Latino Studies

Program Offerings

Offering type
Minor

The Program in Latino Studies, administered by the Effron Center for the Study of America, offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that traverses the arts, humanities and social sciences. The program is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the emergence, transformation and consolidation of Latino/a/x as a pan-ethnic group central to the development of the United States as a nation. The course of study also highlights the transnational connections and contexts of Latino/a/x peoples across the Americas, including dynamics of globalization, migration, colonialism, imperialism, citizenship and diaspora.

The structure of the Program in Latino Studies facilitates productive engagement with the programs housed in the Effron Center and encourages comparative and intersectional work with the Department of African American Studies, Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies and other relevant fields of study that help to contextualize Latino/a/x histories and cultures within the diversity of American experience.

In addition, the Program in Latino Studies’ structure facilitates productive engagement with the fields of American studies and Asian American studies and encourages comparative and intersectional work with the Department of African American Studies, the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies and other relevant fields of study that help to contextualize Latino/a/x histories and cultures within the diversity of American experience.

For more information, please visit the Effron Center website.

Goals for Student Learning

  • Demonstrate interdisciplinary thinking by integrating knowledge from various disciplines, such as history, sociology, literature, political science, anthropology and cultural studies, to explore and analyze complex issues in Latino studies.
  • Analyze and critically evaluate the impact of power structures, such as racism, colonialism and oppression on Latino/a/x communities in the United States, within national, global, diasporic and hemispheric contexts.
  • Understand the importance of ethical research practices and engage in responsible scholarship that respects the rights and dignity of individuals and communities.
  • Develop a comprehensive understanding of the historical and contemporary experiences of Latino/a/x communities and other diverse ethnic groups in the United States, including their representation/identity, historical struggles and national contributions.
  • Develop strong research and analytical skills to investigate and interpret primary and secondary sources related to Latino studies, including oral histories, literature, art, film and other media.
  • Demonstrate an awareness of the interconnectedness of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class and other social categories in shaping the experiences of individuals and communities in the United States, Latin America, Mexico, the Caribbean and the world.
  • Foster a critical understanding of social justice and advocacy movements led by different racial and ethnic communities, and the strategies and tactics employed to challenge systems of inequality that promote social change.
  • Develop effective written and oral communication skills to articulate complex ideas and arguments related to Latino studies and engage in respectful dialogue and debate around issues of race, ethnicity, politics and power.
  • Apply theoretical knowledge and critical thinking skills to real-world issues and challenges faced by ethnic and racial communities in the United States, particularly Latino/a/x communities, and develop practical solutions that promote equity, justice and inclusivity.
  • Cultivate self-reflection and empathy, and recognize one's own positionality and biases in relation to different communities and the broader society.
  • Explore the diversity of identities and experiences within and across ethnic communities, including but not limited to Indigenous, African American, Asian American and Pacific Island, Latino/a/x and Middle Eastern communities in the United States of America.

Admission to the Program

Students from all departments are welcome to the program. There are no prerequisites, and courses taken prior to enrollment may count toward the minor requirements. Students are encouraged to enroll in the minor beginning at the end of sophomore year through the end of junior year. Students are normally encouraged to take the gateway course LAO 101 prior to declaring the minor; however, students may also do so at any time during their studies, including after enrollment in the minor. To enroll in the program, students should complete the online enrollment form on the Effron Center website. New students should plan to meet with the associate director or program coordinator of the Effron Center before the end of their first year of enrollment to review their plans for fulfilling the minor requirements.

 

Program of Study

Students may earn a minor in Latino studies by successfully completing the following requirements, consisting of five courses:

  1. LAO 101: Comparative Perspectives on Power, Resistance and Change (formerly America Then and Now)
  2. Three courses in Latino studies, either originating in the program or cross-listed, and preferably representing disciplinary breadth in the social sciences, arts and humanities. No more than one course taken in fulfillment of the student’s major may be counted toward the minor. With the approval of the program director or associate chair, a student may substitute a comparative race and ethnicity course that contains substantial Latino studies content for one of these courses.
  3. Advanced Seminar. With the approval of the program director or associate chair, a student may substitute an advanced seminar with an additional Latino studies elective to further their scholarship in this field.

Faculty

  • Director

    • Lorgia García Peña

  • Associated Faculty

    • Vera S. Candiani, History
    • Miguel A. Centeno, Sociology
    • Patricia Fernández-Kelly, Sociology
    • Rubén Gallo, Spanish & Portuguese
    • Brian E. Herrera, Lewis Center for the Arts
    • Amaney A. Jamal, Politics
    • Christina H. Lee, Spanish & Portuguese
    • Rosina A. Lozano, History
    • Dan-El Padilla Peralta, Classics
    • Deborah J. Yashar, Schl of Public & Int'l Affairs

For a full list of faculty members and fellows please visit the department or program website.

