Applicable only to students admitted during the 2012-2013 academic year.

Chicana and Chicano Studies

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Chicana and Chicano Studies.

Admission

Program Name

Chicana and Chicano Studies

Address

7349 Bunche Hall
Box 951559
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1559 

Phone

(310) 206-7695 

Email

gradadvisor@chavez.ucla.edu  

Leading to the degree of

M.A., Ph.D.

The department admits only applicants whose objective is the Ph.D., although students may be awarded the the M.A. en route to the doctorate. 

Admission Limited to

Fall 

Deadline to apply

December 1st 

GRE (General and/or Subject)

GRE: General 

Letters of Recommendation 

3 

Other Requirements

In addition to the University's minimum requirements and those listed above, all applicants are required to submit a statement of purpose and a writing sample. Evidence of creative work relevant to the degree program may also be included. 

Master's Degree

Advising

The Vice Chair for Graduate Studies is assigned as provisional adviser to all incoming M.A. students until a permanent faculty adviser is selected in the second year. The faculty adviser assists students with planning their program of study. Students are expected to meet with their faculty adviser at least once a quarter, usually at the beginning of the quarter to have their enrollment plan approved. The student affairs officer provides assistance with policy and procedure.

Areas of Study

Students are expected to master one interdisciplinary area of study from among the following: 1) Border and transnational studies; 2) Expressive arts; 3) History, culture, and language of the Americas; and 4) Labor, law, and policy studies.

Foreign Language Requirement

Reading fluency in Spanish is required. Students may satisfy the language requirement in one of the following ways: 1) satisfactory completion of two years of coursework at the University level; or 2) passing a language proficiency examination deemed appropriate by the department. It is recommended that this requirement be met in the first year of graduate work.

Course Requirements

The M.A. degree in Chicana/o Studies is not intended to be a stand-alone, terminal degree, but is rather, a requirement for the Ph.D. Students must successfully complete a total of 36 units (normally nine courses), completed while in graduate status and taker for a letter grade with a minimum of 3.0 grade-point average. Of the 36 units, at least 28 must be completed at the graduate level. Up to 8 units of upper division undergraduate courses may be applied to the 36-unit requirement. One 500-series course (up to four units) may be applied toward the 36-unit requirement.

Required courses:

Chicana/o Studies 200 and 201 to be taken in the first year.
One graduate methodology course in the first area of study.
Three seminars, one of which may be an upper division course, in the first area of study.
Eight elective units (2 courses) may be an upper division course or taken outside the department.
Four units of Chicana/o Studies 598 (master's thesis research) or 597 (examination preparation).

Teaching assistants may enroll in Chicana/o Studies 495 when they receive their first teaching appointment and must enroll in Chicana/o Studies 375 each quarter in which they hold a teaching appointment. Neither of these courses may be counted toward the degree requirements.

Because University of California policy specifies that courses already applied to a graduate degree cannot be applied to a second graduate degree of the same level, students entering the program with a previously earned M.A. degree will be required, at a minimum, to take the structured core of 2 required graduate courses: Chicana/o Studies 200 and 201. It is recommended that students who already have a master's degree take the required courses in the first year.

The minimum course load is 12 units per quarter. Students must be continuously registered and enrolled unless they are on an approved leave of absence.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Depends on area of study.

Master’s Thesis Plan

Students may complete the M.A. degree by writing a Master’s Thesis relevant to their chosen area of study. The M.A. thesis should be submitted at the end of the second year, but no later than Spring Quarter of the third year. Students must enroll in Chicana/o Studies 598 (M.A Thesis Research) under the guidance of the faculty advisor. The thesis committee consisting of the student’s faculty advisor, another ladder-ranked faculty form the list of core or jointly-appointed faculty in the department, and an outside reader must be appointed by the department no later than Fall Quarter of the student’s second year. The thesis is evaluated on a pass/no pass basis.

