Majors & Minors

Latin American Studies Major | Latin American Studies Minor

General Distribution Requirement

LATI 141, LATI 244, LATI 245, LATI 246, LATI 248, LATI 249, LATI 255, LATI 258, LATI 341 and LATI 342 count toward the general distribution requirement in social science. LATI 181, LATI 281, LATI 282, LATI 307, LATI 251, LATI 316 count toward the general distribution requirement in humanities.            

General Education Requirements

Courses that meet the general education requirements in writing, quantitative thinking, internationalism, and U.S. identities and differences will be posted on the Registrar's web page in advance of registration each semester.

Additional information regarding the general distribution requirement and the general education requirements can be found in the graduation requirements section of this catalog.

Honors Program

The Latin American Studies program participates in the honors program. Eligibility requirements, application procedures and specific project expectations for the department are available from either the department office or the Academic Programs and Advising Office.

Topics Courses

LATI 194, LATI 294, LATI 394, LATI 494 

Occasional courses on Latin American topics offered from time to time by program and visiting Latin American studies faculty. To be announced at registration. (4 credits)

Independent Study

The department offers independent study options in the form of tutorials, independent projects, internships, preceptorships and Honors independent projects. For more information contact the department and review the Curriculum section of the catalog.

Latin American Studies Major

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
LATI 181 - Introduction to Latin America
LATI 141 - Latin America Through Women's Eyes
LATI 151 - Caribbean Literature and Culture: Aesthetics of Resistance

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 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
SPAN 332 - Spanish in the United States
PORT 341 - Voices from the Margins: Afro-Brazilian Women Writers
SPAN 354 - Here and There: Superando Limites
LATI 355 - Cultural Resistance and Survival: Indigenous and African Peoples in Early Spanish America
SPAN 359 - "Neither Saints Nor Sinners": Women Writers of the Early Modern Hispanic World
SPAN 360 - One Hundred Years of Plenitude: Modern and Postmodern Hispanic Fiction
SPAN 362 - Modern Hispanic Novel and the Visual Arts
LATI 376 - Spanish Dialectology
LATI 381 - Transnational Latin Americas
SPAN 382 - Constructing the Nation
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 Capstone

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 277 - 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 Methods for Social Science

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, 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 .

Latin American Studies Minor

A Latin American studies minor consists of proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese (at the level of SPAN 305 or PORT 331), plus any five (5) Latin American studies courses. No more than 2 courses at the 100 level may count toward the minor, and at least 1 course must be at the 300 level.

• Spanish courses may count for LAS minor, only at level SPAN-305 and above
• Portuguese courses may count for LAS minor, only at level PORT-331 and above
• Up to 2 courses from study away may be counted