Center for

Center for Latin American Studies

Graduate Programs

The Center offers a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies and also provides a Latin American minor for students earning a Master's or Ph.D. degree in one of the participating programs (Anthropology, Art and History of Art, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, and Spanish and Portuguese). In addition, a certificate in Latin American Studies may be awarded with either a Master's or Ph.D. degree upon successful completion of 15 hours of course work and demonstration of language competence (Spanish, Portuguese, or an indigenous language of Latin America).

Latin American Studies Brochure (pdf)

M.A. In Latin American Studies

The M.A. in Latin American Studies requires course work with a Latin American content or with subject matter that is closely related to the area. Candidates for the M.A. choose a thesis (24 semester hours plus thesis) or non-thesis (33 hours) option. Each option includes Latin American Studies 290 (an interdisciplinary seminar which focuses on research methodologies and the use of reference materials for Latin Americanists). Master’s degree candidates are expected to demonstrate language competence in Spanish, Portuguese, or an indigenous Latin American language. This means advanced proficiency in one of the three languages and intermediate proficiency in another.

Non-Thesis Option: 15 hours must be in a selected major discipline. An additional 9 hours must be in a second discipline, which will serve as the selected minor field. The remaining 9 hours must be in three additional courses with a Latin American content, wherever possible being selected from disciplines other than the major and minor fields.

Non-Thesis Option
15 hours – major field
9 hours – minor field
6 hours – additional fields
3 hours – LAS 290
33 hours (Total)

Thesis Option: 9 hours in additional fields. The student will write a thesis under the direction of a Center faculty member and with the collaboration of a second member of the faculty. There is no written or oral final examination for the M.A. degree, thesis or non-thesis.

Thesis Option
9 hours – major field
6 hours – minor field
6 hours – additional field
3 hours – LAS 290
24 hours (Total)

Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration

For this program students apply both to Owen Graduate School of Management and the Center for Latin American Studies. The first year of study is devoted to the M.B.A. program (30 hours), the second year to course work in Latin American Studies (24 hours), and the final year is divided between M.B.A. studies and the writing of the Master's thesis for the M.A. degree. Interested students should contact both the Center for Latin American Studies as well as Owen Graduate School of Management

Joint LL.M/M.A. Degree in Latin American Studies

Vanderbilt University has a joint degree program in Law and Latin American Studies (LL.M. / M. A. in Latin American Studies), which is structured as follows:

A student may enter the LL.M./M.A. in Latin American Studies joint degree program by being accepted by both the Law School and the Graduate School. The requirements for this program and the degree include: 11 hours course work in the Law School24 hours course work in Latin American Studies

A thesis for 6 credit hours

Students will normally pursue their course work over the first three semesters, devoting the bulk of their time in the fourth semester of study to the completion of the thesis. Students will be enrolled in each school for two of the four semesters.

Certificate in Latin American Studies

The Center for Latin American Studies offers graduate students from different departments and schools at Vanderbilt the opportunity to complete a Certificate in Latin American Studies. The Certificate allows students to document their regional specialization by earning the Certificate, which is awarded in conjunction with their M.A. or Ph.D. The LAS Certificate also encourages graduate students to study outside of their disciplinary specialization.

The Certificate program requires a minimum of 15 hours of formal course work in Latin American Studies as listed in the Graduate Catalog. Course work must be spread over at least two disciplines, no more than 9 hours coming from any one discipline, although we strongly encourage students to take as wide of a range of courses as possible.

In addition, the Certificate requires demonstrated conversational or reading proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, or an indigenous Latin American language. Proficiency may be demonstrated by 1) satisfactory completion of intermediate level course work in the language or 2) an oral or written exam to be administered by the Center. If a student chooses the second option, he/she should contact the Center well in advance to arrange an examination.

Students planning to complete the Certificate in Latin American Studies should declare their intent by contacting the Associate Director for Graduate Studies, Helena Simonett: helena.simonett@vanderbilt.edu at the Center for Latin American Studies.

Latin American Studies 4 + 1 M.A. Program

Requirements for admission to the program:

Must have an undergraduate major in LAS (or in exceptional cases a closely related field with sufficient LAS content)
Must have taken LAS 201 and LAS 290 during undergraduate years
Must apply in the student’s junior year

Requirements beyond those for the B.A. to receive the 4 + 1 M.A.:

Students must write a M.A. thesis (the non-thesis option is not available for 4 +1 students).
Students must complete 18 hours of formal LAS coursework, the distribution of which will be established by the graduate advisor in consultation with the student.
No independent study hours are allowed (except for thesis hours).
Students must complete 9 hours of work during the summer after their senior year; we encourage students to take 6 hours of thesis research and 3 hours of formal coursework (although all 9 hours may be used for thesis work).
Students must submit a completed thesis for defense and final approval by late March for May graduation.

