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Degree Offered
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Program Description
The Master of Arts Degree Program in Latin American
Literatures and Cultures at Northeastern Illinois University
offers students from a variety of backgrounds an opportunity
to explore the rich and diverse literatures and cultures
of Central and South America, Mesoamerica, and the Caribbean.
By fostering an understanding of cultural forms of expression
and their socio-historical contexts, the program aims
to prepare students for success in multi-lingual and
multi-cultural metropolitan, state, national, and international
arenas.
Program Goals
Students will have ample opportunity to:
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Improve their communicative competencies in the
Spanish language.
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Acquire a keen understanding of the regional cultural
and literary histories of Spanish-speaking peoples
in the Americas.
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Learn about the perspectives, values, beliefs,
ideologies, and world- views of Spanish-speaking
peoples from different time periods.
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Explore the relationship between literary/cultural
productions and historical realities.
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Demonstrate proficiency and independence in the
use of information resources (library data-bases,
internet/virtual libraries and galleries, printed
materials) that are pertinent to the field of literary
and cultural studies.
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Enhance their understanding and appreciation of
the rich social, linguistic, and cultural diversity
of the Spanish-speaking peoples of the Americas
by participating in curricular and co-curricular
activities.
Admission Standards
Applicants must fulfill the general requirements for
admission to the Graduate College. In addition, they
must demonstrate a minimum proficiency in oral
and written Spanish at the Intermediate High Level of
the proficiency scale developed by the American Council
of Teachers of Foreign Languages. Oral proficiency will
be determined by means of an interview between the student
and the departmental Graduate Advisor. Applicants must
also submit a two-page "statement of purpose" in Spanish
together with their graduate application. Students with
writing deficiencies may be required to enroll in Spanish
317 (Intensive Writing in Spanish) during their first
semester in residence for which they will receive 3
hours of graduate-level credit. Transfer students may
transfer up to but no more than nine semester hours
of graduate-level coursework toward completion of the
M.A. at NEIU, provided they have the approval of the
Graduate Advisor and the Chair of the Department of
Foreign Languages and Literatures. Only courses related
to the scope and goals of the program will be acceptable.
Degree Requirements
FL-SPAN-400 Visión de América I................................
3 cr.
FL-SPAN-420 Visión de América II...............................
3 cr.
Electives..................................................................
24 cr.
Portuguese 101-102 or French (any level)...................
6 cr.
FL-SPAN-499- Capstone Thesis Seminar.......................
3 cr.
Total: 39 cr.
Core Courses:
All students must complete FL-SPAN-400 and FL-SPAN-420
during their first two semesters. These courses are
designed to introduce students to the field of Latin
American Cultural and Literary Studies. In FL-SPAN-400
students will explore aspects of Hispanic literary and
cultural history (pre-20th century) that have influenced
Latin America's contemporary cultural identity. FL-SPAN-420
will focus on 20th and 21st century literary works that
seek to define and forge cultural identities based on
regional differences and similarities.
Electives:
As is customary in programs whose goals are to provide
both depth and breadth of knowledge, students are expected
to work carefully with their graduate advisor in determining
the appropriate graduate-level courses in the Department
of Foreign Languages and Literatures that will satisfy
those goals. All students, however, are required to
complete:
1. one 3-credit hour graduate-level course on pre-Colombian
and colonial Latin American literatures from the following
list of courses:
FL-SPAN-401A Los cronistas
FL-SPAN-401B Literatura barroca
2. two 3-credit hour graduate-level courses on 19th-century
Latin American literatures from the following list of
courses:
FL-SPAN-405A Romanticismo
FL-SPAN-405C La primera generación modernista
FL-SPAN-405D La narrativa del modernismo
FL-SPAN-405E El ensayo del neoclasicismo al positivismo
FL-SPAN-405G José Martí
3. five 3-credit hour graduate-level courses on Latin
American literatures of the 20th and 21st centuries
from the following list of courses*:
FL-SPAN-409A El postmodernismo
FL-SPAN-409B La novela de la Revolución Mexicana
FL-SPAN-409C La novela indigenista y regionalista
FL-SPAN-409F La poesía de Neruda, Paz, y Borges
FL-SPAN-409H El teatro del siglo veinte
FL-SPAN-409I El realismo mágico
FL-SPAN-409N Gabriel García Márquez
* A limited number of 300-level courses (no more than
three) may be substituted for 400-level courses on the
20th and 21st centuries. These include the following:
FL-SPAN-352 Puerto Rican Literature
FL-SPAN-358 Modernismo
FL-SPAN-365C El cuento hispanoamericano
FL-SPAN-365R Literatura del Caribe
NEIU undergraduate students who took any of these 300-level
courses toward completion of the B.A. degree may NOT
repeat them for graduate-level credit.
