西班牙语和葡萄牙语系的研究生课程提供西班牙和卢索-巴西文学各个领域的课程工作和研究指导，并提供语言学，电影和文化研究以及理论的相关课程。联合博士学位 西班牙语和葡萄牙语需要66个小时的课程工作，其中包括西班牙语和葡萄牙语的30个小时的硕士课程，两个领域中的每个领域都至少需要再继续学习15个小时的课程，包括硕士学位论文，全面考试，资格考试，以及论文。无需辅修。参加该组合课程的所有学生都必须具备接近西班牙语和葡萄牙语的母语。没有其他语言要求。
The graduate program of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese offers course work and research supervision in all areas of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian literature, with related courses in linguistics, film and cultural studies, and theory. The department has close ties to a number of departments, as well as the Center for Latin American Studies, the program in Women's and Gender Studies, the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, the Center for Second Language Studies, the Center for Teaching, and the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA). The graduate faculty has a strong tradition of scholarly research and was ranked as the most productive in the country in 2007 by the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index.<br><br>A Graduate Certificate in Second Language Studies is available for students interested in second language acquisition and language pedagogy.<br><br>The program accepts only students intending to pursue a doctorate. Two Ph.D. degrees are offered: Spanish and a combined degree in Spanish and Portuguese. In the course of doctoral studies, all students will earn an M.A. from Vanderbilt, either in Spanish or in Spanish and Portuguese, regardless of other M.A. degrees earned elsewhere.<br><br>The combined Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese requires 66 hours of course work, which includes the 30 hours of the M.A. in Spanish and Portuguese, at least 15 further hours of course work in each of the two areas, an M.A. thesis, a Comprehensive Examination, a Qualifying Examination, and a dissertation. No minor is necessary. Near native proficiency in both Spanish and Portuguese is required of all students enrolled in the combined program. There is no additional language requirement.