Ethnic Studies
[ undergraduate program | courses | faculty ]
The Graduate Program
The UC San Diego Department of Ethnic Studies emphasizes comparative, analytic, and relational study of ethnicity and race in the United States. Our fields of emphasis include intercultural communication and conflict, population histories of the Americas, ethnicity and identity, immigration and assimilation, ethnic politics and social movements, race and racism, urban ethnicity, gender and ethnicity, sexuality, intellectual and cultural histories of ethnic groups, cultural pluralism, national integration, language and ethnic life, and mass media representations of ethnic identity.
Admission
New students are admitted in the fall quarter of each academic year. Prospective applicants should submit the official application for admission and awards (same form), one set of official transcripts from each institution attended after high school, official scores from the Graduate Record Examination, application fee, at least three letters of recommendation, and one or more samples of the applicant’s own writing, such as term papers. Additionally, foreign applicants must submit official scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Applicants are encouraged to visit the department to talk with faculty and graduate students. The application deadline is January 15.
Program of Study
Students are required to enroll as full-time graduate students, to carry a minimum enrollment of twelve units of graduate-level courses each quarter, and to maintain a grade-point average of 3.2 or better. To obtain an M.A. degree students must take fifty-four units of course work and write a master’s thesis.
Core Curriculum Sequence Requirements
- Ethnic Studies 200A-B-C, Core Seminar
All graduate students will be required to take the introductory three-quarter core seminar (four units each, twelve units total) during their first year in the program. This course covers the genealogy of critical racial and ethnic studies (its antecedents and development as a distinct and interdisciplinary method of inquiry), interdisciplinarity and knowledge production in ethnic studies, and research in ethnic studies (Pro Seminar). - Ethnic Studies 230, Department Colloquium
During the first two years of graduate study, all students will be required to enroll in six one-quarter colloquia required by the department. In Ethnic Studies 230, department faculty and visiting lecturers will make presentations about research in progress in our field. This colloquium is a one-unit course and must be taken for a total of six quarters. - Ethnic
Studies 240, 241, and 242, Research Methods Series
All graduate students will be required to take the three-quarter core research methods course (four units each, twelve units total) during their first year in the program. ETHN 240A, Historical Methods and Archives; ETHN 240B, Cultural Studies and Cultural Production; and ETHN 240C Qualitative Methods/Ethnography. - Ethnic Studies 290A-B, Master’s Thesis Preparation
Students are required to write a master’s thesis as part of the requirements for the master of arts in ethnic studies. Students should enroll in thesis preparation courses in the fall and spring quarters of the second year of graduate studies.
Foreign Language Requirement
Competence in one or more foreign languages is encouraged but not required at the M.A. level. All doctoral candidates must satisfy the department’s graduate committee that they have adequate linguistic competence in one foreign language relevant to their area of research by translating three pages of scholarly text written in the designated foreign language. The graduate committee may waive the language requirement and test the candidate on other specialized skills in instances where knowledge of a foreign language is not relevant to the candidate’s areas of research.
Instruction in Quantification
The department encourages graduate students to employ quantitative methods where appropriate. Instruction in quantitative methods can fulfill elective requirements; recommended courses include Sociology 205 and 206, Survey and Demographic Methods; Political Science 270, Quantitative Methods in Political Science. In cases where a reading knowledge of evidence assembled through quantitative methods would be useful, students who obtain the permission of the director of Graduate Studies may fulfill elective requirements by taking no more than two selected undergraduate courses including Sociology 103, Computer Applications to Data Management in Sociology; Sociology 107, Demographic Methods; Sociology 108, Quantitative Analysis of Survey Data; Sociology 109, Quantitative Analysis of Sociological Data; and Political Science 170, Quantitative Political Science, among others.
The Master’s Degree
Students entering the ethnic studies doctoral program must first complete a master’s degree before continuing toward the doctorate. University regulations prohibit entering students who already have a master’s degree in ethnic studies from receiving a second master’s degree. Nonetheless, students who are admitted to the ethnic studies doctoral program with a master’s degree must complete all the requirements for the ethnic studies master of arts degree. The M.A. will also be a terminal degree for those students denied admission to candidacy.
To obtain the M.A. degree, students must complete the department’s course requirements satisfactorily. At the end of the second year in the graduate program, students must submit a written thesis to their Master’s Thesis Committee (MTC). The committee will assess the quality of the work and determine whether it demonstrates the likelihood of success in conducting doctoral research.
