Latin American Area Studies

College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Dean: Joel Kassiola

Latin American Area Studies Program
HSS 336
415-338-2055
Director: Abdiel Oņate

Faculty

Professors—Aviel, Bettleheim, Bruhns, Cabeza-Olias, Calderon, Cordova, Cuellar, Pahl

Associate Professors—Baron, Carillo, Oņate, Peard, Rivera

Program

Minor in Latin American Area Studies


Program Scope

The Minor in Latin American Area Studies is a multidisciplinary program for the student seeking greater knowledge of Latin American society. The program is designed to provide the student with an understanding of a variety of aspects of Latin America, including the history, language and literature, social, economic, cultural, and political development and international relations. The minor provides great flexibility to explore a wide range of subjects of particular interest—from the ancient Maya to doing business in Latin America—as well as to specialize in particular areas, such as Central America or Mexico.

The minor will be useful to students planning careers in education, the foreign service, international organizations, overseas corporations and banking, as well as for those who simply desire a better understanding of Latin America. The multidisciplinary nature of the program also prepares the student for further study in any number of academic fields at the graduate level.

The Latin American Area Studies Minor consists of a core curriculum of three courses which deal with the region as a whole from a variety of disciplinary perspectives plus fifteen or sixteen units of upper division courses taken from the following list, upon advisement.

MINOR IN LATIN AMERICAN AREA STUDIES

On-line course descriptions are available.

Core Courses Units
The Latin American Past 3
ANTH/HIST/ RAZA/S S 501 Latin America: The National Period
Modern Latin America—One of the following: 3-4
IBUS 591 Doing Business in Latin America  
I R 322 Latin American Policy Analysis (4)
PLSI 403 Latin American Politics (4)
S S/HIST 550 Social Change in Modern Latin America
Cultures of Latin America—One of the following: 3
MUS 532 Music of Latin America  
RAZA 450 Indigenismo: Indigenous Culture and Personality
SPAN 405 Culture and Civilization of Spanish America
Total for core 9-10
Electives
Select at least one course from each group, with no more than 9 units from one discipline. Courses taken in the core may not be used to meet this part of the requirement. 15-16
Group I: Latin American Past
ANTH 471 The Ancient Maya  
ANTH 475 Ancient South America
HIST 520 Central America and the Caribbean
HIST 524 History of Mexico
HIST 528 History of Brazil
HIST 535 History of Women in Latin America
RAZA 460 Central Americans of the U.S.: History and Heritage
Group II: Modern Latin America
ANTH 315 Regional Ethnography [Topic: Peoples and Cultures of Central America]  
IBUS 591 Doing Business in Latin America
I R 306 U.S.-Central American Relations (4)
I R 322 Latin American Policy Analysis (4)
PLSI 403 Latin American Politics (4)
RAZA 660 Chicano/Latino Politics
S S/HIST 550 Social Change in Modern Latin America
Group III: Cultures of Latin America
ANTH 470 Archaeology of Mexico  
ART 500 Prehistoric Art of Mexico
ART 503 Caribbean Art
HUM/
RAZA 520
North and South American Cultural Expression
MUS 532 Music of Latin America
RAZA 320 Art History of La Raza
RAZA 410 La Raza Women
RAZA 425 Comparative Music Folklore
RAZA 450 Indigenismo: Indigenous Culture and Personality
RAZA 560 Contemporary Literature of La Raza
RAZA 570 Raza World Views and Philosophy
SPAN 405 Culture and Civilization of Spanish America
SPAN 541 Spanish American Literature: Discovery to Early Romanticism [all topics]
SPAN 543 Spanish American Literature: Romanticism to Modernism [all topics]
SPAN 545 20th Century Spanish American Literature [all topics]
SPAN 595 Senior Survey in Spanish or Spanish American Literature [all Spanish American topics]
Total for electives 15-16
Total for minor 24-26

Foreign Language Requirement

All students completing this area studies minor are required to demonstrate intermediate level competency in a language other than English, relevant to the area. This requirement may be met by completing the university entrance requirement of two years of high school language study, one year of successful college level language study, or by demonstration of equivalent competency.