Director, Professor Jorge Olivares

Advisory Committee: Professor Olivares (Spanish); Associate Professors Patrice Franko (Economics and International Studies), David Nugent (Anthropology), and Betty Sasaki (Spanish); Assistant Professors Ariel Armony (Government), Luis Millones-Figueroa (Spanish), and Maritza Straughn-Williams (Anthropology and African-American Studies)

Requirements for the Major in Latin American Studies
A total of 10 courses, including Introduction to Latin American Studies (Latin American Studies 171), Advanced Spanish Grammar (Spanish 231), two Latin American literature courses at the 200 level or above, History of Latin America (Latin American Studies 197), four additional courses on Latin America at the 200 level or above from at least three disciplines other than literature, 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. No more than the equivalent of four semester courses of foreign study or transfer credit may be counted toward the major. A minimum grade point average of 2.7 is required for admission to study abroad.

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 3.3 major average or better at the end of their sixth semester (including course work done abroad) may apply for admission to the honors program by May 1 of their junior year. Permission 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."

COURSE OFFERINGS

171s    Introduction to Latin American Studies    An intensive, cross-disciplinary introduction to Latin American society and culture. Elite and popular search for identity in academic discourse and writings and art (music, painting, murals.) Institutions and structures found across Latin America: the hacienda and plantation in Yucatán and Peru, the urban shantytown in Quito and São Paolo, religious syncretism in Afro-Brazil and in colonial indigenous societies, and the frontier region of the Argentine pampas and the Venezuelan llanos. Four credit hours.  H, D.    FALLAW

197f    History of Latin America    Latin America's search for political stability and economic development from the origins of the indigenous American civilizations to the present. Major themes include the Aztec and Inca imperial conquests of the 14th century; Spanish and Portuguese colonization; the Bourbon and Pombaline rationalization of the 18th century; the Independence Wars and national civil wars of the 19th century; and the Cold War in Central America, Cuba, and Chile. These transforming events in Latin America will be considered in relation to the continuity provided by such enduring structures as patron-client relations, regional identity (patria chica), and the church. Four credit hours.  H, D.    FALLAW

[271]    Introduction to Latin American Culture    An introduction to the history of Latin American culture through the analysis of a series of "classic" Latin American texts. After a thorough questioning of the concepts of "classic" and "text," the course will focus on one of the main problems of Latin American culture: the construction of a specifically Latin American identity. Readings will consist almost entirely of primary sources ranging from Columbus's letters to contemporary novels. Four credit hours.  H, D.    

297f    History of the Maya from 200 B.C.    A multidisciplinary survey (archaeology, anthropology, sociology, literature, and history) of the trajectory of the Mayan peoples from the writing of the first known Maya glyphs (c. 200 B.C.) to the current conflicts in Chiapas and Guatemala. Four credit hours.  H, D.    FALLAW

298s    Iberia and Its Colonial Experience to 1898    An examination of the paradoxical history of Spain and Portugal, their experience as colonies and colonizers from Roman and Islamic Iberia to the abolition of monarchy and slavery in Brazil and Spain's last American colonies, and the impact that Iberian civilization had on Latin America. Emphasis on how the culture and institutions of Spain and Portugal influenced Latin America during the colonial era, and how their imperial experience shaped them. Four credit hours.  H, D.    FALLAW

299j    Caudillos and Populism in Modern Spain and Latin America    Listed as History 299j, Section C (q.v.) Three credit hours.  H.    FALLAW

483f, 484js    Senior Honors Thesis    A year-long research project for senior majors, resulting in a written thesis to be publicly presented and defended. Students may register either for two credits in the fall, January, and spring terms or for three credits in the fall and spring terms. Prerequisite: a 3.3 or higher major average at the end of the junior year and permission of the Latin American Studies Advisory Committee. Two or three credit hours.    FACULTY

491f, 492s    Independent Study    An independent study project devoted to a topic chosen by the student with the approval of an advisor. Only independent studies taken with a Colby faculty member and approved by the director of the Latin American Studies Program may count toward fulfilling major requirements. One to four credit hours.    FACULTY

[494]    Senior Project    An independent study taken in the senior year that can be substituted for the senior seminar requirement. It can either be taken freestanding for four credits or in association with a seminar-style 200- or 300-level class for two credits. The former option requires prior course work in the chosen field and the approval of an appropriate supervisor. Permission to take the latter option is at the discretion of the instructor and the program director. Two to four credit hours.