Latin American Studies
Office: Room 1, Gildred Latin American Studies Building, Institute
of the Americas Complex
http://cilas.ucsd.edu
Professors
Courses
The Latin American Studies Program
UCSDs program in Latin American
Studies has attained national and international distinction for its
excellence
in teaching,
research,
and public service. Each year its faculty offers approximately 100
Latin America-related courses in fourteen academic departments, and
the Latin
American Studies Program offers three interdisciplinary degrees:
- Bachelor of arts in Latin American Studies
- Minor in Latin American Studies
- Master of arts in Latin American Studies
Latin American Studies at UCSD offers distinct advantages:
- At the undergraduate level, students may take elective courses
on Latin American topics or pursue a minor or a B.A. degree in Latin
American Studies. At the graduate level, they can work on Latin America
through interdisciplinary masters programs or through doctoral
programs in academic departments.
- Latin American Studies integrates teaching, research, and policy
analysis, encouraging students to develop interdisciplinary perspectives
and to work actively with faculty on research projects and conferences.
- Students participate in the activities of an outstanding array
of research and teaching organizations, including the Center for
Iberian
and Latin American Studies, the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies,
the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies,
the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, and
the Institute of the Americas. The Center for Iberian and Latin American
Studies (CILAS) sponsors multidisciplinary colloquia, conferences,
projects, and publications. CILAS also awards fellowships and
grants each year to promising graduate students.
- Students are encouraged to interact with visiting Latin American
scholars and to participate in Latin America-related internships,
seminars, clubs, foreign exchange programs, and other extracurricular
activities.
- Students at UCSD have access to one of the largest and fastest-growing
library collections on Latin America in the United States.
Degree programs in Latin American Studies are supervised by an interdisciplinary
faculty group under the direction of the director and program director
of the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies.
The Curricular Program
Undergraduate Major in Latin American Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies blends coverage of
methodological and theoretical approaches to the study of Latin America
with a broad foundation in the humanities and social sciences. Students
receiving this degree will be prepared for private and government employment
or for graduate training; the major also
provides a valuable supplement for those who subsequently pursue professional
degrees in business, law, engineering, medicine, or other fields.
To
satisfactorily complete the B.A. degree, students must take a broad
range
of courses from at least three of UCSD’s humanities and social science
departments. The collection of courses should be structured so as to provide
both depth in a
special area of study and breadth across the broader
field. Students must also demonstrate proficiency in Spanish.
All students
entering the major must enroll in LATI 50 “Introduction to
Latin America,” an interdisciplinary course that prepares majors to
build a coherent curriculum on Latin America. During the senior year, all
B.A. candidates
are required to successfully complete LATI 190, a writing seminar. This course
will culminate in the preparation of an interpretive paper based on the secondary
analysis of existing scholarly research (approximately twenty to forty pages
in length). As part of the overall requirements, students are strongly encouraged
to enroll in four credits of Individual Study (LATI 199) with a member of
the Latin Americanist faculty, who will serve as the student’s principal
adviser.
All upper-division courses applied to the requirements of the major
must be taken for a letter grade (with the sole exception of LATI 199).
A 2.0
grade-point
average
is required in the major, and students must earn at least a C– in
each course counted for the major.
Students majoring in Latin American
Studies are also urged to minor in
a core discipline such as anthropology, economics, history, literature,
political
science, or sociology. In summary, the requirements for the bachelor
of arts in Latin
American Studies are:
Lower-Division Requirements
- The equivalent of at least two years of college-level language
instruction in Spanish, comparable to satisfactory completion of
Literature/Spanish
2C; students who satisfy this requirement are strongly
encouraged to study Portuguese.
- LATI 50: Introduction to Latin America
Upper-Division Requirements
- Eleven upper-division courses selected from the approved interdisciplinary
course list for Latin American Studies as follows:
a. Course work must be in at least three departments.
b. At least three courses must be from one department.
c. No more than five courses from one department will count for credit.
d. At least two courses must concentrate exclusively on periods earlier than
the twentieth century.
- Enrollment in the four-credit Senior Seminar (LATI
190), usually to be taken in the winter quarter of the senior year; satisfactory
completion of a substantial
paper is required of
all graduating majors.
- Maintain a 2.0 grade-point average, earning at least
a C– in each course
counting for the major. With the sole exception of LATI 199, all courses
must be taken for a letter grade.
Honors in Latin American Studies
The Latin American Studies Program offers an Honors Program for students
who demonstrate excellence in the major. In order to receive Honors
in Latin American Studies a student must:
- Satisfy all lower-division
requirements of the major program;
- Complete nine upper-division
courses selected from the Approved Interdisciplinary Course List
for Latin American Studies as follows:
a. Course work must be in at least three departments.
b. At least three courses must be from one department.
c. No more than five courses from one department will count
for credit.
d. At least two courses must concentrate exclusively on periods
earlier than the twentieth century.
- Complete a three-course sequence in the senior year consisting
of Individual Study, the Senior Seminar, and the Honors Seminar (LATI
199, 190,
and
191, respectively);
- Produce an original thesis based on primary research under the
direction of a mentor selected from the Latin Americanist faculty,
and defend this thesis during the spring quarter before an interdisciplinary
faculty committee; and
- Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5 in the major.
