The MALAS specialization in Latino/a Studies draws from many disciplines to provide students with an ample view of the history and the main social and intellectual issues that have shaped the different groups that make up the Latino community. Given the special role that Florida plays as point of contact with Latin America, the specialization looks at the Latino community as a whole, not as fragmented units, and in terms of its relation to Latin American culture and history.
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 Spanish, Portuguese or Haitian Creole.
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 in fall or spring, or 2 credit hours in summer.
Courses in the Specialization
Required Courses
LAS 6938 Latino/a Culture
Optional Courses
SYD 6706 Racial and Ethnic Relations
SYA 6935 Race and Film
SYA 7933 Sociology of Latinos/as in the US
REL 5195 Topics in Religion and Society
MMC 6936 Intercultural Communications
MMC 6615 Race, Class, Gender, and Media
AML 6077 Latina/o Studies
SPN 6735 Spanish in the US
Faculty
Efraín Barradas (Cultural Studies; Literature)
María Coady (Education; ESOL for Spanish speakers)
Ester de Jong (Education; Bilingualism)
Carmen Diana Deere (LAS/Economics)
Joan Flocks (Law; Social Policy)
Tace Hedrick (Chicano Studies)
Berta Hernández-Truyol (Law)
Reynaldo Jiménez (Literature)
Pedro Malavet (Law)
Tony Mata (Theater)
Paul Ortiz (Oral History)
Milagros Peña (Race relations; Religion)
Juan Perea (Law; Immigration)
Luis Ponjuan (Education)
Edil Torres Rivera (Counselor Education)
Manuel Vásquez (Religion)
Philip Williams (Political Science)
Barbara Zsembik (Sociology; Demography)
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
Efraín Barradas