Program Overview
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Contact: Mexican American Studies
Location: Candelaria 0295
Email: HSS@unco.edu
Website: www.unco.edu/hss/chicana-chicano-latinx-studies/
Advising Information:
Students must consult with their assigned major advisor each semester prior to registering.
To find your advisor, log into ursa.unco.edu; go to 'Student' tab and click 'View Student Information' link. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of four parts:
- Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- Required Supporting Credits
- Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits
- University-Wide Credits
*For Educator licensure majors, PTEP coursework counts towards the minimum of nine upper-division UNC credits (300-400).
Program Description:
This program fulfills an important role in training teachers at the undergraduate level to be social studies teachers. With increasing student diversity in our schools, both in Colorado and the nation, districts are desperate to hire teachers who are well grounded in curriculum and approaches that meet the needs of culturally diverse learners and their families. The secondary education concentration in Mexican American Studies effectively prepares preservice teachers to teach social studies to culturally diverse students at the middle and secondary levels. In addition to taking coursework in Mexican American Studies, History, Economics, Geography and Political Science, students will participate in the UNC partner school program through student teaching and field experience. It is recommended that students add the TESOL Endorsement (24 credits) to this licensure. Twelve of the 24 TESOL required credits are already required in the program. Students who complete the UNC TESOL endorsement successfully will be recommended by UNC for the CLD endorsement in Colorado.
Program Admission Requirements:
To be recommended for admission to PTEP students must complete a minimum of 12 semester credits in the major (at least 9 credits at UNC) with a 2.75 grade point average or higher in those courses taken at UNC and counting toward the major. Mexican American Studies majors must successfully complete at least 31 credits in the major with a 2.75 grade point average or above in courses taken at UNC prior to applying for student teaching and complete SOSC 341 with a grade of "C" or better (GPA 2.0 or above).
Program Requirements:
- All majors must obtain a grade of “C” or better (GPA 2.0 or above) in all MAS courses taken at UNC. Majors receiving a grade of "D" or lower in any course for the major must retake the course — or an equivalent approved by the academic advisor — and receive a grade of "C" or better (GPA 2.0 or above) to have the course counted toward the major.
- All MAS courses numbered 300 or higher include a research and writing component. Only 6 credits of MAS or HISP prefixes may be counted toward LAC. Students are strongly encouraged to acquire secondary language proficiency.
PTEP Requirements:
Teacher candidates who complete an approved content degree and the UNC professional teacher education program, as well as pass the appropriate Colorado Department of Education designated PRAXIS exam (if applicable), will be eligible for recommendation from UNC for a Colorado Department of Education teaching license.
If you are seeking licensure in your program area, the following items are required to complete your program.
- Completion of Application for Initial Admission to PTEP – referred to as Checkpoint #1 (Enrollment in this checkpoint will result in a one-time program fee, assessed to student accounts to pay for assessment software. This checkpoint will also require an out-of-pocket payment - to the chosen approved vendor - to obtain a fingerprint background check, which is required by the Colorado Department of Education.)
- Completion of Full Admission to PTEP – referred to as Checkpoint #2
- Completion of Application for Student Teaching – referred to as Checkpoint #3
- Completion of content specific PRAXIS test prior to Student Teaching
- Candidates may not take extra courses with Student Teaching without prior approval from the Program Coordinator and the STE Director.
- All PTEP Field Experiences and methods courses need to be successfully completed prior to Student Teaching.
- Student Teaching outside the supervision of UNC Faculty may or may not be approved.
- Teacher Candidates will not be placed in a school where they were once students or where they have a close relative attending and/or working.
- Teacher education and educator preparation licensure programs do not accept Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) or field based courses that are more than ten years old. PLEASE NOTE: Teacher Candidates have the right to petition this policy at the discretion of the program coordinator.
Please work with your content advisor to determine when these requirements will be completed throughout your program.
Degree Requirements — 120 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits
To complete the degree in 120 credits as outlined, the program recommends the below LAC courses that also count toward the required major credits.
Any additional course work completed outside the recommended list below may extend the length of the program of study.
Written Communication — 6 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
Select any course to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies [MS] and International Studies [IS] — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.