The final decision regarding the M.A. degree is based on grades, the master’s thesis, and yearly faculty evaluations. The Graduate Program Committee awards three possible grades: Pass, M.A. Only, and Not Pass. All passing students (with the exception of those who already have a master’s degree in ethnic studies from another institution) receive the master of arts degree and proceed in their course of studies for the doctorate. Students who receive M.A. Only evaluations gain the master’s degree but may not continue in the department’s Ph.D. program. Students who receive a Not Pass evaluation must withdraw from the program without a graduate degree. The master’s degree is earned as one of the requirements for the Ph.D. and is based on the quality of the student’s work during the first two years in the graduate program. At the end of the second year, students are evaluated by the Graduate Program Committee for the master’s degree. At that time, the committee (GPC) ascertains the student’s suitability for doctoral work and recommends either advancement to Ph.D. work or termination.
Requirements for the Qualifying Examinations
When students complete all the core curriculum requirements and have taken five four-unit elective courses in appropriate areas or disciplines, they are eligible to take the qualifying examination for the Ph.D. degree. Students will be encouraged to take the exam by the end of their third year in the program, but this examination must be completed by the end of the student’s fourth year in the program. The qualifying exam is both written and oral; it consists of two parts. Part one tests the student’s basic competence and knowledge of ethnic studies scholarship as spelled out in the Department of Ethnic Studies required graduate reading list. The reading list will be distributed to every student entering the graduate program. Over the next three years, students are required to read all of these books and articles, and to have their mastery of these readings tested during the qualifying examination. Part two of the examination requires the submission of a dissertation prospectus. The dissertation prospectus is a written document that (1) specifies the dissertation research topic; (2) places the dissertation research in the context of the relevant literature in the field; (3) identifies the significance of the project as original discovery scholarship; (4) explains and justifies the research methods to be employed; (5) establishes the feasibility of the research and identifies the primary sources or data bases to be used; (6) indicates the anticipated steps leading to completion of the project; and (7) provides a timetable for the research and writing phases of the project.
The Doctoral Committee consists of five persons proposed by the student and accepted by the department chair and the office of Graduate Studies according to graduate council regulations. A sixth member of the committee may be added with the approval of the department chair. Students are expected to select the chair of their examination committee by the winter quarter of the third year of study. The chair of the Ph.D. Examination Committee serves as the student’s advisor for the remainder of the student’s graduate program. Three of the Examination Committee members must be Department of Ethnic Studies faculty; the other two must be from other departments.
Fourteen days before the scheduled qualifying examination, the student must submit the written dissertation prospectus to the examination committee. On this same day, the student will receive from the chair of the examination committee a three-question written exam testing knowledge of the required graduate reading list. Seven days before the scheduled qualifying examination, the student must submit written answers to the questions that have been posed, distributing copies of these essays to all examination committee members. A two-hour oral examination will occur on the appointed date. At the two-hour oral exam, the student will answer questions posed by the committee about the student’s dissertation prospectus, mastery of the required graduate reading list, answers to the written part of the exam, and comprehensive knowledge of ethnic studies scholarship. Based on written papers and on oral performance, three possible grades will be selected by the examination committee: Not Pass, Pass, and High Pass. Students who receive a Not Pass must retake the qualifying examination within one year and obtain a Pass grade to remain in the doctoral program.
The Doctoral Dissertation
Once students pass the qualifying exam, they may begin dissertation research. Students are expected to consult with their committee members on a regular basis during the research process.
All doctoral students will be evaluated annually by the doctoral committee and given a written report signed by the thesis advisor according to campus policy.
When the dissertation has been substantially completed and once committee members have had the opportunity to review drafts of the written work, the committee meets (with or without the student present at the discretion of the committee chair) to consider the progress made and to identify concerns, changes to be made, or further research to be done. Once the committee members are substantially satisfied with the written work, the student, in consultation with the committee, schedules the oral defense of the dissertation. By university regulation, the defense is open to the public.
The final version of the dissertation must be approved by each member of the doctoral committee. Having successfully defended the dissertation in oral examination, the student is eligible to receive the Ph.D. degree. The final version of the dissertation is then filed with the university librarian via the office of Graduate Studies. Acceptance of the dissertation by the university librarian is the final step in completing all requirements for the Ph.D.
Departmental Ph.D. Time Limits Policy
Pre-candidacy status, that is, the registered time before a student passes the qualifying examination and thereby advances to Ph.D. candidacy, may not exceed four years. Normative time for a Ph.D. in ethnic studies is six years. Normative time is defined as that period of time in which students under normal circumstances are expected to complete their doctoral program. To provide an incentive for students to complete the Ph.D. within normative time, students will only be eligible for departmental financial support for six years (eighteen quarters). By university policies, the doctoral dissertation must be submitted and defended within eight years. To meet this normative time limit, and to meet departmental requirements, students must complete the Qualifying Examination by the end of the fourth year.
In the spring quarter each year, the Graduate Program Committee will assess the progress of each pre-candidacy student on the basis of evaluations submitted by three faculty members chosen by the student. The committee will establish that the student is in good standing, recommend additional course work, or recommend dismissal. The committee may wish to meet with some students in person to discuss the student’s evaluation and progress toward the degree.