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Director: Norman Whitten
Academic Programs Coordinator: Nan Volinsky
201 International Studies Building
910 South Fifth Street, Champaign, IL 61820
E-mail: latam@uiuc.edu
Graduate Program
The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies administers a
program of language and area courses leading to an interdisciplinary
master of arts degree. The master’s program facilitates studies
in the languages, cultures, and affairs of the region for three constituencies
of students: those seeking to match area expertise with professional
training; those proceeding to disciplinary-based doctoral work; and
those for whom the degree would stand on its own. The center also
administers graduate minors in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
with various departments.
Master of Arts in Latin American Studies
A candidate must complete 40 graduate hours of credit which include:
(1) completion of the core interdisciplinary seminar (one unit); (2)
4 to 8 graduate hours in 400-500 level courses in theory or research
methods appropriate to the student’s objectives and primary
discipline; (3) 20 to 28 graduate hours in 400- and 500-level courses
that focus on Latin America or the Caribbean, of which at least 8
graduate hours must be taken in one (primary) discipline; (4) completion
of at least two substantial research papers on Latin American topics
as part of coursework or completion of a master’s thesis, for
which 8 graduate hours of thesis research may be used; and (5) demonstration
that a communicative competence in Spanish, Portuguese, or other language
indigenous to the area (excluding English) equivalent to six semesters’
(undergraduate) work has been achieved.
Graduate Minors
Graduate minors in Latin American and Caribbean Studies are administered
by the director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Candidates for the master’s degree who elect a minor in Latin
American and Caribbean Studies must complete 8 graduate hours from
the courses prescribed by the center. Doctoral candidates who elect
a minor in this area must complete 16 graduate hours for one minor
or 8 graduate hours for a split minor. Courses must be taken in at
least two departments; a list of courses fulfilling the minor is available
from the center. A specialization in agricultural economics and foreign
areas studies (in this case, Latin American and Caribbean Studies)
is also available.
Students in technical and professional colleges and schools of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who seek knowledge of the
Latin American and Caribbean region and languages are invited to consult
with the director of the center or with their advisers in order to
develop programs suited to their individual needs. Such a program
may often be adopted as a special minor under existing regulations
if the student so desires. These courses are of particular value to
students who intend to undertake technical or professional work in
the Latin American and Caribbean area for government, private business,
publishing, or religious organizations.
A high level of proficiency in one or more languages of the region
(Spanish, Portuguese, and Indian languages) is required. For course
information, requirements, and methods used to establish the level
of proficiency, contact the center’s academic programs coordinator.Language
InstructionThe center offers Quechua, the native language spoken by
13 million people in the Andean republics.Financial AidThe center
is a recipient of Federal Government Title VI Foreign Language and
Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships for Graduate Studies in any discipline
that includes a minor in Latin American Studies and an intensive program
of language instruction. Summer fellowships for intensive language
courses abroad or in the United States are available. Small travel
grants for graduate students wishing to do research during the summer
are also available on a competitive basis. Both these programs depend
on outside funding and thus cannot be guaranteed in any given year. |
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