Students take compulsory modules (80 credits); 2 optional modules (20 credits each); and write a dissertation (60 credits); compulsory modules cover: Advanced themes in the history of the Americas; the practice of history; faculty research training; research methods in history; dissertation preparation training; optional modules may include: slavery and freedom; the south and race: regional challenges and American nationalism; the Indian problem in Latin America; intellectual and political thought in Brazil and Hispano-America.