At least one supporting minor of nine (9) or more units is required for the Ph.D. degree program per the Graduate College's requirement. If a doctoral student chooses two supporting minor subjects, each minor must have at least six units of coursework.
How to Declare
Current MAS Ph.D. Students: speak with your intended minor advisor and add it to your plan of study.
For Non MAS Ph.D. Students
Students will need to choose a Core MAS Professor to be their minor advisor who will also serve as a Minor chair during the students' comprehensive exam by following these steps:
- Register in one of the professor's MAS courses to assess if the professor is a good fit
- Inquire if the professor can agree to be a minor advisor/chair
- After the professor has agreed, enter the professor's name under Minor Chair on the Comprehensive Exam Committee Appointment Form on GradPath
Please note that minor requirements must be completed in addition to your primary Ph.D. degree.
Minor Requirements
MAS Ph.D. students can choose to complete the MAS Ph.D. minor or an outside minor. If an MAS Doctorate Student will be choosing a minor outside of the department, the student will need to follow the requirements set forth by the department the minor is under.
The minor requires 12 units.
Foundation Course (3 units)
This PhD colloquium will provide a broad exposure to various current research issues and research perspectives in Mexican American Studies.
Additional Coursework (9 units)
Recommended courses:
This a co-convened course that will include advanced 4th-year undergraduate students who along with graduate students (enrolled in MAS 570) will examine migration as a worldwide phenomenon in part due to the greater participation of women. In the Americas, in particular, there has been a steady increase in migration to the U.S. from Mexico and Latin America since the 1960s, much of which can be traced to the negative impact of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) resulting in the impoverishment of agricultural sectors and lack of employment opportunities, a combination known to produce the feminization of migration. In this class, we will explore this phenomenon and the various challenges borne by women and youths. We will consider relevant theories, such as neoliberal economics and structural violence, as well as a wide range of perspectives, combining demography, history, ethnography and public policy analysis to better understand issues of borders, transnational identities, human rights, labor rights, and responsibilities of host and sending states. |
Traditional Indian Medicine, or TIM, is a concept that refers to Indigenous knowledges expressed through the varied healing systems in Indigenous communities. This course will pay particular attention to American Indian nations and healing knowledges that are intersecting and intertwined relationships with the natural world, the Indigenous body and the sacred. We will examine both how Indigenous healing systems have persisted as well as responded to social conditions, such as genocide, colonization and historical, as well as contemporary, forms of oppression. Topics include intergenerational trauma as well as how resilience is expressed in practices of wellbeing, healing and self-determination. We will also explore TIM as containing systems of healing that may/may not operate in conjunction with allopathic medicine. This course takes a transdisciplinary approach, incorporating readings from American Indian/Indigenous studies and health to explore a complex portfolio of American Indian/Indigenous wellbeing.
A critical examination of Mexican American culture as portrayed in the social sciences. An assessment of the social, political, and economic factors influencing representations of Mexican Americans. |
This course will examine immigration from Mexico to the U.S. The course focuses on current immigration issues such as the economic assimilation of immigrants, as well as other social issues. |
This course provides and in-depth exploration on how social and cultural factors influence the health of racial/ethnic groups and underserved populations in the United States. The Socio-Cultural Determinants of Health are social, political, economic and cultural conditions, forces and factors that influence how health is distributed among entire groups and populations. The examination of socio-cultural influences is an interdisciplinary field of study that draws on research and scholarship from many areas including medical sociology, medical and cultural anthropology, public health, political science, public policy studies, epidemiology, and critical gender and race studies. This course introduces important concepts found in the scientific literature and then examines fundamental determinants of health, including income and social class, ethnicity and racism, place and space on specific determinants (e.g. segregation, racism) and health conditions (e.g. infectious and chronic diseases).
Graduate-level requirements include facilitating class discussion and organizing class lectures based on selected topics in Latino Health Disparities. Graduate students will submit two questions for discussion to the instructor that draw on materials outside of the course and also lead the class discussion for that topic.
