Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism - Program

Dual Degree in Journalism and Latin American Studies

A Guide to the Concurrent Master's Program

The concurrent program in Latin American Studies and Journalism provides academic and professional training to students interested in pursuing careers in journalism and related fields. Some possible careers include international reporting with a focus on Latin America, economic writing with an emphasis on U.S.-Latin American trade issues, and metropolitan reporting in urban areas with large Latin American immigrant communities. The three-year program leads to two master's degrees.

Admission:

You must have completed close to one semester of the Journalism program before you apply to the LAS admissions committee for concurrent admission to LAS.

By December 15th, you must submit the following to the LAS Graduate Assistant in 101 Stephens Hall: 1) a copy of your MJ application including GRE/TOEFL scores, letters of recommendation and transcripts; 2) a resume or CV; 3) a new statement of purpose; 4) a letter of recommendation from a Journalism professor; and 5) the "Graduate Petition for Change of Major or Degree Goal" signed by the Head Graduate Advisor in Journalism.

Guidelines for requesting materials to be forwarded are posted in the J-School mailroom.The Student Affairs Office requires, at minimum, two weeks notice to forward any items to ensure arrival of information on time.

Students must demonstrate an intermediate level of proficiency in Spanish (equivalent to two years of college instruction). Portuguese may be substituted with prior faculty approval. The Latin American Studies Admissions Committee will then review your application. Up to four students per year are admitted. Professor Lydia Chavez, the program advisor in Journalism, can help you through this process. You can also contact the Latin American Studies Graduate Assistant, Katie Dustin via e-mail or at 510-643-4156, for more information.

Requirements:

If you are intending to apply to the concurrent program, you are expected to take Latin American Studies 200 and 250 during your first semester. LAS 200 is a one unit seminar which will introduce you to faculty and topics across the many departments of this interdisciplinary program. LAS 250 is a four unit class on Latin American History. Both classes will provide you with the opportunity to get to know your fellow LAS students. They're sure to be an interesting group and can become a valuable support network throughout your graduate school career. In past years, LAS students have organized regular evening get-togethers as a way to stay in touch. In addition to your journalism courses, you will take at least 20 units in LAS (of which 8 must be at the graduate level, i.e., numbered 200 or higher). Up to six journalism units may be credited toward the 20-unit requirement for the LAS MA, and up to eight LAS units may count toward the 36-unit requirement for the MJ. That means you must complete a minimum of 42 units (i.e., 20-6=14 in LAS and 36-8=28 in Journalism), but you will probably want to take more in both programs. Courses taken to fufill the language requirement may not be used to fulfill the unit requirement for the degree.

Methodology Requirement:

One of these courses must be a graduate level or upper division (numbered 100-199) methodology course in the social sciences. This course should be chosen from a list approved by the LAS Graduate Chair.

Language Requirement:

You must prove an intermediate level of proficiency in the Spanish language. Proficiency in Portuguese may be substituted with written permission of your faculty advisor and the LAS graduate program chair. Proof of proficiency requires at least two years of college-level foreign language classes or faculty certification. Language courses taken at Berkeley do not count toward the degree, though they are well worth taking. See the LAS Graduate Assistant for a certification form. You can get certified by any member of the UC Berkeley faculty who is proficient in the language.

Latin American Studies Courses:

Latin American Studies is an interdisciplinary program, drawing faculty and courses from all across the university and so, unlike in Journalism, it takes a certain amount of effort to find out what LAS courses are offered and interesting to you. The LAS Graduate Student Handbook includes a list of LAS faculty and their departments, and a list of some standard course offerings. Often, special courses will be offered that don't make it into the university's general catalog. You should visit or call departments of interest (or check their web sites) at the beginning of each semester to see what's being offered. The Center for Latin American Studies and the International and Area Studies Teaching Office often have new listings posted. You can look up courses on the university's general online catalog.

The way you will work in an academic program (a lot of reading, writing research papers at the end of the semester) is very different than the way you do work in journalism (ongoing reporting, writing fast on deadline). Some students have found it easier to concentrate their studies so that they are taking an entirely j-School course load one semester and an entirely academic load the next. Others prefer to have a diverse work load, combining one academic course with a couple of journalism courses each semester. You'll have to figure out what works best for you, but be prepared for some dissonance between academia and professional school.

What Happens Where:

In the Journalism school, teaching, advising, administration, events and the student body are centralized in North Gate Hall.

In Latin American Studies, they are dispersed around the campus. Faculty are scattered among numerous departments.

Latin American Studies falls under the umbrella of International and Area Studies, and the administration of your academic program is handled by the IAS Teaching Program office (101 Stephens Hall). The LAS Graduate Assistant keeps your academic file, and acts as a liaison to the university bureaucracy (Graduate Division, Registrar, etc.). They can answer most questions about requirements or refer you to the right person to talk to. The number is 510-643-4156, or visit the Web site.

