All graduate students in a Mexican American Studies program will be evaluated by MAS faculty and also by the Graduate College. The Graduate College has set minimum and essential requirements need for the completion of graduate degrees which are embedded into the MAS Ph.D. degree requirements.
Degree Requirements
Our Doctoral Program in Mexican American Studies requires a minimum of fifty-four (54) units:
Core Courses (36 units)
Students must connect with their advisors to identify courses that will be taken to satisfy the coursework requirement. Please see below for the breakdown:
Required Courses (9 units)
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.
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.
This PhD colloquium will provide a broad exposure to various current research issues and research perspectives in Mexican American Studies.
Specialization Courses (12 units)
Students should connect with their advisors to go over their Plan of Study to identify four (4) MAS courses that will be taken to support in obtaining the knowledge that will support them in their dissertation work.
Please see below for recommended courses:
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 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.
Targeted for graduate students across campus, this course will focus on the study of Chicana/Latina perspectives that include feminisms, womanisms, and standpoints. The course will engage these perspectives from (her)storical, theoretical, empirical, and literary texts. The course will ground the application of these perspectives in educational research so as to enable participants to subsequently relate the ideas to their respective research areas like in public health or history.
Worldwide human migration and displacements are at an all time high because of political, economic, and environmental upheavals. 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. The most significant change has been the greater participation of women due in part 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 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.
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.
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.
Students are allowed to substitute courses under the specialization section of the coursework with courses outside of the department. To add outside courses, they must meet the following requirements:
- Be approved by the MAS Advisor and/or the MAS Director of Graduate Studies
- Coursework must be relevant in support dissertation research to provide knowledge that is not or cannot be provided by MAS Faculty
Elective Courses (15 units)
Students must complete 15 units of additional coursework in an MAS specialization area. No more than 12 units may be taken as independent study and only 3 units as preceptorship.
- Culture
- Gender
- Education
- Immigration
- Health
- Historical
- Comparative Ethnic Studies
Dissertation (18 units)
A minimum of 18 units are required to satisfy this requirement. Students will enroll in dissertation units after completing their coursework and Comprehensive Exam (Written & Oral). Students cannot enroll directly in units through the registration page. The student or major advisor will email the program coordinator requesting to be enrolled in dissertation units. Please indicate how many units in dissertation will be needed and under which professor.
Minor Requirement (12 units)
The Graduate College requires that students choose a minor. Students have the option of choosing their minor:
- Students minoring in MAS must complete 12 units (4 courses) to satisfy requirement
- Students minoring outside of MAS must acquire a minor advisor in the programs' department and follow the program's requirement for completion
Exam Requirements
The Ph.D. program has different milestones that will need to be passed in order for the student to advance through the program.
Taken within the second (2nd) semester student is enrolled in the program. Student will need to pass exam to continue to the next milestone.
Taken within the thrid (3rd) year the student is enrolled in the program and is close/ or done with all coursework. Student will need to pass exam to continue to the next milestone.
Student must present the prospectus for their dissertation and receive approval from the Major Advisor.
Taken the last semester student is enrolled in the program. Student will need to pass presentation and prepare a final copy of Dissertation to submit to the Graduate College for approval and award of degree.