Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Spanish and Portuguese

Chair: Erin Graff Zivin, Ph.D.

Interim Chair: Sherry Velasco, Ph.D.

Faculty

Professors: Mario Saltarelli, Ph.D.; Sherry Marie Velasco, Ph.D.*

Associate Professors: Roberto Ignacio Díaz, Ph.D.*; Erin Graff Zivin, Ph.D.; Julián Daniel Gutiérrez-Albilla, Ph.D.; Teresa McKenna, Ph.D. (English)

Assistant Professors: Brenno Kenji Kaneyasu-Maranhao, Ph.D.; Samuel Steinberg, Ph.D.

Associate Professor (Teaching) and Director of Spanish Language Program: Gabriela Zapata, Ph.D.

Associate Professor (Teaching): Marianna Chodorowska-Pilch, Ph.D.

Assistant Professors (Teaching): Gayle Fiedler Vierma, Ph.D.; Anahit Hakoupian, Ph.D.; Ana Teresa Martinez-Sequeira, Ph.D.; Andrea Parra, Ph.D.; Charles Paus, Ph.D.; Consuelo Siguenza-Ortiz, Ph.D.; Liana Stepanyan, Ph.D.; David Zarazúa, Ph.D.

Senior Lecturer: Lorena Gallego, M.A

Lecturers: Vianey Cano Brito Cabrera, Ph.D.; Carolina Castillo Larrea, M.A.; Jaclyn Cohen-Steinberg, Ph.D.; Maura Crowley, Ph.D.; Marie Enright, Ph.D.; Maria Fages Agudo; Ivette M. Gómez, Ph.D.; Leah Kemp, Ph.D.; Lori Mesrobian, Ph.D.; Ellen Oliveira, Ph.D.; Sarah Portnoy, Ph.D.

Emeriti Professors: Paul Ilie, Ph.D.; Carmen Silva-Corvalán, Ph.D.*

Emeritus Associate Professor: J. Ramón Araluce, Ph.D.

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers both a major and a minor in Spanish, emphasizing the language, linguistics and culture of Spain and Latin America.

With an intellectual commitment to multiculturalism and interdisciplinarity, the undergraduate program actively explores the transnational intersection of various aspects of Spanish and Latin American culture, including literature, folklore, cinema, art, music and architecture. While living and studying in 21st century Los Angeles — the ideal site for thinking about the planet’s increasingly transcultural condition — students are challenged to consider and reconsider a number of important issues: the growing importance of popular culture in Iberia, Latin America and Latino USA; the role of race, class and gender within Spanish and Latin American society; the crucial impact of diasporas and migrations on our contemporary cultural landscape; among many others.

The department encourages students to combine a Spanish major with a double major or minor in another discipline either within the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences or other schools at USC. Faculty undergraduate advisers are available to help provide information and assistance to students wishing to explore these various options.

The department also offers basic language instruction in both Spanish and Portuguese through which students can satisfy their foreign language requirement.

Graduate Programs

The Ph.D. in Linguistics (Hispanic Linguistics) is offered through the Linguistics Department. See here for degree requirements. The M.A. and Ph.D., Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture (Spanish and Latin American Studies) are offered through the Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture program. See here for degree requirements.

Spanish Undergraduate Students Association (SUSA)

Students majoring or minoring in Spanish are eligible to join SUSA, the Spanish Undergraduate Students Association. Each year SUSA sponsors a variety of activities which enrich the cultural, intellectual and academic experience of the undergraduate student.

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