Latin American and Caribbean Studies
This is the only Latin American and Caribbean Studies Master’s program in Canada to bridge the social sciences and the humanities. The program is particularly innovative with its participation in the collaborative specialization in International Development. In addition to being able to finish the program in three semesters, students also have the benefit of studying in a community with the largest concentration of Latin American scholars internationally renowned for their major collaborative and individual research projects. Study Abroad gives students an opportunity to study and/or participate in projects at partner institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. LACS program does not train students for specific careers, but prepares them for a variety of jobs that require analytical skills, an international perspective, and the ability to communicate in both English and Spanish. The program prepares students for further study and research at the doctoral level, either in a related core discipline or in an interdisciplinary program.
Administrative Staff
Interim Director
Stephanie Nutting (266 MacKinnon, Ext. 53168)
snutting@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Coordinator
Gordana Yovanovich (277 MacKinnon, Ext. 53180)
gyovanov@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Assistant
Enrica Cominetti (267 MacKinnon, Ext. 56887)
ecominet@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Faculty
This list may include Regular Graduate Faculty, Associated Graduate Faculty and/or Graduate Faculty from other universities.
Kurt Annen
Diploma (Lic. Rer. Pol.), PhD Fribourg (Switzerland) - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Susan J. Douglas
BA Western Ontario, MA Carleton, PhD Concordia - Assistant Professor
Graduate Faculty
Jordi Díez
BA Toronto, MA Essex, PhD Toronto - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Rosario Gómez
BA, MA, PhD Toronto - Associate Professor, Linguistics, SOLAL
Graduate Faculty
Stephen Henighan
BA Swathmore College, MA Concordia, D.Phil. Oxford - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Spencer Henson
B.Sc., PhD Reading - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Kris Inwood
BA Trent, MA, PhD Toronto - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Candace Johnson
BA Toronto, MA, PhD Dalhousie - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Lisa Kowalchuk
BA McMaster, MA McGill, PhD York - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
Stuart G. McCook
BA Toronto, MS Rensselaer PI, MA, PhD Princeton - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Alan McDougall
BA, M.St., D.Phil. Oxford - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Kate Parizeau
B.A.Sc. McMaster, M.Sc., PhD Toronto - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
Enrique Pato
PhD Autónoma de Madrid - Professor, Université de Montréal
Associated Graduate Faculty
Karen Racine
BA Saskatchewan, MA, PhD Tulane - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Pablo Ramirez
BA Yale, MFA Miami, MA, PhD Michigan - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
Joubert Satyre
BA State (Port-au-Prince), MEd, PhD Montréal - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
Howard Spring
BFA, MFA York, PhD Illinois - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
Gordana Yovanovich
BA Carleton, MA, PhD Toronto - Professor
Graduate Faculty
MA Program
Admission Requirements
The normal requirement for admission to the LACS MA program is the equivalent of an Honours degree from a recognized institution with at least 78% or higher in the last two years of study. Preference will be given to students who have taken upper-level undergraduate courses in areas such as Latin American and Caribbean history, society, politics, development, literature, art, languages, and music. A reading knowledge of Spanish will be required. Students wishing to enter the program normally do so in September.
Program Requirements
LACS students will enroll in one of two study options, course work and major research paper or thesis. Study Abroad is not mandatory but strongly recommended to all students.
Thesis
Students take the following 4 required courses (2.0 credits) and write a thesis:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
LACS*6000 | Research Methods Seminar | 0.50 |
LACS*6010 | Latin American Identity and Culture | 0.50 |
LACS*6020 | Re-Imagining Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Communities | 0.50 |
LACS*6030 | Globalization and Insecurity in the Americas | 0.50 |
Course Work and Major Research Paper
Students take 4 required courses (2.0 credits), 2 electives (1.0 credits) and write a major research paper (1.0 credit). This option is recommended because it gives students bredth in their study.