Courses

LAO 200 - Latinos in American Life and Culture (also LAS 336/SOC 341) Not offered this year SA

This required gateway course will consider how Latinos are transforming the United States even as they embrace a racialized pan-ethnic identity. Readings expose students to the demographic underpinnings of the dramatic growth and historically unprecedented geographic dispersal, the ethical dilemmas posed by undocumented immigration, the historical and contemporary trends in social, economic, and political participation, and the hybrid cultural imprints forged in musical, literary, and artistic work. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

AMS 101 - Comparative Perspectives on Power, Resistance and Change (also ASA 101/LAO 101) Fall CD or EC

This course introduces students to methods of American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latino Studies through discussion of some of the signature ideas, events, and debates in and about America's past and present. It presents students various scholarly approaches to historical and mythic manifestations of America from local, national, and global perspectives and considers the historical and cognitive processes associated with the delineation of America. The course examines a wide range of material and media from the point of view of multiple fields of study. A. Beliso-De Jesús, S. Khan, A. Carruth

AMS 403 - Advanced Seminar in American Studies (also ASA 403/LAO 403/SOC 403) Not offered this year CD or SA

Advanced seminars bring students into spaces of collaborative exploration after pursuing their individual paths of study in American studies, Asian American/diasporic studies, and/or Latino studies. To students culminating programs of study toward one or more of the certificates offered by the Effron Center for the Study of America, advanced seminars offer the important opportunity to integrate their cumulative knowledge. Staff

AMS 406 - Advanced Seminar (also ASA 406/LAO 406) Fall HA

Advanced seminars bring students into spaces of collaborative exploration after pursuing their individual paths of study in American studies, Asian American/diasporic studies, and/or Latino studies. To students culminating programs of study toward one or more of the certificates offered by the Effron Center for the Study of America, advanced seminars offer the important opportunity to integrate their cumulative knowledge. W. Gleason

HIS 304 - Modern Latin America since 1810 (also LAO 303/LAS 304) Spring HA

A survey of Latin America from the wars of independence to recent struggles for democracy. The focus will be on state formation in the 19th century, relations with the world economy, and changing patterns of social and political life in the 20th century. Two lectures, one preceptorial. C. Zeltsman

HIS 306 - Becoming Latino in the U.S. (also LAO 306/LAS 326) Spring CD or HA

The course follows the major themes and issues surrounding the history of Mexican Americans in the United States. It seeks to explain the historical origins of the continuing debates over land ownership, assimilation expectations, discrimination, immigration regulation, and labor disputes. The course focuses primarily on the US citizens created after the Mexican American War and Mexican immigrants to the US. It looks transnationally at Mexico's history to explain US shifts in public opinion and domestic policies. While the course examines the impact of Mexican Americans in many regions of the country, it will focus on those in the Southwest. R. Lozano

LAS 401 - Latin American Studies Seminar (also LAO 401/SPA 412) Not offered this year LA

The seminar will concentrate upon themes and topics in Latin American history, politics, society, literature, and/or culture. The focus will vary from year to year. Staff

POL 333 - Latino Politics in the U.S. (also LAO 333/LAS 333/SOC 325) Not offered this year SA

The course will explore the personal, political, historical and sacred aspects of Latinas/Latinos in the United States from the perspective of a theory of transformation. The course intends to provide Latinas/Latinos as well as students from all backgrounds the opportunity to see a people in their own midst becoming and being political as they move forward to create a new culture and community in this country. Staff

SOC 210 - Urban Sociology: The City and Social Change in the Americas (also LAO 210/LAS 210/URB 210) Fall SA

By taking a comparative approach, this course examines the role of social, economic, and political factors in the emergence and transformation of modern cities in the United States and selected areas of Latin America. The class considers the city in its dual image: both as a center of progress and as a redoubt of social problems, especially poverty. Special attention is given to spatial processes that have resulted in the aggregation and desegregation of populations differentiated by social class and race. Two lectures, one preceptorial. P. Fernández-Kelly

SPA 222 - Introduction to Latin American Cultures (also LAO 222/LAS 222) Fall CD or LA

Introduction to modern Latin American cultural and literary traditions with emphasis on the political uses of writing and art, national identity vis-à-vis popular and indigenous groups, memory and representation, the definition of modernity, and trans-American dialogues. The course may focus on national foundational fictions, the literary and artistic avant-gardes of the 1920s and 1960s, Mexican and Peruvian indigenismo, and memory art and cinema. Two 90-minute classes. Prerequisite: SPA 207 or higher, or instructor's permission. Strongly recommended before 300-level courses. Staff

THR 252 - Topics in Dramaturgical and Performance Analysis (also GSS 244/LAO 252/LAS 242) Spring LA

This seminar offers an intensive introduction to the principles and practices of dramaturgical and performance analysis of stage plays as written works, as blueprints for theatrical performance, and as exercises in worldmaking. This seminar also rehearses how the techniques of dramaturgical and performance analysis might be applied to modes of embodied enactment - whether historical or contemporary, whether in art or everyday life - beyond the theatrical frame. In Spring 2025, the course will focus on the life, work, and legacy of the pathbreaking Cuban-American playwright, director, designer, and teacher María Irene Fornés (1930-2018). B. Herrera