Major Requirements
The Latin American Studies major consists of 9 courses, as follows:
A. Introductory course - 1 course
One of the following courses taken during the first year or sophomore year (including First-Year Course versions of the courses):
ANTH 255 - Latin America in Motion
GEOG 249 - Environment and Society in Latin America
HIST 181 - Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean
POLI 141 - Latin America Through Women’s Eyes
SPAN 171 - Susurros del Pasado: Whispers Toward the 21st Century
B. Latin American Electives - 3 courses
Three Latin-America focused courses taken at Macalester, including at least 1 Humanities and 1 Social Science course (see list below). No more than 1 course at the 100 level may be counted as an LAS elective, and at least 1 course must be at the 300 level. Spanish courses may count for LAS electives, only at level SPAN-305 and above; Portuguese courses may count for LAS electives, only at level PORT-331 and above.
Humanities
LATI 171 - Susurros del Pasado: Whispers Toward the 21st Century
LATI 181 - Introduction to Latin America
LATI 281 - The Andes: Landscape and Power
LATI 282 - Latin America: Art and Nation
LATI 283 - Amazon: A Cultural History
LATI 285 - Cold War Latin America
LATI 308 - Introduction to U.S. Latinx Studies
LATI 316 - Mapping the New World: Exploration, Encounters, and Disasters
PORT 331 - Journeys through Brazil: Oral and Written Expression
PORT 341 - Voices from the Margins: Afro-Brazilian Women Writers
SPAN 355 - Cultural Resistance and Survival: Indigenous and African Peoples in Early Spanish America
SPAN 362 - Modern Hispanic Novel and the Visual Arts
LATI 376 - Spanish Dialectology
LATI 381 - Transnational Latin Americas
LATI 385 - Frontera: The U.S. Mexican Border
LATI 386 - Constructions of a Female Killer
Social Sciences
LATI 141 - Latin America Through Women’s Eyes
SOCI 220 - Sociology of Race/Ethnicity
ECON 239 - Economics of Global Food Problems
LATI 244 - Urban Latinx Power in the U.S.
LATI 245 - Latin American Politics
LATI 249 - Environment and Society in Latin America
LATI 251 - Politics of Memory in Latin America
LATI 255 - Latin America in Motion
LATI 341 - Comparative Social Movements
LATI 342 - Urban Politics of Latin America
ECON 426 - International Economic Development
C. Research Methods course - 1 course
Students should choose a research methods course that will prepare them for their capstone project on their desired area of expertise. Select from 1 of the following courses:
ANTH 230 - Ethnographic Interviewing
ECON 381 - Introduction to Econometrics
GEOG 377 - Qualitative Research Methods in Geography
HIST 290 - History: Then and Now
SPAN 307 - Introduction to the Analysis of Hispanic Texts
POLI 269 - Empirical Research Methods
SOCI 269 - Social Science Inquiry
SOCI 270 - Interpretive Social Research
SOCI 275 - Comparative-Historical Sociology
D. Study Away - 3 courses
Latin American Studies majors must complete 1 semester of full-time study away in a Latin American country, or a program approved by the Latin American Studies director. Up to 3 study off-campus courses will be counted. In case fewer than 3 study away courses are counted, a student must take additional approved course(s) to complete the major.
E. Capstone-1 course
Majors normally complete their capstone during Fall semester in LATI 488 - Senior Seminar. Occasionally, a student may be approved to complete their capstone via an independent project or another appropriate course. Students participating in the Honors program normally take LATI 488 - Senior Seminar in the Fall and LATI 644 - Honors Independent in the Spring of their senior year.
F. Language Proficiency Requirement
Option A: Spanish proficiency to the level of SPAN 305 - Advanced Oral and Written Expression , demonstrated by successfully completing SPAN 305 or a higher-level Spanish course at Macalester, and Portuguese proficiency to the level of PORT 111 - Accelerated Beginning Portuguese .
Option B: Portuguese proficiency to the level of PORT 331 - Journeys through Brazil: Oral and Written Expression , demonstrated by successfully completing PORT 331 or a higher-level Portuguese course at Macalester, and Spanish proficiency to the level of SPAN 110 - Accelerated Beginning Spanish .
Macalester