Master of Arts Spanish Specialization in Medieval and Renaissance Studies

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures offers the degrees of Master of Arts (MA) and Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Spanish.

The objective of the program is to provide advanced training in the literatures and cultures of Spain and Latin America, as well as in Hispanic linguistics, benefiting from the theoretical and comparative research interests of the professors of the department.

For more information, visit the website of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.

The Department participates in a collaborative program in Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the MA level and in a collaborative program in Canadian Studies at the PhD level. For more information on this program, see .

The collaborative masters in Medieval and Renaissance Studies (MDR) has two goals:

• To offer at the graduate level a multi-disciplinary education in Medieval and Renaissance Studies;
• To teach students the theoretical approaches and methods of research specific to the study of the period.

Since the 16th century, study of the middle ages implies studying a middle, or intermediary period, seen as standing between two great civilizations: Roman antiquity and the modern western world. This definition has had a major impact on scholarship, crystallizing a periodization that has now become traditional in most of the humanities.

The programs are governed by the general regulations in effect for graduate studies.

For the most accurate and up to date information on application deadlines, language tests and other admission requirements, please visit the specific requirements webpage.

Admission to the graduate program in Spanish is governed by the general regulations in effect for graduate studies.

Applications are evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Be the holder of a bachelor’s degree with a specialization, or a major in Spanish (or equivalent) with a minimum average of 70% (B).
• Students without full background preparation may be asked to complete a preliminary period of study before being admitted to the program. Students will be expected to have some knowledge of the following general areas:

  a) Spanish Peninsular Literature: Medieval and Golden Age periods; nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.

  b) Spanish-American-Literature: the colonial period, the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.

  c) General and/or Hispanic linguistics: descriptive grammar, morphosyntax, methodology of teaching foreign languages, sociolinguistics, language contact, translation.

• It is desirable that students know both official languages (English and French). They must possess a good written and oral command of Spanish, since most courses are taught in Spanish.
• Wherever possible, candidates for admission to the program should be interviewed by a professor or professors assigned by the program.
• Once students are admitted to the program, their progress will be monitored by a director of studies assigned by the program.

Collaborative Program

The Spanish section of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is a participating unit in the collaborative program in Medieval and Renaissance Studies (master's level only). This program has been established for students wishing to enrich their training in Spanish by including an interdisciplinary component in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. The specific requirements of the collaborative program include two core courses in medieval studies and a thesis on a topic related to Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Students should indicate in their initial application for admission to the master's program in Spanish that they wish to be accepted into the collaborative program. 

• Apply online through the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC), by completing form 105.
• Declare all your current and previous postsecondary studies, completed or not, even if they are not related to your application. Failure to do so may lead to the cancellation of your application or the withdrawal of your offer of admission at any time.
• Enter your email address, making sure it is accurate. We will use this address to communicate with you for all matters. Also, check your inbox (and junk mail folder) regularly for messages from the University of Ottawa.
• Pay the application fees for all your admission applications. Applications are forwarded to the University of Ottawa only after fees are paid in full and the payment has cleared. Learn more about application fees.
• Note that OUAC is not part of the University of Ottawa. It handles applications to all Ontario universities and is responsible for transferring your application to our admission office.