MA Program in Latin American Studies at Columbia University - Call for Applications 2013-2014

Columbia University Institute of Latin American Studies

Master of Arts in Regional Studies – Latin America and the Caribbean (MARSLAC)

MARSLAC -- the Master's degree program of Columbia University's Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) -- serves a diversity of professional aspirations that require expertise in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Since MARSLAC's founding in 2009, it has enrolled students from across the Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the United States and Canada. Its graduates have gone on to begin or advance successful careers grounded in their MARSLAC studies. These have included Ph.D. programs in the social sciences and humanities, NGOS, government, business, and journalism.

MARSLAC's cross-disciplinary curriculum combines area-specific study of Latin America and the Caribbean with individual research and writing that culminates in an MA thesis. Students have access to relevant graduate courses and faculty across the university. MARSLAC's requirements prepare students for research in their selected areas of specialization as well as provide a solid general foundation in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. These include course work, language requirements, an area field exam, as well as the capstone project, the MA thesis, based in original research.

MARSLAC requires 30 credits of study (generally, 8-10 courses, including the thesis). The degree can be completed in two consecutive semesters, but the program also allows for individual needs to complete the MA over a longer period (usually three semesters but not more than four). MARSLAC's core course is a two-seminar sequence, Literature and Research in Latin American and Caribbean. During the first semester students study together different approaches to Latin American and Caribbean Studies covering different places; this includes introductions to the work of relevant faculty at Columbia. The spring seminar operates as a research-and-writing workshop for completing the thesis. The language and area-field certifications each cultivate necessary knowledge for advanced study and research. Students must demonstrate designated abilities in two Latin American languages, either through coursework or examination. MARSLAC also requires that students pass an Area Field Exam taken at the end of their first semester in the program. Currently, there are seven options for study: Andes, Brazil, Caribbean, Central America, Interamerican Relations, Mexico, Southern Cone.

The life of MARSLAC and ILAS are intertwined. The institute is a leading center of Latin American studies. Its sponsorship of visiting scholars (from throughout Latin America), symposia, conferences, lectures, film screenings, and book presentations enrich the academic environment in which MARSLAC students work. MA candidates actively participate in ILAS events (many of which the Institute conceives with specific student interests in mind). Moreover, ILAS supports the cutting-edge research of Columbia's extensive faculty dedicated to Latin American and Caribbean Studies, with whom our students work. Both MARSLAC and ILAS profit from Columbia's superb library system and its dedicated resources for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, including a designated research librarian. These assets benefit MARSLAC students who depend on them for the original investigations and analysis necessary for the completion of their degree.

MARSLAC students enjoy advantages generated by ILAS's position in New York. The city's extensive resources for Latin American and Caribbean Studies -- libraries, archives, educational organizations, museums, Latino New York itself -- offer unlimited opportunities for international and transnational research about the Americas. Furthermore, MARSLAC's consortium with New York University's Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies offers our students select NYU courses in which they may enroll for credit toward their Columbia degree. In addition to allowing access to more courses relevant to individual interests, this exchange broadens student engagement with Latin American and Caribbean studies in New York. Finally, MARSLAC benefits not only from the presence of Latin American scholars at ILAS but Columbia's growing presence in Latin America, where the university has recently opened Global Centers in Santiago, Chile, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

For additional information, please visit our website at: http://ilas.columbia.edu/marslac