged that students on this program will engage in research in Spain during their studies. 

Admission to a Structured PhD is at the discretion of the potential supervisor and the Head of the discipline; it is based on a proposal from the applicant, following discussion with the staff member whose academic area of interest is most appropriate. Candidates should possess an honors degree in Spanish (Second Class, Grade 1 minimum) and should normally hold an MA in a relevant area.

As part of the doctoral training available on the Structured Ph.D. program, students avail themselves of a range of interdisciplinary taught modules. The wide menu of available options include modules that:

• are discipline-specific in that they augment the student’s existing knowledge in their specialist area, e.g., Language and Intercultural Communication
• are dissertation-specific in that they supply core skills which are essential to the completion of the research project, e.g., additional language skills
• acknowledge a student’s professional development, e.g., presentation of a paper at an international conference
• enhance a student’s employability through generic training, e.g., career workshops, computer literacy.

Each student will be assigned a primary Supervisor(s) and a Graduate Research Committee made up of experienced researchers to plan their program of study and to provide on-going support to their research.