Ohio University's academic calendar is based on the semester system. Students are normally registered for 12 credit hours per 14-week semester. Most graduate courses are 3-4 credit hours. A minimum of 48 credit hours (approximately four semesters of course work) is necessary to complete the Master of Arts in International Studies with specialization in Latin American Studies (LAS). The requirements include:

1. 26 credit hours in core courses (courses with at least 25 percent Latin American content). To promote the program's multi-disciplinary goal, the 26 hours must be distributed among at least three academic disciplines.
    
2. 16 credit hours in a skills minor. (These cannot be fulfilled with core courses). The minor is a professional skills development area, which could be a discipline (e.g. history, geography, political science, anthropology, international economics, journalism, etc.) or a theme (environment and development, development, communications, development, population and the environment, women's studies, TEFL, etc.). The skills minor must be approved by the director.
    
3. Two Latin American-content graduate seminars.. The seminar requirement can be met by taking two Latin American-content graduate seminars on Latin America offered in the individual disciplines (HIST, POLS, SPAN, MDIA, etc.) with the director's approval. The seminar requirement is part of the 26-hour LA-content requirement. The INST 5902 (Special Topics in African Studies) seminar is also an option and may be required any given year. Some courses are not labeled "seminar", but are designed for graduates only. Consult with graduate director for "seminar" approval of these courses.
    
4. Three or four hours of methodology coursework related to the student's minor.. Students can choose from a number of qualitative or quantitative courses. Examples include: Statistics in any appropriate discipline, Life History (ANTH), Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing, Field Research in Developing Countries. All methodology courses must be pre- approved by the director.
    

Capstone Options

5. Written and Oral Comprehensive Examinations: Students pursuing the non-thesis, non-project track will culminate their program by taking Written and Oral Comprehensive Exams comprised of three subject areas. Students are also responsible for a thorough knowledge of all selections on the LAS reading list. See "Required Reading List" for bibliography. Generally this exam will be taken in the 4th and final semester (excluding summers) of a student's program.
    
6. Thesis: (INST 6950) Students pursuing the thesis track will not be required to take the Comprehensive Exam. However it is highly recommended that all students complete the "Required Reading List" for LAS for a comprehensive view of the program. Students interested in writing a thesis must consult with the director early in the program so that appropriate course work and research methods courses can be planned. As part of the thesis requirement, students must develop a committee of three professors (from at least two disciplines), write a research proposal and defend it to the committee's satisfaction. The research proposal must receive committee approval by the end of the second semester of the student's participation in the program.
    
7. Project: (INST 6940) Students may pursue the project track and complete an extended Research Project. However it is highly recommended that all students complete the "Required Reading List" for LAS for a comprehensive view of the program. Project students will propose an interdisciplinary project that may be less academically research oriented than a thesis and will not follow the same written guidelines as required of a thesis. The scope of a project is wide and may include: grant writing, article publication, video, film, photography project, etc. Each project will be accompanied by an extended research paper and bibliography and will be presented in a public forum. All project proposals must be pre-approved by the director of LAS.
    
8. Language Requirement: All LAS candidates must have or attain knowledge of one of Latin America's languages (normally Spanish or Portuguese). This requirement may be fulfilled through native proficiency, testing (FSI, ACTFL, Spanish Section of DML, etc.) or the successful completion of at least two years of college course work with a grade of "B" or better (here or elsewhere). Attaining knowledge of one Latin American language does not fulfill the credit hour requirements listed above (#s 1, 2).
    
9. The "Enhanced Language" option: Students entering the program with proficiency in Portuguese or Spanish are encouraged to obtain intermediate skills in the other of these two languages. Advanced Spanish-speakers may enroll in Portuguese (PORT 5110-5120), for two credits per semester. These courses will only count towards the proficiency requirement if a student completes all 3 courses with a "B" or better and passes the proficiency exam at the end of the academic year. Likewise, native Portuguese speakers may earn proficiency in Spanish by completing the second year (SPAN 2110-2120) of Spanish with a "B" or higher and passing a proficiency exam. Credits for intermediate language courses will not count towards core courses; however, a total of 3 credits may count towards the "skills" minor if so desired. Up to three credits of second year PORT (5190, 6110-6120) may count towards core courses.