Elective Courses in other departments:
Three of the five courses on 20th and 21st centuries
may be graduate-level (400) courses taught outside the
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in a
related field such as history, political science, linguistics,
art history, sociology, etc. These courses will be recognized
if they have prior approval by the graduate advisor
and/or the Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages
and Literatures and by the graduate advisor and/or the
Chair of the "related" department. Here is a sample
list of those courses:
HIST-450 Readings in Colonial Latin American History
HIST-451 Readings in Modern Latin American History
HIST-452 Seminar in Latin American History
HIST-453 Seminar in History of Mexico
ELAD-ICSE-415 History and Culture of Spanish-speaking
Americans: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban
TED-BLBC-439 Ethnic Diversity in Our Schools: A Cross
Cultural/Linguistic Survey
TED-BLBC-440 Teaching in Culture and Language Diverse
Classrooms
TED-ELED-417 Multicultural Literature and Drama in
the Elementary Classroom
LING-446 Sociolinguistics
LING-460 Second Language Acquisition
G&ES-401 Seminar in Cultural Geography
G&ES-444 Seminar in Regional Geography
PSCI-411 Readings in Current Political Issues (depending
on topic)
PSCI-473 Seminar in International Relations
PSCI-497 Seminar in Selected Problems in Political
Theory (depending on topic)
ENGL-454 Seminar in World Literature (depending on
topic)
ENGL-455 Seminar in World Literature (depending on
topic)
COUN-401 The Counseling Profession in a Pluralistic
Society
COUN-430 Multicultural Counseling: Worldview and Systems
Orientation
Ancillary Language and/or Literature Requirements:
The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
believes that students in this program should have some
familiarity with the languages and cultures of non-Spanish-speaking
peoples on the South American continent. Therefore,
students must complete either FL-PORT-101 and FL-PORT-102
(or higher level courses when offered and appropriate)
or two courses in French. Students with no prior knowledge
of or background in French may take FL-FREN-101 and
FL-FREN-102. Those with a background in French should
enroll in higher-level courses, including literature
courses when appropriate.
The Capstone Thesis Seminar:
An important component of this program is the “Capstone
Thesis Seminar” (FL-SPAN-499). All students must
write a scholarly thesis in Spanish, earning three credit
hours. The topic of the thesis may be one that the student
has explored previously in a graduate-level course.
Students should not wait until their final semester
in residence to begin working on a topic. In consultation
with the Graduate Advisor, students will choose a faculty
member in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
who will direct the thesis and serve as the primary
reader. The student’s thesis committee will consist
of three full-time faculty members who offer courses
in the program.
The Comprehensive Written Examination:
During their last semester in residence, students must
also pass a 9-hour written comprehensive exam on materials
covered in their courses and a reading list tailored
to the students’ interests and areas of specialization.
A student who fails any part of the exam may take that
part a second time. Permission to take it a third time
may be granted by the departmental graduate committee
after a review of the student’s record. Additional
coursework may be required before a third and final
attempt.
Advisor
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