MAS 100 (3) is recommended to fulfill Social & Behavioral Sciences and U.S. Multicultural Studies requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
MAS 110 (3) is recommended to fulfill Arts & Humanities and U.S. Multicultural Studies requirements and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
HIST 100 (3), HIST 101 (3) and HIST 120 (3) or HIST 121 (3) are recommended to fulfill History requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
SPAN 201 (3) or SPAN 202 (3) are recommended to fulfill Arts & Humanities and International Studies requirements and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
ECON 203 (3) or ECON 205 (3), GEOG 100 (3), GEOG 110 (3), and PSCI 100 (3) are recommended to fulfill Social & Behavior Sciences requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social Behavioral courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Natural & Physical Science courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Major Requirements — 25 credits
Students may select between MAS 275 or WLC 390. See course list below
| MAS 100 | Introduction to Mexican American StudiesLAB3LAMS | 3 |
| MAS 110 | Contemporary Chicano LiteratureLAA2LAMS | 3 |
| MAS 275 | Education of Mexican American Students | 3 |
| | or | |
| WLC 390 | History and Philosophy of Multilingual Education | 3 |
| MAS 301 | Mexican American Politics and Leadership | 3 |
| MAS 380 | US Mexico Immigration | 3 |
| MAS 420 | Chicana/o Civil Rights Movement | 3 |
| MAS 450 | Internship in Mexican American Studies | 4 |
| MAS 460 | Narco Corrido and Mexican Folk Culture | 3 |
3. Supporting Required Credits — 27-29 credits
Students may select between ECLD 360 or ECLD 380; ECON 203 or ECON 205; HIST 120 or HIST 121; SPAN 101, SPAN 102, SPAN 104, SPAN 201, or SPAN 202.
See course list below.
| ECLD 360 | Second Language Acquisition | 3 |
| | or | |
| ECLD 380 | Introduction to Linguistics for ESL/CLD Educators | 3 |
| ECON 203 | Principles of MacroeconomicsLAB1 | 3 |
| | or | |
| ECON 205 | Principles of MicroeconomicsLAB1 | 3 |
| GEOG 100 | World GeographyLAB2LAIS | 3 |
| GEOG 110 | Geography of the United States and CanadaLAB2 | 3 |
| HIST 100 | Survey of American History from Its Beginnings to 1877LAH1 | 3 |
| HIST 101 | Survey of American History from 1877 to the PresentLAH1 | 3 |
| HIST 120 | Western Civilization from Ancient Greece to 1689LAH1 | 3 |
| | or | |
| HIST 121 | Western Civilization from 1689 to the PresentLAH1 | 3 |
| PSCI 100 | United States National GovernmentLAB1 | 3 |
| SPAN 101 | Elementary Spanish I | 5 |
| | or | |
| SPAN 102 | Elementary Spanish II | 5 |
| | or | |
| SPAN 104 | Applied Spanish for Professionals | 3 |
| | or | |
| SPAN 201 | Intermediate Spanish ILAA4LAIS | 3 |
| | or | |
| SPAN 202 | Intermediate Spanish IILAA4LAIS | 3 |
4. Required PTEP — 38 credits
Phase I (5 credits taken concurrently)
| EDF 366 | Conceptions of Schooling: Context and Process | 3 |
| STEP 161 | Observation and Analysis of Secondary Teaching I | 2 |
Phase II (8 credits taken concurrently)
| EDSE 360 | Adaptation, Modification, and Integration of Curriculum for the Secondary Exceptional Learner | 3 |
| PSY 349 | Educational Psychology for Secondary Teachers | 3 |
| STEP 262 | Observation and Analysis of Secondary Teaching II | 2 |
Phase III (11 credits taken concurrently)
| ECLD 340 | Academic Language/Literacy Development in the Content Areas at the Secondary Level | 3 |
| ET 449 | Integrating Technologies into Secondary Education Pedagogy | 3 |
| SOSC 341 | Teaching Secondary Social Studies | 3 |
| STEP 363 | Clinical Experience: Secondary | 2 |
Phase IV (14 credits)
5. University-Wide Credits — 0 credits*
*Note: Students must apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum requirements and the major requirements to complete this degree program in 120 credit hours. Students may have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree depending on the number of credits applied to both the LAC and the major. See your advisor for details.
Those choosing to add the TESOL Endorsement will not have additional university-wide credits. It is recommended that students meet with their advisor/s every semester.