Latin American Studies Partners with the Honors College to Offer Shared-Credit Program

August 31, 2015

The Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) is pleased to announce a new shared-credit program offered in partnership with the Honors College. Through shared-credits, students enrolled in the Honors College can now pursue an accelerated route to earning in five years both a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies (MALAS). Through this innovative program, students can earn graduate MALAS credit during their undergraduate career, thereby reducing the time needed to complete both degrees.

The undergraduate coursework in the shared-credit program focuses on new environments and developing technologies; intercultural knowledge and competence; personal and social responsibility, including civic knowledge and engagement; and research fundamentals. These cultural and service-oriented emphases build on the Honors College' omnipresent attention to intensive reading, writing, and discussion in which reasoned self-expression and critical thinking are valued and rewarded.

At the graduate level, students will narrow their field of inquiry to focus on one of the nineteen concentrations offering to graduate LAS students, including the newest concentrations in Indigenous Studies, Public Health, or Geography and Environmental Studies.

At its core, the Honors College exists to serve and attract high-achieving, enthusiastic, and motivated students. By offering such students an opportunity to expedite their advancement into the academically rigorous and diverse coursework of the MALAS program, the LAII and the Honors College have found a unique means of bridging undergraduate and graduate studies.

For more information, see the LAII academics webpage.