The Graduate Division oversees all graduate programs at the university and is the ultimate authority that will grant your degree. You will file your application for candidacy with them in your final year and submit your thesis to them. They are located at 302 Sproul Hall. The number is 510-642-7330, or visit their Web site.

The Center for Latin American Studies (2334 Bowditch, between Durant and Channing) is the intellectual hub of LAS, where guest lectures and other events frequently take place. The chair and vice-chair of CLAS have their offices there. It's also where the graduate student lounge and mailboxes are located, and you should plan to go by and check your mailbox at least once every couple of weeks. The number is 642-2088.

Advising:

There are several levels of advising to help you with different issues. Your first stop should be with the LAS Graduate Assistant (a.k.a., Student Affairs Officer) in the IAS Teaching Program Office, located at 101 Stephens Hall. They can advise you of deadlines, give you details on language certification, filing for candidacy, and other nuts and bolts matters. You should also pick up a copy of the revised LAS Graduate Student Handbook each year -- an indispensable guide. Access it here.

Your principal advisor will be your faculty advisor, who is likely to be your academic mentor and the chair of your thesis committee. In most cases this will be Prof. Lydia Chavez, the journalism faculty member who is the liaison to LAS, but you must also consult with the LAS Graduate Chair.

The LAS Graduate Chair is a rotating position held by a member of the core LAS faculty. Faculty normally serve for two or three years. For new LAS students, the Graduate Chair serves as the initial faculty advisor, and the liaison between you and the Graduate Division. The Director of the Center for Latin American Studies can also be helpful with informal advising and answering questions about the program.

Registration:

To register for classes through TeleBears each semester, you will need a four digit Advisor Code. In the Journalism program, only your Advisor will distribute half of your code for the semester (1st year, J-200 instructor; 2nd year, J-294 instructor).

After admission to the LAS program, you'll go to the LAS Graduate Assistant to obtain half of this code after first deciding on your LAS coursework in consultation with the LAS Graduate Chair or your LAS faculty advisor. You'll need to factor in a little extra time for this before you can register. (This cannot be done over the phone)

Filing For Candidacy:

Before the fifth week of your last semester of school, you will need to file an Application for Candidacy for each your two degrees. This is a form that says you have completed your requirements (and lists the course you've taken toward the degrees) and are preparing to submit your thesis/Master's Project. You will need to get the LAS application signed by your thesis committee chair and the graduate chair of each department. On the LAS form, you will list the three members of your thesis committee. These have to be tenure-track professors/members of the faculty senate. The chair must be tenured and at least one member must come from the LAS faculty. For detailed instructions on the make-up of your thesis committee, go to http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/publications/gsh/index.shtml and click on "Degrees". The LAS Graduate Assistant maintains a list of eligible faculty members.

For the J-School application, only the signature of the Head Graduate Advisor is required. In addition, only the front side of the form must be completed.

Thesis/Master's Project:

Concurrent students are required to produce only one project that should be done as a Master’s Project through the School of Journalism. However, the project must be reported in Latin America.

Grant funding is generally available through the Center for Latin American Studies to cover travel expenses for the reporting trip. The project's committee should include a faculty member from the Journalism school and one from LAS. The third member is up to you to choose, with the help of your primary advisor. Students are expected to enroll in J-294, the Master's Project tutorial course offered in the School of Journalism.

As things stand now, a video or audio documentary will not satisfy the Graduate Division's requirements for a thesis (for LAS).

You will need to submit your Master's Project to the Journalism school and your thesis to the Graduate Division. They have different deadlines and different guidelines for the format, so check with them both well before the end of the semester in which you will file your project.

One thing you need to be prepared for is that when the members of your committee sign off on your project, the two programs require you to obtain signatures on different types of forms.

For LAS: Get a copy of "Guidelines for Submitting a Doctoral Dissertation or a Master's Thesis" from the Graduate Division office in 302 Sproul or look up the guidelines in PDF format on their Web site.

For the J-School: Title pages are available in the mailroom and detailed instructions will be forwarded.

Protection Of Human Subjects:

Do not assume that your project does not fall under this requirement! Failure to receive approval from the Committee of the Protection of Human Subjects may delay your degree. Complete information can be found on Web site for the Office for the Protection of Human Subjects.

Conclusion:

Congratulations on embarking on such an exciting and interesting concurrent degree program. It's a path that's a little more challenging than getting just one degree, both academically and administratively, but hopefully this guide will make the way a little easier. Undoubtedly there will be questions that aren't answered here, and for help with those, you'll need to go to Prof. Lydia Chavez, the LAS Graduate Assistant and the LAS Graduate Chair. Also, seek out your fellow students in the concurrent program.

Together you can share information, petition for speakers and courses of interest, and make the concurrent program a fun and satisfying experience.