Ph.D. Program and Designated Emphasis
The Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) Department’s Ph.D. program offers an innovative transnational and interdisciplinary approach to studying the peoples, cultures, societies, and institutions of the Américas.
Ours was the very first doctoral program in Latin American and Latino Studies. Our innovative curriculum is designed to educate students in this new field, helping them develop the necessary conceptual and analytical skills to understand the dynamics of hemispheric change. We also offer unique support programs to help our graduate students build teaching and career skills, which has contributed to strong job placement outcomes for our alumni.
Ph.D. in Latin American and Latino studies program requirements
Program learning outcomes
- Demonstrate mastery of knowledge of one or more of the Department’s four substantive themes and/or in one of the LALS themes and a field chosen by the student in coordination with their QE Committee.
- Apply research methods and approaches appropriate to the theme
- Develop and complete a substantial original and independent research project that makes a new and creative contribution to the fields of Latin American and Latino Studies.
- Communicate clearly about both Latin American and Latino Studies and about their own research in both written and oral form to expert and non-expert academic audiences.
- Show competence in teaching at the university level by developing pedagogically coherent syllabi for introductory and/or upper-level undergraduate courses within the fields of Latin American and Latino Studies.
- Critically engage with research and scholarship in a language other than the student’s primary language —Spanish, Portuguese, English, or an Indigenous language of the Américas.
Curriculum
Our doctoral students receive rigorous training in disciplinary and interdisciplinary theory and research methods from both the social sciences and the humanities in order to investigate transnational processes that link the Americas. Students specialize in one of the following four major themes, as well as an additional focus area of their own design.
Students also participate in the LALS Graduate Colloquium weekly, in which they receive professional development and support in areas like teaching, applying for external grants and fellowships, research, writing, the job market, and more.
Transnationalisms, Migrations, and Displacement:
This focus area examines links between regions in the Americas, analyzing the social and historical foundations of economic dynamics such as remittances from the United States or the dollarization of Latin American countries. Our study of migratory processes explores the dynamics of bi-national communities, bilingualism and multilingualism, immigrant integration into host societies, and North-South exchanges of ideas and cultures.
Intersectionality, Identities, and Inequalities:
Students focus on the study of transnational social inequalities formed by power relations based on race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, class, territory, gender and/or sexuality in the Américas. We analyze these social hierarchies as institutions, historical processes, discourses, or signifiers with multiple meanings and explore how they build, transform, or challenge identities, communities, and social movements in local, national, and global contexts over time.
Culture, Power, and Knowledge:
Cultural politics and cultural flows shape everyday life, institutions, social identities, discourses, meanings, and cultural forms and practices at every geographic scale throughout the Américas and our increasingly interconnected world. Students explore how cultural forces and cross-cultural communication and media contribute to formation of new transnational imaginaries and how cultural processes transform and redefine national and local cultures.
Collective Action, Social Movements, and Social Change:
We study collective action and social movements at local, national and international levels through transnational lenses. As migrants engage in public life, both in their communities of residence and in their communities of origin, they construct diverse practices of political participation, including “civic bi-nationality.” These processes are crucial for understanding the largest wave of immigration in a century, including how migrants relate to U.S. society.
Designated emphasis
Graduate students from other departments may obtain a designated emphasis in LALS on their Ph.D. diploma by completing a series of five graduate-level classes and adding a designated LALS advisor. Detailed requirements are listed in the UCSC General Catalog, and more information about the process is available on our Ph.D and DE Advising page. Students within the LALS Ph.D. program are also welcome to add a designated emphasis in a different field and should consult our graduate program coordinator for more information.
Latin American and Latino studies faculty
Doctoral students in our program have opportunities to learn from both our core faculty and faculty affiliates. Our core faculty are very active and engaged mentors, providing detailed feedback and extensive one-on-one support to LALS graduate students.
We encourage prospective students to learn about our faculty and their areas of research expertise before applying to our program. However, we do not operate under a lab or apprenticeship model, which means our students’ research does not necessarily need to map directly to the projects and questions that our faculty are pursuing. Our faculty support students in pursuing their own individual research interests and strive to create spaces for collective intellectual engagement through our affiliated research centers, labs, and initiatives.
Meet our students and alumni
Our program has an exceptionally strong placement rate for our alumni in jobs across multiple sectors. Prospective students are also welcome to reach out to any of our current graduate students to learn more about their experiences in our program.
Candy Martinez: Studying Zapotec methods for emotional healing
Upon graduation from our Ph.D. program, Candy Martínez secured a ladder-track faculty job at Vassar College, as the inaugural assistant professor in Latin American and Latinx studies. Her work focuses on race, injustice, and immigration, building on the expertise she gained studying Indigenous communities at UCSC.
Mario Alberto Gómez-Zamora: P’urhépecha culture and history and queer Identities
Ph.D. candidate Mario Alberto Gómez-Zamora is a first-generation college student who learned English in order to be able to attend graduate school. He is exploring his interests in history, anthropology, and ethnographic studies and hopes to become a professor.
Rafael Delgadillo: Studying New Orleans’ Latin American connections
Delgadillo’s research explores New Orleans’ ties to South America and the Caribbean and how notions of race and class have developed as a result. His focus on immigrant communities has led to additional research on more recent waves of migration.
More student stories
More alumni stories
Financial aid
You can learn about financial award packages on the Graduate Division website. We provide all admitted students with five years of guaranteed funding, which includes tuition, fees, health insurance, and a living allowance. Funding comes in the form of a combination of fellowships and employment, with employment primarily consisting of Teaching Assistantships (TAships).
Until additional campus graduate student housing is available, the campus will be offering an annual housing supplement of $2,500 for doctoral and MFA students in good standing through the Office of Financial Aid. For information about additional fellowship opportunities, see our Scholarships, Awards, and Funding page.
Application requirements
Applicants to the LALS Ph.D. program are not required to take the GRE. Graduate students are only admitted to our doctoral program. We do not offer a master’s program. Please review the requirements below to determine if you are eligible to apply.
The LALS Ph.D. program application is online. We accept applications from October 1 through early December each year. Application dates and requirements are explained on the Graduate Division’s website. Please also review the guidance below before beginning your application. For more information about the program or the application process, email lals-phd@ucsc.edu.