The Master of Arts in Latin American Studies (MALAS) specialization in Caribbean Studies draws primarily on the disciplines of anthropology, geography, history, and literature. The goal of the specialization is to study the origins, development, and contemporary problems of Caribbean societies and cultures.
Requirements
MALAS students must complete 30 credit hours of approved courses, write a thesis on a topic related to the specialization, and demonstrate intermediate-high proficiency in two of the languages spoken in the Caribbean, including English. The course requirements are distributed as follows:
- 6 hours of gateway seminars (preferably in the first semester):
LAS 6220 Issues and Perspectives in Latin American Studies
LAS 6292/3 Research Design and Methods in Latin American Studies
- 15 hours of courses in the specialization (see below)
- 9 hours of courses with Latin American content outside the specialization, selected in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator, Dr. Richmond Brown
In addition, students must register for LAS 6971, Master’s Research, in the semester of graduation—at least 3 credit hours for or spring, or 2 credit hours for summer
Courses in the Specialization
The specialization in Caribbean studies comprises 15 credit hours. Students are required to complete three required courses (nine hours) and will select the other six hours (normally two courses) from a list of optional courses, in consultation with their faculty advisor.
Required Courses
One of the following history courses
LAH 5475 The Caribbean, 19th & 20th Century
LAH 5476 Caribbean History to 1800
Optional Courses
AEB 6933 Contemporary Caribbean Agro-Economy
ANG 5303 Women and Development
ANG 6303 Seminar in Gender and Development
ANG 5702 Gender and International Development
ANG 6930 Transnational Migration
ANG 6115 Problems in Caribbean Prehistory
ANG 6387 Anthropology of Latin America (with Caribbean focus)
ANG 6930 Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico
ARC 6793 Architecture History: Latin America & Caribbean
ARC 6911 Architectural Research I–Preservation Institute: The Caribbean
ARC 6912 Architectural Research II–Preservation Institute: The Caribbean
ARC 6913 Architectural Research III–Preservation Institute: The Caribbean
GEA 6309 Geography of Middle America and the Caribbean
HCS 6625 Trends in International Health
INR 5935 International Politics of Latin America
LAH 5933 Topics in Caribbean History
LAH 5934 Special Topics
LAS 6938 Gender and Development
MUH 6548 Seminar in Caribbean Music
MUN 6495 Steel Drum Ensemble
SPW 6902 Special Study in Spanish-American Literature (with Caribbean focus)
ZOO 5315C Natural History of the Caribbean Area
Faculty
Florence Babb (Gender and sexuality, culture and political economy; Cuba, Nicaragua and Peru)
Efraín Barradas (Caribbean literature, Latino studies, Mexican culture; Caribbean and Mexico)
Kenneth Broadway (Percussion; Caribbean)
Carlton G. Davis (International trade/development, Caribbean agro economic systems; Caribbean)
Kathleen Deagan (Florida Museum of Natural History, Spanish colonial archaeology)
Susan de France (Zooarchaeology; Andes and Caribbean)
Carmen Diana Deere (Agricultural development, gender, land policy, rural labor markets; Cuba, Central America, comparative)
James Essegbey (Descriptive, documentary and theoretical linguistics, Creole studies, Caribbean)
David Geggus (History, colonialism and slavery; Haiti)
Clarence Gravlee (Ethnic disparities in health, cultural dimensions of psychosocial stress; Puerto Rico)
Lillian Guerra (History; Cuba; Spanish-speaking Caribbean)
Benjamin Hebblethwaite (Haitian Creole instruction and research; Haiti)
Faye Harrison (African diaspora, social inequality, human rights, political economy; Caribbean)
Reynaldo Jiménez (Spanish, Cuban modern narrative)
Michael Lauzardo (Tuberculosis, general pulmonary disease, mycobacterial infections; Haiti, Dominican Republic)
Michael Leslie (Telecommunications, Cuban mass media)
Pedro Malavet (Comparative law, critical race theory, Lit Crit theory; Puerto Rico, Latino Studies)
Belio Martínez (Communication theory, international and ethnic public relations; Dominican Republic, Colombia, Latinos)
Corene Matyas (Climatology, hurricanes, climate and change; Caribbean)
William Messina (International trade; Caribbean)
Augusto Oyuela Caycedo (Archaeology; Circum-Caribbean)
Alfonso Pérez-Méndez (Architecture, design; Cuba, Caribbean)
Rhonda Phillips (Technology-based economic development for communities and regions; Caribbean)
Fred Royce (Agricultural cooperatives, international development, decision support systems; Central America, Cuba)
William Tilson (Architecture, design, history, preservation, theory; Caribbean)
Contact Information
319 Grinter Hall
P.O. Box 115530
Gainesville, FL 32611-5530
USA Tel: (352) 392-0375
Fax: (352) 392-7682
Graduate Advisor
Richmond F. Brown
Specialization Coordinator
David Geggus