Degree Requirements for History Concentration

To receive the Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies with a concentration in History, a student must:

1. Demonstrate foreign language competence in Spanish or Portuguese.

2. Maintain a 3.0 grade point average in 40 units of course work (about ten courses), to be completed as follows:
a. Latin American Studies Basic Seminar Sequence: 8 units must be taken in the required Core Seminar in Latin American Studies (LATI 200, 4 units), and Latin American Library Resources and Research Methodology (LATI 210A and LATI 210B, 2 units each).
b. History Concentration: 16 additional units must be taken in courses offered by the History department, as follows:
i. A required research seminar sequence in Latin American History (8 units in any of the following: HIGR 246 A and B, HIGR 247 A and B, or HIGR 248 A and B);
ii. Two elective courses or seminars in Latin American History (8 units in any two of the following: ETHN 259, HIGR 245A, HIGR 245B, HIGR 247A, HIGR 247B, HIGR 248, HIGR 249, HIGR 250, HIGR 251, HIGR 252, ETHN 130, ETHN 131, ETHN 180, HILA 100, HILA 101, HILA 102, HILA 103, HILA 104, HILA 107, HILA 113, HILA 115, HILA 117, HILA 120, HILA 121, HILA 122, HILA 123, HILA 131, HILA 132, HILA 160/260, HILA 161/261, HILA 162/262, HILA 166/266, HILA 170/270, HILA 171/271)
c. General Electives: The remaining 16 units must be taken in departments other than the Department of History as follows: two courses from the Approved List of Courses on Latin America (8 units), 4 units of Directed Reading (298) and 4 units of Independent Research (299).

3. Successfully complete a Master's thesis, based on historical research and focused on a topic relevant to Latin American Studies.

All of the concentration specific units, and at least 50 percent of the General Elective units must be taken at graduate level (200 level). Within a concentration, a maximum of two undergraduate level courses (100 level) may be upgraded to graduate level 298 courses. To convert an undergraduate level course (100 level) into a 298 graduate-level course, a student must attend all of the course meetings and incorporate a component of additional, graduate-level research work, upon arrangement with the faculty member teaching the course (a special form describing the supplementary work must be filled by the student and approved by the instructor and CILAS' Academic Coordinator). In all such cases, the supplementary work should, (a) increase the amount of reading to match the regular reading expectations of a graduate seminar, (b) include additional meeting time with the professor for a graduate-level discussion of the material, and (c) require the student to write a research paper (which would generally be approximately 15-20 pages).

M.A. students who were previously enrolled as undergraduates at UCSD will not be allowed to repeat courses for credit toward the concentration. In all cases there are alternatives, and those students will be expected to take other classes to fulfill the requirements.

Link to approved History courses.