Degree Requirements

Students pursuing the Master of Arts degree may choose one of two plans: Plan A, which requires thirty-three semester hours of coursework, including a thesis, or Plan B, which requires thirty-three semester hours of coursework, including two reports. Checklists for both plans can be found on the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies Web site . Students in both plans must complete a foundational seminar, Mexican American Studies 390.

Students pursuing Plan A must complete fifteen semester hours of graduate coursework in a major concentration and nine hours in a minor concentration. They must also complete Mexican American Studies 698.

Students pursuing Plan B must complete fifteen semester hours of graduate coursework in a major concentration and nine hours in a minor concentration. They must also complete Mexican American Studies 397R and 398R.

Before completing the program, all students must demonstrate competence in written and/or oral Spanish by means approved by the Graduate Studies Committee.

Students must designate a major in one of two specific course concentrations and a minor in the other: cultural studies and policy studies. Students will organize the courses they take within these concentrations to satisfy either Plan A or Plan B. These course concentrations reflect the intellectual breadth and depth of the department’s faculty affiliates through their research and teaching interests and the graduate courses offered in past semesters.

Students are allowed on a case-by-case basis to develop their own course concentrations to satisfy either the Plan A or Plan B requirements in consultation with the graduate adviser or program coordinator.