Students considering the 4 + 1 program should consult with their LAS advisor as early as possible and make formal application to the program by the end of their junior year. An application consists of a letter of intent, a copy of college transcripts, and the names of two Vanderbilt faculty who could be consulted as references. Decisions on admission to the program will be decided by the Center’s Executive Committee.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Language Requirements (.doc)

LAS M.A. STUDENTS

Master’s degree candidates are expected to demonstrate language competence in Spanish, Portuguese, or an indigenous Latin American language.

The required level of language proficiency for the primary language is at least intermediate-high (see ACTFL guidelines)
The required level of language proficiency for the secondary language is at least intermediate-mid (see ACTFL guidelines).
Incoming M.A. students have to demonstrate their level of language profiency before the end of their first semester by way of an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). This can be accomplished by

                     1) showing their OPI results from the Portuguese or indigenous language class(es) they took during
                          their first semester at Vanderbilt, if they did, or by

                      2) taking a one-to-one telephonic interview conducted entirely in Spanish or Portuguese language.
                           (Tests are arranged by Helena Simonett)

If the required level has not been reached, students will be advised on which courses to take so as to ensure that they reach the required level of language proficiency within the two-year span of the graduate program.
Demonstrating language proficiency will be a consideration in the renewal of graduate fellowshops and in applications for summer awards.

QUESTIONS? Contact Helena Simonett at helena.simonett@vanderbilt.edu

FINANCIAL AID

Fellowships and teaching assistantships are awarded each year on the basis of merit and promise. These provide a living stipend in addition to tuition and health insurance coverage. Applications for financial awards should be made at the time of application to the Graduate School.

Each year several Vanderbilt Honor Scholarships and University Graduate Fellowships are awarded to exceptional students entering graduate study. Honor scholarships provide stipends of $3,000 to $5,000 per year in addition to the regular fellowship or assistantship award. Such awards are renewable, provided the holders continue to fulfill the high promise for which they were chosen.

The Department of Education has designated CLAS as one of its Foreign Language and Area Studies Programs and funds five graduate fellowships annually, as well as summer travel to Brazil, Guatemala, and Mexico for intensive language training. Vanderbilt CLAS is also one of the select graduate programs approved by the U.S. Army for its Foreign Area Officer training.

CLAS GRADUATE STUDENTS, 2009-2010

Katie Chalk from Cincinnati, Ohio, came to Vanderbilt to study Latin American economic and community development. Her passion for Latin America was awakened at an early age when she traveled to Costa Rica and fell in love with the region. After pursuing Spanish in high school, she attended Miami University and completed majors in Spanish, Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs, and Latin American Studies as well as a minor in Economics. Outside of the classroom, Katie has worked with Latino communities in Ohio through Living Water Ministry and with Community Refugee and Immigration Services.

Becky Reuse, originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, completed her undergraduate studies in Spanish and International Studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) with minors in Latin American Studies and Anthropology. She also attended la Universidad de las Américas, Puebla in the summer of 2007. Frustrated by the low persistence rates of the Latino students in college, she helped develop a grant-funded project to assist first-generation Latino college students and their families successfully make the transition from high school to college. Her interests are transnational migrant populations because of her field work in the summer of 2008 in Guanajuato, Mexico. At Vanderbilt, Becky plans on developing her passion and expanding her interests to the Brazilian Diaspora. In the future Becky hopes to develop effective education programs in Latin America and the United States that target children of transnational populations.

Steve Taylor is returning to the classroom as a student after being a teacher for eight years. His desire to pursue graduate studies sprouted while studying in Cuernavaca, Mexico and visiting many of the Nahua and Maya archeological sites surrounding central Mexico in 1999. Steve completed his BA in Spanish (with minors in history and secondary education) at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI in 2000. After that, he taught Middle and High School Spanish, history, reading, and math and coached football in Southeastern Wisconsin. In 2008, he accompanied his wife to Paris, France where she completed her M.A. in French Language and Literature. While there, Steve taught English and dusted off his undergrad research in order to apply for graduate school. He is extremely happy to be in the LAS program at Vanderbilt. After completing his M.A., Steve plans to pursue a doctorate in anthropology and return to teach the future of America, but in a University setting.

Jason Vulcan is from western Montana and comes to Vanderbilt University through the U.S. Army’s Foreign Area Officer Program. His previous academic background is in civil engineering with a BS from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and a MS from the Missouri University of Science and Technology. He first studied Spanish in high school and college. His love for languages and foreign travel led him to attend the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California where he studied Spanish and Portuguese. Following graduation from the language program there, he spent 15 months in Brazil working, teaching and traveling to other countries in Latin America. Jason’s graduate work in Latin American Studies will focus on economic and social development with interest in Community and Regional Planning.

Hillary Voth is a FLAS Fellow from Denver, Colorado. As an undergraduate she majored in Latin American Studies and Spanish at Washington University in St. Louis. She spent a summer studying in Quito, Ecuador after her freshman year of college, which ignited her initial interest in Latin American Studies. Since then she has spent a semester studying abroad in Santiago de Chile at the Pontificia Universidad Católica. She also spent 3 months interning with a human rights NGO in Santiago, which focused on the legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship in the country. Hillary has also spent time working in Guatemala, and is now studying Maya-K’iche at Vanderbilt. Hillary plans to specialize in Political Science and in her free time she will be volunteering with Vanderbilt’s Latin American Political Opinion Project.