Required courses:
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
LACS*6000 | Research Methods Seminar | 0.50 |
LACS*6010 | Latin American Identity and Culture | 0.50 |
LACS*6020 | Re-Imagining Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Communities | 0.50 |
LACS*6030 | Globalization and Insecurity in the Americas | 0.50 |
In addition, students will also take two electives in the area of culture or society. Students who choose to go on an exchange in semester 2 of the program will not need to take LACS*6020 Re-Imagining Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Communities. They can replace the winter portion of the course with a comparable course taken at the host university. While abroad, students will have the opportunity to develop language proficiency, and to conduct research or take courses for their major project. The major paper LACS*6100 Research Project consists of approximately 12,000 words and will be researched and written under the direction of one or two faculty members, one of whom could be from an exchange Latin American partner university.
Students who choose to write their major paper or thesis from a social science perspective may replace LACS*6000 Research Methods Seminar with SOC*6140 Qualitative Research Methods (F) or SOC*6140 Qualitative Research Methods (W) or SOC*6130 Quantitative Research Methods (W).
Collaborative Specializations
International Development Studies
Latin American and Caribbean Studies graduate students have the opportunity to pursue the MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies with the designation “International Development Studies.” Students wishing to take MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) in conjunction with the International Development Studies (IDS) collaborative specialization must enter the LACS program and satisfy both the LACS admission requirements and the IDS admission requirements. Please consult the International Development Studies listing for a detailed description of the MA collaborative specialization including the special additional requirements for each of the participating departments or programs.
Sexualities, Genders and Bodies
The Latin American and Caribbean Studies program participates in the collaborative specialization in Sexualities, Genders and Bodies. MA students wishing to undertake thesis research or their major research paper/project with an emphasis on sexualities, genders and bodies are eligible to apply to register concurrently in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the collaborative specialization. Students should consult the Sexualities, Genders and Bodies listing for more information.
Courses
This course will introduce students to the field and research methods of various disciplines and of interdisciplinary studies, and it will familiarize them with field-relevant research skills and methodologies.
This is the first of the two required LACS culture core courses. They will address theoretical issues relevant to Latin American identities and cultures, and will use these as heuristic devices in the study of major and marginalized cultural events, narratives, and visual and musical expressions. In LACS*6010 students will analyze the concept of "hybridity" and study how hybrid culture has been incorporating past with the present, and how it is and has been incorporating local and African forms and themes with European and US derived high culture.
This graduate seminar examines recent developments in community theory, studying representative works of literature, film, and music that re-imagine the ideas and formations of Latino, Latin American and Caribbean communities. Students going an exchange may replace this course with a similar course taken at the exchange university.
An analytical,critical and interdisciplinary introductory overview of Latin America and the Caribbean in the larger context of the Americas, from the point of view of the security and insecurity of its people. It will concentrate on the interplay of environmental, economic, social, political, and cultural factors upon such security in an era of globalization.
This course will study the constitution of Spanish American nation in the novel since 1900 from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Particular attention will be paid to the novel's appropriation of foreign artistic and cultural influences to articulate Spanish American history. Offered in conjunction with SPAN*4100 or SPAN*4410. Extra work is required of graduate students.
This graduate seminar will provide an analytical, critical and interdisciplinary overview of relevant sociopolitical topics in contemporary Latin America, with a focus on the role of civil society and collective action in reshaping the social and political landscape of the region.
This research project will result in a major paper of about 15,000 words. The student chooses a topic and writes a paper on the topic with the guidance of a faculty member. The topic must be approved by the Graduate Program Committee.
An independent study course, the nature and content of which is agreed upon between the individual student and the person offering the course.
This course provides students with an opportunity to put their academic knowledge and skills into practice within a community organization. Students design and conduct an independent project of significance to the host organization and are evaluated by faculty.
Code | Title | Credits |
---|---|---|
ECON*6350 | Economic Development | 0.50 |
ECON*6370 | Economic Development in Historical Perspective | 0.50 |
ENGL*6811 | Special Topics in English | 0.50 |
FREN*6022 | Topics in Caribbean and African Literatures | 0.50 |
HIST*6500 | Topics in Global History | 0.50 |
HIST*6520 | Topics in Latin American History | 0.50 |
HIST*6521 | Latin American History Research | 0.50 |
POLS*6050 | The Politics of Identity | 0.50 |
SOC*6270 | Diversity and Social Equality | 0.50 |
SOC*6420 | Environment, Food, and Communities | 0.50 |
SOC*6460 | Gender and Development | 0.50 |