Latinx and Latin American Studies Graduate Certificate

The graduate certificate in Latinx and Latin American Studies is part of a larger initiative to bring faculty, students and community partners together to engage in interdisciplinary research and public-facing scholarship that focuses on Latinx communities within the United States and in Latin America. Together, we will work to celebrate the diversity of Latinx and Latin American communities while engaging in scholarship that addresses important social and economic issues. Our hemispheric approach will necessitate a mode of research that crosses as many borders – cultural, political and disciplinary – as do the people of the Americas.

The graduate certificate is open to PhD students in any USC program. It requires doctoral students to complete 16 units. In addition, students may take electives approved for their particular program of research by the program faculty. One of these courses may be a research workshop course geared toward doctoral prospectus development. Directed research may not be counted toward the award of the certificate.

In addition to the completion of these course requirements, students must demonstrate a focus on Latinx and American Studies as a meaningful component of their doctoral dissertation. This will include working with faculty with expertise in Latinx and Latin American Studies on the doctoral committee (as a primary adviser or minor member). A Graduate Advisory Committee made up of members of the Faculty Advisory Board of the Latinx and Latin American Studies Center will be responsible for judging the adequacy of the Latinx and Latin American Studies component in the student’s dissertation.