Research Degrees To the Rescue!

At the post graduate level in the US, our graduate students take coursework in the area of interest, and then they go on to write their dissertation. This is how we get the lovely title, ABD (All but the Doctorate). This means the coursework is finished, but the scholar is lacking their dissertation. In other countries, mainly the U.K., Australia and South Africa, students meet with a faculty member that has the same research interests. the potential student presents a proposal. If approved, they dive right into the research/dissertation research. It can take a well-studied scholar anywhere from 2 to however many years to finish.

Although this type of program is not readily available in the US, it allows foreign language scholars access to such programs in the above mentioned programs. Make an inquiry. UNISA (University of South Africa) is a great place to start for humanities AND foreign languages. They offer Research Degrees in Spanish, Portuguese, African Languages and others.