The Spanish and Portuguese graduate program offers students solid professional preparation, gaining in concert with the opportunity for exploration and intellectual growth.

Our graduate students come from a plurality of ethnic and national backgrounds. They receive close mentorship and leave with a degree that prepares them for dynamic academic careers as scholars, teachers, and researchers. Our department offers professional workshops and colloquia on publishing, teaching, and interview preparation. These professional development resources contribute to our consistent record of competitive academic job placement.

In addition, regular series of works-in-progress presentations allow our graduate students to develop sustained research agendas and ready themselves for conference participation. Travel funds are available to students to present their papers at conferences in the U.S. and abroad.

Additional departmental and campus initiatives to assist students’ professional development include:

• workshops on teaching portfolios, diversity statement, and creating a syllabus through the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
• workshops and individual consultation sessions to help develop a strong graduate school plan and planning for graduation through the Graduate School and Assistant Vice-Provost for Student Development
• weekly departmental dissertation writing workshop
• the department’s Academic Job Market workshop series with faculty covering topics, such as C.V.s, cover letters, research statements, and interviews
• the department’s annual workshops on M.A. exams, doctoral exams, writing a dissertation proposal, and teaching your first literature/linguistics course
•  facilitating contact with campus-wide Dissertation Writing Support Groups and counseling:https://healthcenter.indiana.edu/counseling/workshops-groups/index.html 
• monthly Hispanic Linguistics Research series and the Literature and Culture Colloquium series