Master’s Examination Plan

Students may choose to take a comprehensive examination that consists of a series of essay questions designed to demonstrate the student's knowledge of theories and methods in the field of Chicana/o Studies, and their ability to apply these ideas to their chosen area of study. Students may enroll in Chicana/o Studies 597 (examination preparation) while preparing for the examination. The examination is developed and administered by the student's faculty advisor, and evaluated by the advisor and either the department Chair or Vice Chair for graduate studies. A grade of B or better is required for successful completion of the master's comprehensive examination.

Time-to-degree

Full-time students are expected to complete the requirements for the master's degree within two years (six quarters) of registration.

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Each entering student is assigned to the Vice Chair for Graduate Studies, who takes primary responsibility for academic advising in the first year. After completing coursework for the Ph.D., but before taking the University Oral Qualifying Examination, the student submits a four-person doctoral committee that requires approval of the department’s Graduate Committee and appointment by the Graduate Division. The doctoral committee is responsible for supervision, review, and approval of the doctoral dissertation. The student affairs officer provides assistance with policy and procedure.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

At the doctoral level, students are expected to specialize in two areas of study from among the following: 1) Border and transnational studies; 2) Expressive arts; 3) History, culture, and language of the Americas; and 4) Labor, law, and policy studies. Students entering the Ph.D. program with a M.A. from another institution may be required to take additional courses to assure competency in two areas. 

Foreign Language Requirement

The completion of a Ph.D. in Chicana and Chicano Studies requires, at minimum, reading fluency in Spanish.  Students may satisfy the language requirement in one of the following ways: 1) satisfactory completion of two years of coursework at the University level; or 2) passing a language proficiency examination deemed appropriate by the department.  The foreign language requirement is typically completed in the first year of graduate study, but must be completed before the University Oral Qualifying Examination and advancement to candidacy.

Course Requirements

For the Ph.D. in Chicana/o Studies, a total of 16 units (generally four courses) in addition to the M.A. are required. These 16 units are to be completed in the second area of study. Competency in the two areas of study is expected by the time coursework for the Ph.D. is completed.

One graduate methodology course related to the second area of study.

Three seminars in the second area of study, one of which may be taken outside the department.

Teaching assistants may enroll in Chicana/o Studies 495 when they receive their first teaching appointment and must enroll in Chicana/o Studies 375 each quarter in which they hold a teaching appointment. Neither of these courses may be counted toward the degree requirements.

Teaching Experience

All doctoral students are expected to fulfill at least one year of teaching experience as teaching assistants in the department.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass University written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations the University oral qualifying examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to University requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

The Written Qualifying Examination is a two-part exam. Part one covers the student's general knowledge of the history of the field of Chicana/o Studies. Part two covers the student's two chosen areas of study. Students may enroll in Chicana/o Studies 597 (examination preparation) to help prepare for the exam. Students who fail either part of the written qualifying examination may retake it once without petition, as early as the following quarter. Students who fail the written qualifying examination a second time will not advance to doctoral candidacy and will be dismissed from the Program.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is required after completion of the Written Qualifying Examination, completion of the dissertation proposal, and appointment of a doctoral committee in accord with University regulations. The four-member doctoral committee is responsible for administering the examination.  The oral examination is approximately two hours in length and is focused on the student’s dissertation proposal.  At the discretion of the student, this exam may be open to members of the general public.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy degree (C.Phil.) upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

No public defense of the dissertation is required, but the doctoral committee, in conjuntion with the student, may opt to voluntarily hold a defense of the dissertation.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time graduate students should normally complete the requirements for the Ph.D. degree within five years of completion of the requirements for the master's degree, with the total time from admission to graduate status until completion of the Ph.D. being seven years.

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special departmental or program policy

A recommendation for termination is made by the Vice Chair for Graduate Studies after a vote of the department’s faculty. Before the recommendation is sent to the Graduate Division, a student is notified in writing and given two weeks to respond in writing to the Chair. An appeal is reviewed by the department's faculty, which makes the final departmental recommendation to the Graduate Division.