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Mexican American Studies Minor
Program type:
Minor
Format:
On Campus
Est. time to complete:
2-3 semesters
Credit Hours:
18
Add to your education by learning more about the complex social, cultural, political
and economic realities that represent the Mexican American community in Texas and
the nation.
All students on campus regardless of their existing major or area of study are eligible
to minor in Mexican American Studies. The Mexican American Studies minor offers these
students the ability to better and more effectively understand and apply their knowledge
of this important regional, state and national community toward their chosen fields
of study or professions.
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Request More InfoWhy Earn a Mexican American Studies Minor?
Together with other Latinos in Texas, Mexican Texans are on a path to become the demographic majority in Texas by 2030. In the immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area serviced by the university -- including Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties -- more than 1 million Mexican and Latino Texans were counted by the 2000 U.S. Census (16% of Texas' Chicano and Latino population). And this is the fastest-growing segment of the region and state's overall population, and also the youngest on average. Historically speaking, Mexican Americans and Latinos are a people on the move.
Indeed this is a population whose growing significance to the nation, state and region will continue to grow in the immediate years and decades ahead. The best available demographic projections point toward this increased strategic role for Mexican Americans and Latinos generally. The University of North Texas, in recognition of these conclusions, has sought to respond initially through its offering of the Mexican American Studies minor.
Whether students enter into any number of careers -- including those in public service, government, finance, education, culture, health and other sectors -- they will be better prepared to negotiate and plan for success in their chosen careers by being appraised of, and sensitive to, the needs, strengths and potential contributions that the Mexican American and Latino communities will invariably bring to society in the present and a future that involve not only them, but every American.
Mexican American Studies Minor Highlights
The MAS minor has continued to expand and be modified to reflect this changing, intellectually
enriching policy and academic agenda.
The History Help Center and the Kingsbury-Thomason Departmental Library can assist
you with preparing for exams and writing papers.
Other vital on-campus resources are the Military History Center and the University
Libraries.
Dr. Roberto R. Calderón, associate professor in the Department of History, is the
MAS minor faculty advisor.
Advertising firms, historical societies, museums, libraries and publishers are potential
employers of students with history backgrounds.
The interdisciplinary minor in Mexican American Studies has been offered by the UNT
History Department for more than 20 years.
Mexican American Studies Minor Courses You Could Take
Historical and Cultural Development of the Mexican-American Community (3 hrs)
Historical evolution of Mexican-American culture, social structure, family patterns
and community organizations, and their effects on education, economic and religious
institutions.
Mexican Immigration and the Chicano Community (3 hrs)
Introduction to the history of Mexican immigration in the United States, focusing
on the dynamic effects immigration has had throughout the 19th and 20th centuries
on the formation of the Chicano community. Utilizes lectures, discussion of the readings,
films and speakers to emphasize a variety of themes, including labor, politics, nativism,
citizenship, demography, gender and culture.
Latinos in the U.S. (3 hrs)
Uses identity and resistance theories to explore the various constructions of Latino/a
race, ethnicity and identity, and the social and political implications of being Latino/a
today. Explores the ways in which Latino/as have been excluded from the national imaginary
while maintaining and transforming their own cultural identify.
Latinx Literature (3 hrs)
Study of historical as well as contemporary Latinx literature, including a preponderance
of Mexican American and Chicanx literature and cultural production. Works may range
from the local to the national and global, and may include indigenous American, Spanish
colonial and writings from a range of Latin American nations.
Race, Class, Gender and Ethnicity (3 hrs)
Social, cultural and economic perspectives on Native Americans, African Americans,
Asian Americans and Mexican Americans; emphasizes work and family patterns for both
women and men, racism and sexism, and contemporary movements for equality.
Meso America (3 hrs)
The indigenous, colonial and mestizaje cultures of Middle America from prehistoric
to contemporary times. Beginning with the peopling of the Americas and concluding
with a review of current issues and politics, students explore the dominant culture
groups that have comprised this region and specific issues of colonialism, imperialism,
neocolonialism, syncretized Catholicism, peasant rebellions, migration and globalization.
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