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The Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies blends coverage of methodological and
theoretical approaches to the study of Latin America with a broad foundation in the
humanities and social sciences. Students receiving this degree will be prepared for
private employment or for graduate training; the major also provides a valuable
supplement for those who subsequently pursue professional degrees in business, law,
engineering, medicine, or other fields. Students majoring in Latin American Studies
are urged to minor in a core discipline such as anthropology, economics, history,
literature, political science, or sociology. Read the Latin American Studies Four Year Plan for more information.
Requirements
Students are encouraged to complete the lower-division prerequisites before they
enroll in upper-division courses.
Lower-Division
- Spanish Proficiency: The equivalent of at least two years of college-level language instruction in Spanish, comparable to satisfactory completion of Literature/Spanish 2C; students who satisfy this requirement by examination
are strongly encouraged to study Portuguese.
- Latin American Studies 50 (LATI 50) “Introduction to Latin America”, an interdisciplinary course that prepares majors to build a coherent curriculum.
Upper-Division
- Twelve (12) upper-division courses selected from a designated list of Latin American
studies courses in the UCSD catalog. Students must take course work in at least
three departments; and they must take at least three courses, but no more than
five, from one department. This provides depth and breadth to the major. See
LAS courses offered.
- Two of the twelve courses must concentrate exclusively on periods earlier than
the twentieth century.
- The Senior Seminar (LATI 190) is required as one of the twleve courses. It is to
be taken in the Winter Quarter of the senior year. This course will culminate
in preparation for an interpretive paper based on the secondary analysis of existing
scholarly research to be approximately 20 to 40 pages in length.
- All courses must be taken for a letter grade, with the sole exception of LATI 199.
Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in 4 units of Individual Study (LATI 199)
with a member of the Latin Americanist faculty, who will serve as the student's principal
advisor.
Honors
To receive honors, a student must:
- Satisfy all lower-division requirements of the major program
- Complete nine upper-division courses from at least three departments, with no more than
five courses from any single department and with at least two courses on material prior
to the twentieth century
- Take a three-quarter sequence during the senior year consisting of; Individual Study,
the Senior Seminar, and the Honors Seminar (LATI 199, 190, and 191, respectively); that
will culminate in the presentation and defense of an original thesis based on primary
research (usually between 50 and 100 pages in length) under the direction of a mentor
selected from the Latin A mericanist faculty, and defend this thesis during the Spring
Quarter before an interdisciplinary faculty committee
- Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5 in the major.
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