Requirements for the Major in Latin American Studies

A total of 11 courses, including Latin American Studies 173, 174, Spanish 135 and 231, two Latin American literature courses at the 200 level or above, three courses on Latin America at the 200 level or above in at least two disciplines in the social sciences, and either a fourth course in the social sciences of Latin America at the 200 level or above (no more than two in the same discipline total) or a Latino/a literature course at the 200 level or above, and one senior seminar or senior project.

Students must receive a grade of C or better for a course to count toward the major. No major requirements may be taken satisfactory/unsatisfactory. The point scale for retention of the major applies to all courses taken to fulfill the major.

Majors are required to spend at least one semester in Latin America matriculated in a program that offers university-level courses (not in a language acquisition program); all course work abroad must be conducted in either Spanish or Portuguese. All study-abroad plans must be approved by the director of the Latin American Studies Program. Students may count up to four semester courses of foreign study credit toward the major if they study abroad for an entire year, but only up to two semester courses if they study abroad for just one semester. Students with transfer credits should be advised that four semester courses, combining study abroad and credits from other institutions, is the maximum total permitted to count toward the Latin American studies major. A minimum grade point average of 2.70 is required for permission to study abroad. Prerequisites for study abroad include the completion of Spanish 135 and Spanish 231 (may be taken concurrently) with a grade of C or better.

Note: Students wishing to fulfill the advanced grammar requirement in Portuguese must enroll, after securing the approval of the director of the Latin American Studies Program, in either a one-semester language program abroad (which will not replace the study-abroad requirement) or in an intensive summer language program that certifies advanced proficiency.

Honors in Latin American Studies

Students majoring in Latin American studies with a 3.7 major average or better and 3.3 overall at the end of their fifth semester (including course work done abroad) may apply for admission to the honors program by May 30 of their junior year. Permission of the program director and faculty sponsor is required. It involves a year-long independent research project that replaces the senior seminar requirement. Successful completion of the work of the honors thesis and of the major will enable the student to graduate “With Honors in Latin American Studies.”

Courses Approved for the Major in Latin American Studies

• 231 Caribbean Cultures (paper must be on Latin America)
  
• 235 Ethnographies of Latin America: Violence and Democracy in the Andes
• 236 Illegal Drugs, Law, and the State (paper must be on Latin America)

• 214 Economic Policy and Performance in Contemporary Latin America

• 253 Latin American Politics
• 297A Politics of the U.S.-Mexican Border
  
• 335 United States-Latin American Relations

• 173 History of Latin America
• 174 Introduction to Latin American Studies
• 272 History of Law, Society, and Rebellion in Mexico
• 274 Race, Religion, and Frontiers in Iberian-American Colonization
• 275 Strongmen and Populism in Modern Spain and Latin America
• 277 History of the Maya from 200 B.C.
• 473 Seminar: Historical Roots of Violence in Modern Latin America
  

• 231 Advanced Spanish
• 264 U.S. Latina/o Literature: "New" American Identities
• 265 The Short Novel in Spanish America
• 267 Transcultural Journeys: U.S. Latina/o Literature of Resilience
• 268 Latina/o Cultural Expressions in Literature and Film
  
• 273 Contemporary Spanish-American Short Story
• 276 U.S. Latina/Chicana Women Writers
• 354 Detectives and Spies: Popular Culture in Spanish-American Fiction
• 371 The Colonial Experience: European and Amerindian Responses
• 397B The Diasporic Imagination: Cubans Beyond Cuba
  
• 493B Seminar: The Latina Body