A public health perspective in examining health and mental health issues affecting Latinos residing in the U.S., with particular emphasis on Mexican Americans. |
This course addresses adolescence from cultural-ecological and socio-ecological approaches to understanding developmental processes and outcomes among Latino youth, with special attention to the multiple contextual factors associated with ethnic identity. Students explore developmental theories with the goals of an integrated understanding of physical development, social behavior, and belief structures. This course also addresses social and psychological issues of particular interest for Latino adolescents: sexuality, discrimination, ethnic and gender identity, conflict and violence, academic/career aspirations, resilience and positive youth development, and individual, familial, and socio-historical context. This course includes reviews of empirical studies that utilize quantitative and qualitative approaches in order for students to recognize and identify rigorously designed and conceptually driven studies that will contribute to our understanding of Latino adolescents' developmental processes and outcomes. |
This interdisciplinary course is a survey of various popular and Indigenous medicinal systems that fall under the rubric known as Mexican Traditional Medicine (MTM). Mexican scholar Carlos Viesca Treviño defines MTM as medicinal knowledge(s) that emanate from Mesoamerican world views and that have adapted to historical and social conditions in the Americas. This course will explore various expressions of MTM, with a special emphasis on Indigenous medicinal approaches to healing that exemplify both continuities and adaptations. We will compare across cultures some shared values in various Indigenous systems as well as how they are uniquely expressed in contemporary settings. We will also draw from the local knowledge holders of Indigenous populations from this region to compare various approaches in traditional medicine. This course will introduce students to the relationship between place, healing and cosmology in Indigenous-based cultures that maintain curing traditions and practices. We will explore the theories and philosophies that are used in MTM as well as applied knowledge and practices that are useful for self care and community wellness. Graduate-level requirements include projects with deeper analysis, additional three sessions to discuss their research projects, and research paper weighted twice as heavy as the undergraduate paper, with greater expectations in research, writing and analysis. |
This is a course in the historical writing on the ethnic Mexican experience. It deals with a) the succession of authors, books, and schools on the subject; b) the development of historical writing within a social and political framework; and c) the changing attitudes to the question and nature of history itself. It is designed to encourage students to understand and to challenge past and present historians and to reflect upon their own ideas of history. |
This course starts from the premise that race is an essential social category for analyzing the policies and everyday practices experienced in American society. Students will review a variety of theories and discussions of race to learn how to take this premise seriously and understand the relevance of race in their own studies. The review starts with the early race theorists (Boas, Dubois, Sanchez.) who were countering the racist notion of biological inferiority among people of color. Students will move from discussing biological discourses to cultural explanations of racial difference. Postmodern perspectives, which center on the social construction of race, will be discussed. The review also includes an examination of Critical Race Theory (CRT) scholarship and how this school of thought comes to bear on contemporary social problems, such as educational inequities, legal injustice, and xenophobic nationalism. The course covers key and ongoing debates in race theory, including the relationship between capitalism and racism, the limitations of the black/white binary, the intersectionality of race with other social categories (class, gender, sexuality, etc.) and the veracity versus the chimera of social constructions. |
This course will provide an overview of the theories, policies, and practices related to the education of Latinos. We will focus specifically on the social, cultural, economic, and institutional factors, within and outside the school context, that contribute to Latino students' underachievement, failure, and negative educational outcomes. In addition, transformative practices that promote student achievement, learning, and critical consciousness will be discussed. Readings will cover various issues in education as well as introduce course participants to a broad collection of primarily Latino scholars interested in developing new methods and policies that will improve the educational experiences of Latino students. Graduate-level requirements include more demanding guidelines for essays. |
Designed to provide students with an exposure to qualitative and quantitative decision-making methods, focusing on the Mexican American population. Graduate-level requirements include a research project. |
Historical survey and sociological analysis of past and present experiences of Mexicanas and Chicanas in the United States. Graduate-level requirements include a longer writing project and an additional class presentation. |