Latin American Studies Requirements

The Latin American Studies Program enables students to deepen their understanding of this fascinating, complex region of the world through an interdisciplinary approach. Majors explore both historical and contemporary social, political, and economic issues, tensions, and inequalities that challenge the area, while attaining an awareness of and appreciation for the rich cultural diversity of Latin America. Study abroad, the biannual Walker Symposium, internships, independent research, and visits by scholars, artists, and activists enhance formal classroom learning. Latin American studies graduates emerge as active global citizens capable of analyzing and articulating central issues defining the region.

Director, Professor Ben Fallaw

Appointment in Latin American Studies: Professor Ben Fallaw

Affiliated Faculty: Professor Patrice Franko (Economics and Global Studies); Associate Professors Lindsay Mayka (Government), Winifred Tate (Anthropology), and Bretton White (Spanish); Assistant Professors Ana Almeyda-Cohen (Spanish), José G. Martínez (Music), Tiffany Miller (Spanish), and Nicolás Ramos Flores (Spanish); Visiting Assistant Professors Sandra Bernal Heredia (Spanish) and Damaris Mayans (Spanish)

Click here to view the major requirements worksheet

To complete a major in Latin American studies, a student must take a minimum of 10 courses, including Latin American Studies 173 and 174; two course in the humanities; four courses in the social sciences across at least three disciplines; a section of Spanish 135 cross-listed with LAS or an equivalent course on cultural analysis for students demonstrating proficiency in another non-English language spoken in the Americas; and one senior seminar or major senior research project. Before enrolling, students may petition to count a comparative or thematic course with less than 50 percent focus on Latin America for one of the two elective humanities or four elective social science courses, provided that the student writes a final paper on Latin America/Latinx issues.

Students must complete or test out of Spanish 128/Spanish 131H, French 128, or petition in advance to demonstrate equivalent proficiency in another non-English language spoken in the Americas.

Majors are required to spend at least one semester in Latin America matriculated in a pre-approved program that offers university-level courses (not in a language acquisition program), or another program in Latin America or focused on Latinx issues by petition. All study-abroad plans must be approved by the chair of Latin American Studies. Programs not on the pre-approved list will be considered through our own petition process, apart from that of Off-Campus Study. 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 2.7 is required for permission to study abroad.

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.

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.

Students majoring in Latin American studies with a 3.7 major average or better and 3.3 overall GPA at the end of their fifth semester 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. The honors program involves a yearlong independent research project that replaces the senior seminar requirement. Students must successfully defend their proposal before fall break, their first chapter (or equivalent) before the end of the first semester, and their thesis before the end of the academic year. 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.”

Click here to view the minor requirements worksheet

To complete a minor in Latin American Studies, a student must take a minimum of six courses cross-listed with LAS. These must include either Latin American Studies 173 or Latin American Studies 174, one course in the humanities, one non-history course in the social sciences, and three additional courses. Students may count both Latin American Studies 173 and LA 174 towards the major. Students must also complete or test out of Spanish 128/Spanish 131H, French 128, or petition for the opportunity to demonstrate equivalent proficiency in another language spoken in the Americas other than Spanish or English (e.g. Portuguese, Kaqchikel, Quechua, Haitian Kreòle, etc.). Students may count up to two courses taken during off-campus studies for the LAS minor.

Students must receive a grade of C- or better for a course to count toward the minor. No minor requirements may be taken satisfactory/unsatisfactory.

• 223 Anthropology of Latin America: Rights and Resistance
• 231 Caribbean Cultures
• 236 Illegal Drugs, Law, and the State
• 240 Drug Wars in the Americas
• 249 Courts, Trials, and Pursuit of Justice
• 365 Space, Place, and Belonging

• 214 Economic Policy and Performance in Contemporary Latin America

• 397 Topics in Latin American Economic Policy

• 227 Social Movements
• 253 Introduction to Latin American Politics
• 264 Challenges to Democracy in Latin America
• 456 Civil Society and Social Change in Latin America

• 173 History of Latin America, 1491 to 1900
• 174 Introduction to Latin American Studies
• 221 Crime, Violence, and Security in Latin America
• 272 Mexican History: Justice, Rights, and Revolution
• 275 Strongmen and Populism in Modern Spain and Latin America
• 277 The History of the Maya
• 372 Environmental History of Latin America
• 373 Religion and Unbelief in Modern Latin American History
• 378 U.S. in Latin America: Intervention, Influence, Integration
• 473 Seminar: Historical Roots of Violence in Modern Latin America

Music

• 298 Introduction to Afro-Latin Drumming

Philosophy

• 260 Latin American Philosophy

• 135 Introduction to Literary Analysis
• 237 Conquest and Resistance in the Americas
• 239 Latin America at the Movies
• 244 Bad Women and B-Films in Contemporary Latin America
• 246 Latin American Theater
• 254 Aquí estamos: U.S. Latinx in the 20th and 21st Centuries
• 258 Baila: History, Culture, and Performance of Latin Dance
• 278 Narratives, Artifacts, and Monuments of Pre-Columbian Civilizations
• 298 Deep Ecology in Human Imagination
• 298  Language Justice in the Spanish-Speaking World
• 335 Interplay between Speculative and Environmental Fiction
• 343 Indigenous Textualities, Decoloniality, and Land Sovereignty
• 344 Environmental Knowledge, Imperialism, and Resistance
• 346 Race, Rights, and Land in the Americas
• 347 Latinx Indigeneities and Mesoamerican Borders
• 348 The Afro-Americas: Race, Power, and Subjectivity
• 357 Borderland Cinema: Latinx Media Representations in the 20th and 21st Centuries
• 397A Writing with Sound: Music and Literature in Latin America
• 398 Sex in the Colonies
• 398 Race, Rhythm, and Revolution in Latin American Poetry
• 376 Narratives, Artifacts, and Monuments of Pre-Columbian Civilization
• 495 Seminar: The Shifting Americas: Race, Power, and Subjectivity
• 498 Seminar: Abia Yala: Indigenous Resistance, Revolution, and Decoloniality
• 498 Seminar: Sex, Drugs, and Magic in Mexico and the Caribbean
• 498 Seminar: Interplay between Speculative and Environmental Fiction