Latin American Studies Concentration

Yamile Silva Gualteros, Ph.D., Director

The Latin American Studies Concentration is offered by the Department of Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies (LA/W/S).

The Latin American Studies Concentration is designed to advance students’ awareness and understanding of Latin America. It seeks to provide both broad, general knowledge of the entire Latin American region, and in-depth knowledge of specific countries, regional groupings of countries, and cultures both dominant and marginal. The concentration is open to all majors and it consists of courses from a variety of disciplines with a primary focus on Latin America. These courses fulfill general education requirements in the Humanities area (Foreign Languages and History), the Social Sciences area (Political Science), Philosophy/Theology, and some of them also carry cultural diversity and writing intensive designations. Supporting courses may fulfill general education requirements in other areas as well. Core and supporting courses are listed below.

The Latin American Studies Concentration is an attractive complement to many existing majors. Related fields include world languages, international business, international language/business, international studies, history, political science, theology, philosophy and sociology. Some related professions or careers include law, government, non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, banking and teaching.

For more information about the Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies (LA/W/S) department, visit its website.

Concentration Requirements

Language Requirements

(See footnote 1 below)

Placement in a previously studied language will be determined by placement testing in the University’s Language Learning Center.

12 credits of Spanish needed if student begins at the 100 level. Options: SPAN 295 , SPAN 101 , SPAN 102 , SPAN 211 , SPAN 212 , (and 18 additional supporting credits);
9 credits of Spanish needed if student begins at the 200 level. Options: SPAN 211 , SPAN 212 , SPAN 295 ,SPAN 315 , SPAN 311 , SPAN 312 , (and 18 additional supporting credits);
6 credits of Spanish needed if student begins at the 300 level. Options: SPAN 295 , SPAN 315 , SPAN 311 , SPAN 312 , (and 18 additional supporting credits).

Students who study Portuguese must complete PORT 210 (and 18 additional supporting credits).

Core Course Requirements

(See footnote 1 below)

18 total credits

History (3 credits)

(See footnote 2 below)

Political Science (3 credits)

PS 219 - (S,D) Survey of Latin American Politics

Supporting Courses (12 credits)

Additional Information

¹ Students who study abroad or take other appropriate classes with an emphasis on Latin America may petition to substitute classes and are encouraged to speak to the director of the program.

² Students who take both core history courses may reduce their supporting course load to 9 credits.

³ Restricted to senior History majors or students with a Latin-American Studies concentration.

⁴ A three-credit intersession travel course to Mexico. Credit load and tuition are applied to Spring Semester.

⁵ May be used as a supporting course when course content is specific to Latin America.