Undergraduate Minor in Latin American Studies
The Latin American Studies minor allows students to explore interdisciplinary
approaches to a significant world region while pursuing a major in
an academic discipline. To complete the program, students take at least
seven classes (twenty-eight units) in Latin American Studies, five
(twenty units) of which must be upper-division. These courses need
to be approved Latin American Studies classes from the humanities
and
social
sciences.
All classes need to be taken for a letter grade and satisfactorily
completed.
- Five courses (twenty units) need to be upper-division.
- One course needs to be LATI 50, which is offered once per
year.
- One course needs to fulfill the language requirement, which
should be the culmination of at least two years of college-level
language instruction
in Spanish or Portuguese. This course can be fullfilled in the
following ways:
• LTSP 2C for non-native speakers
• LTSP 2D for native speakers
• LTSP 50 or above
• A UCSD-approved Spanish/Portuguese education-abroad course
Education Abroad
Students in Latin American Studies are encouraged
to participate in the Education Abroad Program (EAP) in Brazil, Chile,
Costa Rica, or Mexico, or in other study
abroad programs offered by the Opportunities Abroad Program (OAP). Subject
to approval by petition after courses have been completed (based on syllabi
and coursework), courses taken through EAP/OAP will be accepted for credit
toward the major or minor. The equivalent of six UCSD upper-division courses
can be petitioned for credit toward the major, and a maximum of two UCSD
upper-division courses can be petitioned for credit toward the minor.
Students interested in studying abroad should see the Latin American
Studies Student Affairs coordinator to discuss appropriate courses
and programs for
their plan of study before they leave. They should also visit the following
Web site: http://pao.ucsd.edu/acadint/CILASabroad.htm.
Information on EAP/OAP is given in the “Education
Abroad Program” section of the UCSD General Catalog. Interested students
should contact the Programs Abroad Office in the International Center and
visit
its Web site at http:/programsabroad.ucsd.edu.
Financial aid can be used for
EAP/OAP study, and special study-abroad scholarships are also available.
Master of Arts in Latin American Studies
The Master of Arts in Latin American Studies is designed for students
who seek to integrate a broad range of disciplinary approaches to
a
world region of growing international significance. Upon graduation,
most students pursue additional advanced degrees in academic or professional
fields; others proceed to careers in the private sector, in international
organizations, or in government.
To qualify for admission, students must have a B.A. with a grade-point
average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale for the final two years of undergraduate
study plus satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination.
To
receive the Master of Arts in Latin American Studies, a student must:
- Demonstrate foreign language competence in Spanish or Portuguese;
- Maintain a 3.0 GPA in 40 units of coursework (about ten courses)
to be completed as follows:
a. Complete the Latin American Studies
Basic Seminar Sequence: 12 units must be taken in the required
Core Seminar in Latin American Studies (LATI 200, 4 units),
4 units in approved theory seminar, 4 units in approved methodology seminar.
b. Courses must be completed in at least three fields, with no
more than 16 units in any one department. Students are encouraged
to include
four units
of independent
research (LATI 299) for work on the master’s thesis.
c. At least 16 units must be taken in graduate-level courses, and up to
16 units may be taken in upper-division, undergraduate-level courses.
- Successfully complete either a comprehensive exam or masters
thesis.
M.A. students have the option to upgrade upper-division, undergraduate-level
courses to graduate-level courses (contact the Latin American Studies
Student Affairs coordinator for information on requirements
and procedures). To convert an undergraduate-level course (100 level)
into a 298 graduate-level course, a student must attend all of the
course meetings and incorporate a component of additional, graduate-level
research work, upon arrangement with the faculty member teaching the
course (a special form describing the supplementary work must be filled
by the student and approved by the instructor and CILAS’ academic
coordinator). In all such cases, the supplementary work should, (a)
increase the amount of reading to match the regular reading expectations
of a graduate seminar, (b) include additional meeting time with the
professor for a graduate-level discussion of the material, and (c)
require the student to write a research paper (which would generally
be on the order of fifteen to twenty pages).
Disciplinary and Thematic Concentrations
M.A. students in Latin American
Studies who are interested in specific disciplines or research topics
may apply for a disciplinary or
thematic concentration. Currently
students may choose from concentrations in gender studies, international
migration, history, and sociology.
In addition to the general requirements
for all candidates applying for admission to the Master of Arts in
Latin American Studies, applicants to a concentration
must submit a statement explaining their intellectual and career interests
in that specific area of study. Applications from new students will be
considered for the fall quarter. Current students in the Latin American
Studies master’s
program may apply in the spring 1uarter of their first year.
M.A. students
who were previously enrolled as undergraduates at UCSD will not be
allowed to repeat courses for credit toward the concentration. In
all cases
there are alternatives, and those students will be expected to take other
classes to fulfill the requirements.
General Concentration Requirements
To receive the Master of Arts in
Latin American Studies with a concentration, a student must:
- Demonstrate foreign language competence in Spanish or Portuguese.
