Funded PhD Program: Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies at the University of Miami (Florida)

Are you interested in a comparative, critical degree in a diverse, interdisciplinary, and multicultural environment?

The Ph.D. program in Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies offers an exciting combination of research, writing, teaching, and professional training. The department supports a range of critical and theoretical approaches and encourages interdisciplinary work that takes advantage of the university’s many strengths.  
 
The Ph.D. offers two major concentrations: 1.) Literary and Cultural Studies and 2.) Critical Studies of Language/Linguistics. Students in each concentration may opt to develop a secondary field of expertise in the other. Our students explore a variety of geographic, temporal, and theoretical fields, allowing them to carry out highly interdisciplinary and innovative research projects.  
 
The theoretical component of our program situates its research across a wide range of areas including aesthetics, bilingualism, studies in race and gender, film studies, gender studies, migration studies, environmental humanities, Indigenous studies, media studies, performance studies, postcolonial studies, queer studies, subaltern studies, sociolinguistics, theater studies, and women’s studies. Students are also required to develop competency in a field outside the department related to their intellectual pursuits, leading to the dissertation topic. This has, in recent years, included secondary specializations in anthropology, communication, history, philosophy, musicology, and sociology.  
 
We offer a number of specialized certifications of interest to graduate students, including a Graduate Certificate in the Digital Humanities, and concentrations in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Second Language Acquisition & Teaching, and Caribbean Studies.  
 
Students take a variety of courses in literature, culture, film, and theory, balancing a broad understanding of the cultural field with their chosen specialization as they develop their research agendas. While students can take seminars related to the literature(s) and culture(s) of specific linguistic and cultural traditions (primarily in Spanish, French and Portuguese), they also have the opportunity to develop comparative projects involving another language such as Arabic, Chinese, and Italian. German and Japanese are also taught in our department at the undergraduate level, as are Hebrew and Haitian Creole, and we have faculty members knowledgeable in Basque, Catalan, and Netherlandic. We actively encourage research that works across literatures, media, geographical areas, and periods. Through the Directed Independent Language Study Program, whose director’s office is located within our department, individualized training in more than thirty other languages is offered, including Catalan; Egyptian, Levantine and Moroccan Arabic; Turkish and Persian / Farsi; Cantonese; Quechua; Kikongo, Swahili, Wolof and Zulu. 
 
All of our graduate students are trained in pedagogy, and have opportunities to teach language, literature, and culture. Our faculty work closely with them, mentoring them from their acceptance into the program through the completion of their degree and job placement. They are, too, particularly active in organizing events and series, including works-in-progress series, writing groups, and an annual graduate student conference. 
 
The department is also home to lively discussion and debate within and beyond our disciplinary homes. We offer many lecture series, symposia, and film series and frequently partner with the University’s Humanities Center and the University of Miami Institute for the Advanced Study of the Americas in programming.  
 
We are, of course, also situated in the vibrant and diverse city of Miami, making our institution an excellent launch point for research locally, but also in the Caribbean, Mexico, Latin America and throughout the hemisphere.  
 
Your students are also welcome to attend our virtual open house this October 21st at 2pm. They may register for the event here: https://miami.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0lduGtqz0uHdDlzJbk3R6KjVug194QZbrb 
 
Additional information is available on our website. And of course, we would be happy to answer any questions you or your students might have about our program. The online application deadline for our Ph.D. program is January 6th, 2023. Please do not hesitate to contact our Graduate Program Admissions at mllgraduate@miami.edu.