Gustavo de Peña is a native of the Dominican Republic but a resident of New York City since the age of ten. With the help of the POSSE Scholarship, Gustavo attended Vanderbilt University for his B.A., double majoring in Political Science and Latin American Studies. Some of his key experiences as an undergraduate were being part of the Executive board of Vanderbilt Association of Hispanic Students for four years and traveling abroad to Sao Paulo, Brazil in Spring 2008. Now a first year Master’s candidate, Gustavo plans to learn Maya-K'iche, major in Economics and minor in Portuguese as a FLAS fellow. He spends his spare time as a mentor for the freshman Posse scholars here at Vanderbilt. Upon graduation he aspires to join the international relations field and help stimulate human development within the Americas.

Trevor Lyons is from Chicago via New Orleans, where he got his BA in Political Science with concentrations in Latin American Studies and International Relations at Tulane University. He is a FLAS Fellow in K'iche' Maya and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science, with a particular focus on public policy focusing on poverty reduction and interstate relations in the MERCOSUR region. As an undergraduate, he studied abroad at both the Pontífica Universidad Católica in Valparaíso, Chile as well as the Universidad de Buenos Aires. While in New Orleans he worked with Latino workers' rights and voter mobilization as a volunteer for Puentes of New Orleans, and since graduation he worked one year in Porto Alegre, Brazil, with CIDADE - an NGO focused on participatory democracy at the municipal level.

Rafael Moreno is a Law Professor from Nicaragua. In 2008 he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study an LLM degree in Vanderbilt University and is now currently pursuing a M.A in LAS. He has previously worked for the Secretary of Commerce of Nicaragua in issues regarding the WTO and implementing competitiveness agendas in two important cities of his country. Rafael has done research on international trade, especially on Aid for Trade (earning a prize for the best LLM research in 2009). He is now focusing his research on citizen participation mechanisms and economic development for Latin America.

Laura Delgado, from Houston, Texas, is in her fifth year at Vanderbilt. She attended Vanderbilt as undergraduate, double majoring in Spanish and Latin American Studies and studying K’iche’ Mayan. After graduating in May 2007, she decided to take a year off and spent a year in a small town in the Cádiz province of Andalusia, Spain, teaching English at a bilingual elementary school. As a student at CLAS, Laura is specializing in Portuguese with a minor in History. In her spare time she volunteers as a Spanish interpreter at the Siloam Health Clinic, a local volunteer-run free clinic supporting the immigrant community in Nashville.

Morgan Maxwell completed her B.S. in Psychology in 2008 at Howard University, where she minored in Spanish and Biology. Now a FLAS fellow in Latin American Studies, Morgan’s graduate studies will focus on Afro-Latino culture, specifically on identifying psychological aspects of racism in Latin America. Fascinated by the African diaspora cultures of South and Central America, she has studied abroad in Ecuador where she taught Afro-Ecuadorian children and encouraged them to respect African culture through exposure to music, writings, and achievements of people of African ancestry. Morgan has also served as a volunteer for Global Learning, a non-profit organization dedicated to education for justice in Nicaragua and has worked as a teacher at the Latin American Youth Center in Washington, DC.

Ty West is a doctoral student in Spanish and Portuguese and a FLAS fellow. Ty was born and raised in central California where the majority of his family still resides, but his interest in foreign languages began during a two month stay at an intensive language school in central Mexico in 2006. This experience sparked an extended journey that lasted the next nine years, during which he lived and traveled throughout Latin America, Europe and Africa working as an English teacher, waiter, farmhand and musician to fund his travels. Having developed a love for literature and languages through his travels, Ty returned to California to pursue a degree in literary studies in 2005 and received a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2008. His current interests lie in Latin American narrative, especially the Mexican short story, and he plans to further cultivate an interest in Brazilian and culture while at Vanderbilt.

Leslie McClure came to Nashville from Louisville, KY in 2004 to attend Belmont University in the Honors Program. She double majored in Spanish and History, and spent a semester abroad in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. A FLAS fellow, Leslie is studying the impact of language and culture on various types of music in Latin America at Vanderbilt, as well as the sociology of immigration. Her love for languages, particularly Portuguese and Spanish, has had an enormous influence on Leslie beyond the academic realm, as she has played in a band with her father, John McClure, since she was 10 years old and is now composing music in these languages. When she returned from her semester abroad in Spain, they released their first album The Santiago Set, and have played in various Nashville venues such as Caffeine, McDougals, 12th South Taproom, and Family Wash. In 2009 she released her second CD entitled Back Home to You, an eclectic mix of English, Spanish, and Portuguese with instruments and rhythms borrowed from Americana folk and Latino music.