Master of Arts

Doctor of Philosophy

For More Information

Campus address: Gordon White Building (GWB) 2.102, phone (512) 471-4557, fax (512) 471-9639; campus mail code: F9200

Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Graduate Advisor, Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, 210 West 24th Street Inner Campus Drive Stop F9200, Austin TX 78712

E-mail: lvg@austin.utexas.edu

URL: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/mals/graduate/phd-program.php

Facilities for Graduate Work

In the 1960s, Mexican American student activists at The University of Texas at Austin agitated for the creation of an academic program responsive to their lives, experiences, and ways of knowing. From their efforts, in 1970, UT Austin created the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS), with Américo Paredes named as its first director. Over the past fifty years, UT Austin has become an important scholarly center for Mexican American, Chicano/a/x, and Latino/a/x Studies. What was once a small center borne of struggle is now the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS), the Latino Research Institute (LRI), and the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies (MALS).

In addition to the expertise of the faculty, graduate students have access to the extensive resources of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, the Mexican American Library Program, and the Harry Ransom Center. The University’s Central Texas location also provides opportunities for field research within the growing Mexican American and Latina/o/x population across the Southwestern United States, and for research in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean as well.

Areas of Study

The Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies (MALS) is comprised of faculty members whose teaching and research are at the forefront of innovation in multiple areas of study, including the following: immigration, borders, carcerality, race, language, gender, sexuality, class, public health, culture, indigeneity, performance, disability, and digital humanities.

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree is designed to prepare graduates not only for traditional academic employment in the field of Mexican American and Latina/o studies and related fields, but also for careers in the arts, advocacy and related professions in which advanced knowledge of Mexican American and Latina/o studies is crucial. Emphasis is placed on the knowledge, methods, and skills needed for scholarly teaching, original research, intellectual leadership, creative expression, and problem solving in both the interdisciplinary field of Mexican American and Latina/o/x Studies and in core disciplines identified by each student.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) in the spring 2023 semester.

Chad Alvarez Karma Ruth Chavez Danielle P Clealand Maria Eugenia Cotera Richard R Flores Rachel Valentina Gonzalez-Martin

Laura G Gutierrez Mike Hames-Garcia Julie A Minich Angela Ximena Ocampo Deborah Parra-Medina

Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the minimum requirements for graduate study at the University. An admissions committee composed of Graduate Studies Committee members in Mexican American and Latina/o studies also evaluates applications, giving preference to candidates who demonstrate a strong academic background and a clear sense of the areas they wish to pursue through the doctoral degree program.