Applicable only to students admitted during the 2017-2018 academic year.

Latin American Studies

Interdepartmental Degree Program
College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Latin American Studies Program offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Latin American Studies.

Admissions Requirements

Master’s Degree

Advising

Academic advising is provided by the chair of the program and the Student Affairs Coordinator, who assists in program counseling, preparation of student petitions, and processing of student records. A faculty adviser meets with entering students individually to develop a program of study with academic coherence and vigor based on their proposed fields of specialization.

Areas of Study

Students are expected to develop and integrate two or three fields in Latin American studies, to be selected from the following: anthropology; art history; economics; education; engineering; folklore; geography; history; information studies; law; linguistics; management; music; political science; Portuguese; public health; sociology; Spanish; theater arts; and urban planning. At least one of the chosen fields must be a social science.

Foreign Language Requirement

Proficiency equivalent to 24 quarter units of university-level Spanish and 12 quarter units of university-level Portuguese or 16 quarter units of university-level Portuguese and 20 units of university-level Spanish is required. Only course work taken within five years of the award of the M.A. degree may be used to demonstrate current proficiency. Since these courses may not be applied toward the M.A. degree, students are encouraged to pass these proficiency levels by examination. Degree candidates who completed their language training five years prior to their advancement to candidacy must demonstrate their current proficiency by examination. A major Indigenous language of Latin America may be substituted for either Spanish or Portuguese. Students must fulfill the foreign language requirements by examination or petition for a waiver of the examination if they have gained competency in another manner (i.e., native speaker, upper division course work, Peace Corps service).

Course Requirements

Capstone Plan: A minimum of nine courses  (36 units) is required, eight of which are to be distributed among three fields or disciplines on a 3-3-2 basis or among two fields on a 4-4 basis. Of the nine courses, five (20 units) must be at the graduate level, with at least one in each of the three fields.

Thesis Plan: A minimum of 10 courses (40 units) is required, nine of which are to be distributed on a 4-3-2 basis among three fields. Three graduate-level courses are required in the first field, with one each in the two minor fields.

Latin American Studies 205 is a core course required of all M.A. students, to be taken during the first fall quarter in residence. All courses must be selected from the department-approved list of courses. Other courses must be petitioned in advance. Courses numbered in the 300 and 400 series are not applicable toward the M.A. degree. Graduate courses may be repeated unless they are of the lecture type. No more than eight units of 500-series courses may be applied toward the total course requirement for the M.A. degree; no more than four units may be applied toward the minimum five graduate courses required for the M.A. degree.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

This requirement is fulfilled by the submission of three research papers written for at least two of the three fields included as part of the student’s program of study. At least two of these papers must have been submitted for graduate courses in the 200 series. The papers are evaluated by a three-member faculty committee representing the degree candidate’s three fields or both fields if the candidate is doing only two fields. Two positive votes among the three-member faculty examination committee constitute a pass. The committee evaluates the papers in the following terms: honor pass (a unanimous vote); pass; pass subject to revision of one or more of the research papers; or fail (majority vote). If two of the three members of the committee so request, an oral examination based on the papers may be required. When papers are passed subject to revision, one member of the committee is assigned the responsibility of working with the student on the revision, and determining when the paper has been satisfactorily revised. No reexaminations are permitted. The degree is awarded on recommendation of the faculty committee. Copies of the papers are filed in the Latin American Studies Academic Programs Office.

Thesis Plan

Every master’s degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research.

Although students are generally expected to follow the M.A. comprehensive examination plan, in special cases they may be allowed to follow the M.A. thesis plan. The student must develop a carefully prepared proposal to be approved by the academic coordinator in consultation with the student’s faculty committee chair. To be approved, the proposal must provide sound justification for the thesis plan, including provisions for funding any field research.

Once the thesis plan option has been approved, the student chooses a three-member faculty thesis committee consisting of one professor from each of three disciplines, one of whom has already agreed to serve as chair. The thesis committee works closely with the student in the development, writing, and revision of the thesis and is responsible for reading, evaluating, and approving the drafts and final version of the thesis, ensuring thereby that it meets the University standards of scholarship. Once the final version is approved, the thesis committee recommends the award of the M.A. degree. By the end of the quarter before graduation, the student must file for advancement to candidacy with the Graduate Division.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students with no deficiencies upon admission can expect to complete all requirements for the M.A. degree within six academic quarters. Students who undertake field research in conjunction with the thesis plan may take up to seven academic quarters.

DEGREE	NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters)	NORMATIVE TTD	MAXIMUM TTD
M.A.	6	6	9

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A recommendation for termination is made by the interdepartmental degree program committee, in consultation with the academic coordinator and, when appropriate, the student’s M.A. committee. A student may appeal a recommendation for termination through submission of a letter to the chair of the interdepartmental degree program committee which is submitted to the entire committee for a final decision.