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The University of Edinburgh: Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (Hispanic Studies) PhD

Institution The University of Edinburgh View institution profile
Department School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
Web https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying
Study type Research

Summary

Doctorate-level study is an opportunity to make an original, positive contribution to research in Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies (formerly Hispanic Studies).

Join our interdisciplinary community and undertake your PhD under the guidance of our experienced and well-published supervisors.

Spanish was formally added to the University’s curriculum in 1919 and, in over a century since, has developed into one of the best-established subject areas of its kind in the UK, with teaching and research in Portuguese, Catalan, Basque, Spanish and Latin American studies.

Research excellence

In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), our research in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies was submitted in Modern Languages and Linguistics (Panel D - Arts and Humanities; Unit of Assessment 26).

The results reaffirm Edinburgh’s position as one of the UK’s leading research universities - third in the UK.

As published in Times Higher Education's REF power ratings, this result is based on the quality and breadth of our research in the unit of assessment.

We specialise in the major areas of Spanish, Latin American and Lusophone (including Brazil and Lusophone Africa) literary and cultural studies, and film and visual culture.

We have particular strengths in:

  • Spanish Golden Age

  • Modern Spanish narrative

  • Latin American poetry and narrative, especially in Chile and Argentina from the 19th to 21st centuries

  • Women's and Gender Studies

  • Indigenous and Afro-descendant filmmaking

  • Memory and Post-Memory Studies

  • Caribbean Studies

  • Diaspora studies and Visual culture (film, graphic arts, performance)

  • Lusophone African literatures

  • Portuguese contemporary culture

Across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures and the wider University, we are able to support PhD theses crossing boundaries between languages and/or disciplines, including:

  • comparative literature

  • film studies

  • translation studies

Over the course of your PhD, you’ll be expected to complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of your supervisors leading to a dissertation of usually between 80,000 and 100,000 words.

You will be awarded your doctorate if your thesis is judged to be of an appropriate standard, and your research makes a definite contribution to knowledge.

Go beyond the books

Beyond the Books is a podcast from the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at research and the people who make it happen.

Listen to a mix of PhD, early career and established researchers talk about their journey to and through academia and about their current and recent research. Guests include Dr Isabel Seguí (Series 2 - Episode 4), former Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, talking about research on Women’s Nonfiction Filmmaking in Peru.

Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

Edinburgh. Extraordinary futures await.

The University of Edinburgh is one of the world's top universities, consistently ranked in the world top 50, and placed 27th in the 2025 QS World University Rankings.

Our position as one of Britain’s leading research universities was reaffirmed by the results of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The University of Edinburgh is one of the world’s top research-intensive universities, ranked 4th in the UK for research power (Times Higher Education, Overall Ranking of Institutions), with 90% of our research activity classified as world leading or internationally excellent in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

Our …

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