Master of Arts in Latin American Studies
Degree Requirements
To earn the degree of Master of Arts in Latin American Studies, students must successfully:
- Complete a gateway seminar and a research design seminar in Latin American Studies, worth six credits.
- Complete two “regional fundamentals” courses from a list of designated Latin American and Caribbean courses, worth six credits.
- Complete at least one methods class from a discipline appropriate to their specialization.
- Complete three elective seminars, worth 9 credits, drawn from Latin American Studies and disciplines across the university.
- Complete a capstone project or thesis, worth six credits.
- Demonstrate advanced competence in either Spanish, Portuguese or Haitian Creole by passing a course taught in the target language at the 500-level or above, or by passing an equivalent language competency exam.
Students are encouraged to ground Latin American Studies approved electives with advanced methods courses appropriate to their area of specialization. Methods courses teach research skills within an appropriate theoretical framework. Methods courses might teach quantitative analysis and theory, GIS mapping or remote sensing, qualitative field methods, historiography, or content analysis. For cultural studies approaches, Introduction to Literary Theory or Readings in Critical Theory could be considered methods courses.
In addition to advanced foreign language competence, students may develop reading or oral proficiency in other courses through the university’s Modern Language and Literatures Department (MLL) or, when not offered by MLL, the university’s Directed Individualized Language Study (DILS) program.
Students wishing to graduate in two semesters and a summer take a course of study broken down as follows.
Fall Semester —
- LAS 501: Interdisciplinarity in Latin American Studies
- Three additional courses
Spring Semester —
- LAS 502: Interdisciplinary Research Methods in Latin American Studies
- Three additional courses
Summer A —
- LAS 710 (02) -- Field research
Summer B —
- LAS 710 (03) -- Produce capstone project
For those who wish to do an academic thesis, the expected graduate date is the following December. During the second fall semester, they would sign up for LAS 710 (01) – Pre-candidacy for Thesis (0 credits). Students who come to the program without advanced language competency may need to take an additional coursework or summer language training.
