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PrincetonUniversity |
Program in Latin American StudiesFounded in 1966, the Program in Latin American Studies (PLAS) awards a certificate of proficiency to seniors who have completed a multidisciplinary course of study on Latin America. Open to students in any concentration and grounded on a knowledge of the language(s) of the region, the program seeks to promote interdisciplinary dialogue on Latin American issues across the humanities, social sciences, environmental studies, and policy fields. The program's faculty and course offerings draw upon the fields of anthropology, art and archaeology, ecology and evolutionary biology, history, politics, religion, Romance languages and literatures, sociology, and the Woodrow Wilson School. The program's bibliographer for Latin America, Spain, and Portugal orients students in using the University library's extensive Latin American holdings and teaches a seminar on research methods in Latin American studies. One of the most active programs on campus, PLAS maintains a full calendar of lectures and colloquiums on all fields pertinent to the study of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, the recently constituted graduate/undergraduate student organization of the program regularly offers a series of academic and social activities of special interest to students, including feature-length films from Latin America. Requirements for a certificate in Latin American studies consist of: • Completion of the requirements of the departmental major. • Satisfactory completion of the language requirement in Spanish, Portuguese, or French (or equivalent). · Satisfactory completion of six courses in Latin American subjects sponsored or cross-listed by the Program in Latin American Studies. At least one of these courses must be in Spanish American or Brazilian literature taught in either language. Two more courses must be selected from at least two of the following clusters: history; economics, politics, or sociology; and ecology and evolutionary biology or environmental studies. The remaining three courses can be selected from any field. · At least one of the six courses mentioned above must be a PLAS-sponsored advanced undergraduate seminar (at the 300 or 400 level), designed to enable students to examine significant problems of the area in an interdisciplinary fashion. · Completion of a senior thesis on a Latin American subject, normally written under the supervision of a program faculty member and demonstrating an ability to use materials in Spanish, Portuguese, or French. The program encourages research leading to the senior thesis and funds undergraduate field research in Latin America, normally conducted during the summer following the junior year. An annual grant competition is held in the spring of each year for that purpose. Students in such fields as the natural sciences or engineering who satisfy the course requirements for the certificate but whose thesis cannot be devoted to a Latin American topic may complete the program requirements by writing a research paper of sufficient complexity and length to substitute for the thesis. The topic should be determined in consultation with the director and relevant program faculty. Senior theses have ranged over a wide variety of topics in the humanities and social sciences, and outstanding work is recognized each year on Class Day with the conferral of the Stanley J. Stein Senior Thesis Prize for the best senior thesis in the field of Latin American studies. Recent winning titles include "Citizenship, Nation, and Colonialism: The Debate in Puerto Rico, 1898&endash;1917," "The Changing Face of Revolution: Legitimating the Mexican State and a New Path to Development," "Los gauchos judíos: The Vitality of a Text," "Redefining the Mexican Nation: An Analysis of Government History Textbooks, 1959&endash;1996," "Signatures of Ancient Mayan Painters and Sculptors," "Extractive Reserves in the Brazilian Amazon," and "Fighting Cholera in Peru: Vaccination, Sanitation, or Education?" After Princeton program graduates often continue on to graduate or professional school and pursue distinguished careers in research, teaching, commerce and trade, banking, international law, nonprofit organizations, or government.
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