- Maintain
a 3.0 GPA in 40 units of coursework (about ten courses) to be completed
as follows:
a. Complete the Latin American Studies Basic Seminar Sequence:
12 units must be taken in the required Core Seminar in Latin American
Studies
(LATI 200,
4 units),
4 units in approved theory seminar, 4 units in approved methodology
seminar.
b. Complete 16 units within the specifications of the concentration
(as specified below). All of the concentration units must be
taken at the
graduate level
(200 level), and a maximum of two undergraduate-level courses
(100 level) may be upgraded
to graduate-level 298 courses.
c. Complete 12 units of general electives within the specification
of the concentration (as specified below). At least 50 percent
of the general
elective units must
be taken at the graduate level (200 level).
- Successfully complete
a master’s thesis on a topic relevant
to the area of concentration.
Concentration in Gender Studies
To receive the Master of Arts degree
in Latin American Studies (gender studies), a student must complete
the following units as concentration
course work
and general electives:
- One general theoretical course in
gender studies (4 units in any of the following: ANGR 244, CGS
100, CGS 101, CGS 104,
CGS 112, COCU
132,
COCU 139,
ETNH 256, LTCS
250, SOCB 118, SOCC 132, SOCC 267).
- One course in feminist
theory (4 units in any of the following: CGS 103, COCU 138, HIGR
205, POLI 116A, POLI 217).
- One course focused on gender studies in Latin America
(4 units in any of the following: ETHN 129, ETHN 148,
HILA 261,
LTAM 105,
LTAM
106, LTSP
175,
POLI 134P, USP 135).
- One course of directed reading (298, 4 units),
taken with a faculty member affiliated with the CGS Program,
focused
on a topic relevant
to Latin American
gender studies.
- General Electives: The remaining 12 units must
be taken as follows: one course from the approved
list
of courses
on Latin
America (4
units), 4 units
of directed
reading (298), and 4 units of independent research
(299).
Concentration in History
To receive the Master of Arts degree in Latin
American Studies (history), a student must complete the following
units as concentration course
work and
general electives:
- A required research seminar sequence
in Latin American history (8 units in any of the following: HIGR
245A-B-C,
HIGR 247A-B,
or HIGR 248A-B).
- Two elective courses or seminars in Latin American
history (8 units in any two of the following: ETHN
130, ETHN 131,
ETHN 180,
ETHN 259,
HILA 100,
HILA
101, HILA 102, HILA 107, HILA 108, HILA 112, HILA
113, HILA 115, HILA 120, HILA 121, HILA 122, HILA 123, HILA
125, HILA
131, HILA
132, HILA
160/260,
HILA 161/261,
HILA 162/262, HILA 166/266, HILA 170/270, HILA
171/271, HIGR 245A-B-C, HIGR 247A-B, HIGR 248A-B,
HIGR 249,
HIGR 250,
HIGR 251, HIGR 252, HIUS 158, HIUS 159, HIUS 167/267,
LTSP 116, LTSP 135A).
- General Electives: The remaining
12 units must be taken in departments other than the Department
of History as
follows: one course from
the approved list
of courses on Latin America (4 units), 4 units
of directed reading
(298), and 4 units of independent research (299).
Concentration
in International Migration
To receive the Master of Arts degree
in Latin American Studies (international migration), a student
must complete the following
units as concentration
course work and general electives:
- One course
focused on economic and social factors in international migration
(4 units in any of the
following: ECON 114, ETHN
118, ETHN 131, ETHN 134,
HIUS 159, IRGN 490, POLI 248, SOCG 282).
- One
course focused on Immigration Policy (4 units in any of the following:
POLI 150,
POLI 236, IRGN
490).
- One course focused on Latin American
international migration (4 units in any
of the following: COHI
175, ETHN 189, HIUS
180, HIUS
186, IRGN
490, LTAM
109,
LTSP 177).
- One course of directed reading
(4 units in a 298 course, focused on a topic
relevant
to
Latin
American
migratory
movements).
- General Electives: The remaining
12 units must be taken as follows:
one course
from the
approved
list
of courses
on Latin
America (4
units), 4 units
of directed
reading (298), and 4 units of Independent
Research (299).
Concentration in Sociology
To receive the Master of Arts degree in
Latin American Studies (sociology), a student must
complete the
following units
as concentration course
work and general
electives:
- One seminar in classical
sociological theory (4 units in SOC 201A or SOC 201B).
- One seminar
in sociological research methods (4 units in any of the following:
SOC 203, SOC 204, SOC 205, SOC 206, SOC 207, SOC 227).
- One core sociological
field seminar (4 units in any of the following:
SOC 212, SOC
216,
SOC 222,
SOC 226,
SOC 234,
SOC
244, SOC 264, SOC
267).
- One sociology course or seminar
focused on Latin America (4 units
in any of the
following: SOCD
182, SOCD 188D,
SOCG 258).
- General Electives:
The remaining 12 units must be taken in departments
other
than the
Department of Sociology
as
follows: one course from
the approved list of courses
on Latin America (4
units), 4 units
of directed
reading (298),
and
4 units of independent research (299).
Latin American Studies
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