Program Description

The major in Latin American studies at Purchase College is designed as a multidisciplinary immersion experience that prepares students for life in a globalized world. Along with an introductory course on Latin American history, students are required to take courses in at least two different disciplines, drawing from courses on or related to Latin America in the social sciences, the humanities, or the arts. All students are required to attain language proficiency, defined as the equivalent of five semesters in Spanish or French. Experiential learning is a central and distinctive feature of this major: all students fulfill this requirement by completing a service-learning project or an internship in a local Latin American community, school, or nonprofit, or through a study-abroad program. Students synthesize this experiential learning with the knowledge gained from their coursework in an in-depth, two-semester senior project.

Graduates of this program will be able to demonstrate knowledge of Latin American history, geography, cultural traditions and innovations, political structures, and social issues and will possess an in-depth awareness of Latin America’s diversity as well as its role in global processes.

What can you do with a degree in Latin American studies? Opportunities exist in a wide variety of fields, nationally and internationally. With Latin American immigrant communities increasing in number throughout the U.S., there is a broad range of career and volunteer options available. Internationally, options include positions in government and in nongovernmental for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Students are also encouraged to double-major in another program to increase their opportunities after graduation.

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

• Introduction to Latin American Studies
   
  
• Foreign language and electives (22 credits)
  To achieve the required proficiency (equivalent to five semesters of Spanish or French), up to 16 credits of foreign language may be required. Students who achieve proficiency with less than 16 credits of foreign language may substitute electives. At least 14 of the 22 credits must be upper level.
   
  
• One of the following methods courses:
  Research Methods
  Fieldwork: Qualitative Methods
  Junior History Seminar
  Or a designated upper-level course in the humanities or the arts that provides senior project preparation, to be chosen in consultation with the faculty advisor
   
  
• Experiential learning—one of the following:
  Experiential Learning in Latin American Studies
  Internship in Latin American Studies
  Or an approved study-abroad program
   
  
• Senior Project in Latin American Studies

Examples of Elective Courses
Cinema and Revolution
Cuba and the U.S.
Cultural Activism in Latin America
Democratization: Latin America
Development and Politics of Latin America
Economies of Latin America
French Caribbean Literature
Global Social Movements
Globalization, Culture, Social Change: Latin America
Immigration: Policies, Problems, and Politics
Introduction to Latin American Literature
Latin American Intellectuals in the Era of the Revolution
Mexican Art From the Revolution to the NAFTA Era
Mexican Cinema
Modern Latin America
Modern Latin American Poetry
Modern Novel of Latin America
New Immigrants in the United States
Pre-Columbian Aesthetics in Modern Latin American Art
Representations of Latinos and Latinas in American Film, 1930–2000
Sex and Gender in Latin America
Slaves and Enslavement in the Americas
Society and Culture in Modern Brazil
Spanish and Latin American Cinema
Special Topics in Latin America
The Dominican Republic: Between Latin America and the U.S.
The Idea of Latin America
The Latin American Short Story
The Modern Latin American Novel
U.S./Latin American Relations
Women in Latin American Literature

For more information, visit the Latin American Studies program site.

Posted May 1, 2012

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