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Five College LAS Certificate Requirements

To earn a Certificate, students must complete successfully a minimum of eight one-semester courses selected from five different areas; fulfill a specified language requirement; and achieve at least a grade of B in the minimum number of courses taken towards the certificate. Courses may be taken at any of the campuses but must be approved in advance by the student's home-campus advisor for the program. Completed applications for the certificate must be signed by the home campus advisor, who will bring the application to the Five College Latin American Studies Certificate Program committee. To download an application, please click on the "More Information" link at the bottom of the page.

Courses
The eight one-semester courses must be taken within the following five areas:

1. A broadly-based introductory course on the social and political history of Latin America
   
2. One course in the social sciences that focuses substantially on Latin America (including courses in anthropology, economics, geography, political science, etc.)
   
3. One course in the humanities that focuses substantially on Latin America (including courses in art, art history, dance, folklore, literature, music, philosophy, religion, or theater, etc. )
   
4. Four other courses which should be more advanced and more specific in focus
   
5. A seminar which gives the student's course work in Latin America an interdisciplinary focus.

Language requirement
Proficiency through second year college level in an official (other than English) or indigenous language of Latin America.

Minimum standard
To receive the certificate, the student must receive a grade of B or better in every course that qualifies for the minimum certificate requirement.

Links to official Five College course catalogs:

The Five College Course Catalog
Guide to Programs at UMass
Amherst College Course Catalog
Smith College Course Catalog
Mount Holyoke Course Catalog
Hampshire College Course Catalog

More Information
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