Graduate Program in Letters stands out for its pioneering spirit and excellence

Program offers 29 Doctoral-level and 39 Master's seats on full or partial scholarships

Photo: Bruno Todeschini

The Graduate Program in Letters (PPGL) has achieved the highest level of excellence – grade 7, by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Capes (Brazilian Federal Agency for Evaluation and Support of Graduate Education). Its coordinator, Dr Cláudia Brescancini, adds that this is mainly attributable to three factors: a) international partners in research projects, involving reciprocal actions; b) the highly relevant intellectual production of our faculty and students; and c) the quality of the programs offered in the areas of Linguistics and Literature. “In addition to all of the predicates that justify us being certified a level of excellence, we are also involved in social projects, such as those geared towards basic education and the teaching of Portuguese as an additional language”, says Cláudia.

Registrations for Admission into the Master’s and PhD programs in Letters are open until Oct 11 and classes will begin in the first semester of 2019. For further information about the courses, lines of research and financial aid can be found here.

In 2012, the institution created the first graduate program in Creative Writing of Brazil. PUCRS has a long tradition in this area. In 1985, the highly reputable Creative Writing Workshop was created to advance the artistic production of new writers. It is taught by the widely acclaimed writer Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil, and has had more than 800 students from various states of Brazil, since it was created.

The literary and documentary collections of Delfos – Center for Documentation and Cultural Memory – are available for research and on-site classes on the creative process of writers. The manuscripts, letters, photographs and notes taken in books and other materials found there are analyzed and studied by students.

International strength

The Graduate Program has 22 international partners. Cooperation for mobility and research projects with institutions from Europe, USA, Canada and Latin America is full steam ahead. Over the recent years, there has been an increase in the number of our faculty and students participating in events, publications, mobility, internships, post-doctoral research, as well as doctoral internships and co-advising activities. “There are many opportunities for our PhD students to do internships in partner universities abroad”, observes Cláudia.

For her, keeping these partnerships active is of utmost importance. “Our international partnerships are strongly consolidated and contribute to the development of ongoing research projects and, consequently, the qualification of our faculty and students’ production.”

Quality and interdisciplinarity

The PPGL is in line with PUCRS policy to send a faculty member for post-doctoral research abroad each semester. The program is also committed to bringing its expertise to graduate programs from other parts of Brazil.

The program has 10 multidisciplinary research groups and 27 regular research groups certified by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development).

One of the highlights of the PPGL is the interdisciplinary work. The joint actions involving Linguistics and Psychology, Medicine, Engineering and Education as well as Literature and History, Philosophy and Communications are good examples of that. A highly prestigious traditional publication, the journal Letras Hoje relies on a tradition of 51 years. it is published every three months and is nationally and internationally recognized.