Latin American Studies
S = Objectives
Latin American studies provides both a field of concentration and a program (open to students in any concentration) for those who wish to structure their studies of Latin America. It offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the area from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean to South America. Students with widely ranging interests are welcome.
S = How to Become a Concentrator or Program Member
Students in both the concentration and the program work closely with an advisor to develop an individualized plan of study that combines breadth with a focus in one discipline (usually history, politics, or Spanish). Students whose interests do not easily fit the courses available at Brandeis may arrange independent study with members of the staff. Students may also take advantage of the resources of neighboring institutions through the Boston Area Consortium on Latin America. Courses may be taken at Boston College, Boston University, Tufts, and Wellesley. Study in Latin America for a term or a year is encouraged. In the past, concentrators have studied at universities in Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Brazil, and other possibilities are available. Credit may also be obtained for internships in Boston-area organizations related to Latin America. Transfer students and those studying abroad may obtain credit for up to half the required courses from courses taken elsewhere, with the approval of the program chair.
S = Committee
Silvia Arrom, Chair
(History)
Lynette Bosch
(Fine Arts)
Donald Hindley
(Politics)
Robert Hunt
(Anthropology)
James Mandrell
(Romance and Comparative Literature)
Ricardo Morant
(Psychology)
Wellington Nyangoni
(African and Afro-American
Studies)
Dora Older
(Romance and Comparative Literature)
Angela Pérez
(Romance and Comparative Literature)
Benson Saler
(Anthropology)
Faith Smith
(African and Afro-American
Studies and English and American Literature)
Ibrahim Sundiata
(African and Afro-American
Studies)
Dessima Williams
(Sociology)
Luis Yglesias
(Romance and Comparative Literature)
Robert Zeitlin
(Anthropology)
S = Requirements for Concentration
A.
Passing grade in any 30-level Spanish course or the equivalent,
or reading competency examination in Spanish or Portuguese (administered
by LAS). Another foreign language spoken in Latin America or the
Caribbean may be substituted with the permission of the Latin
American Studies Committee.
B.
LAS 100a.
C.
HIST 71a or b; POL 144a or b; and one semester course on Latin
American or Caribbean Literature.
D.
At least six additional semester courses from the listing provided
below.
E.
No more than five of the 10 required courses may be from the same
department.
F. Candidates for the degree with honors in Latin American studies must be approved by the committee and complete LAS 99d, a two-semester senior thesis.
S = Requirements for the Program
A.
LAS 100a.
B.
At least two courses from either HIST 71a and b, POL 144a and
b, or the offerings on Latin American or Caribbean literature.
C.
Two additional semester courses from the list provided below.
D. No more than two of the five required courses may be from the same department.
S = Courses of Instruction
LAS 98a Independent Study
Signature of the instructor required.
Usually offered every year.
Staff
LAS 98b Independent Study
Signature of the instructor required.
Usually offered every year.
Staff
LAS 99d Senior Research
Signature of the instructor required.
Independent research and writing, under faculty director, of a senior thesis. Usually offered every year.
Staff
LAS 100a Seminar: Topics in Latin American Studies
[ wi ]
Signature of the instructor required. May be repeated for credit.
Examines major themes and problems in Latin American studies from an interdisciplinary perspective. Topics vary from year to year. The topic for 1997-98 is "Popular Music in Latin America." Usually offered every year.
Staff
L =
Elective Courses
The following courses may be
counted toward the concentration or program if approved by the
student's advisor as fitting into the individualized plan of study.
Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are entirely on Latin
America or the Caribbean; the others, which include Latin America
or the Caribbean as one of several areas studied, normally count
toward the concentration or program only if students write a paper
on Latin America or the Caribbean. Students may apply no more
than two non-starred courses to their Latin American studies concentration
or program. Not all are given in any one year, so the Course
Schedule for each semester should be consulted.
AAAS 116b
Comparative Race and Ethnic
Relations
AAAS 123a
Third World Ideologies
AAAS 126b
Political Economy of the Third
World
AAAS 133b*
The Literature of the Caribbean
AAAS 167a
African and Caribbean Comparative
Political Systems
ANTH 55a
Development and the Third World
ANTH 147b*
The Rise of Mesoamerican Civilization
COML 193a*
Topics in New World Studies:
The Empire Writes Back
ECON 26a*
Latin America's Economy
ECON 175a
Introduction to the Economics
of Development
FA 24b*
Twentieth-Century and Contemporary
Latin American Art
FREN 165b
Topics in Francophone Literatures
HIST 71a*
Latin American History, Pre-Conquest
to 1870
HIST 71b*
Latin American History, 1870
to the Present
HIST 173a*
Race and Culture in Nineteenth-
and Twentieth-Century Brazil
HIST 174a*
U.S.-Caribbean Relations, 1898
to the Present
HIST 175a*
Modern Mexico
POL 128a
The Politics of Revolution:
State Violence and Popular Insurgency in the Third World
POL 144a*
Latin American Politics I
POL 144b*
Latin American Politics II
POL 145b*
Research Seminar: Topics in
Latin American Politics
POL 151b
Seminar: Nationalism and Development
POL 170b
Seminar: The Low-Income States
and the Global System
POL 179a
Seminar: Politics and Hunger
SECS 169a*
Columbus: Encounters and Inventions
SOC 107a
Global Apartheid and Global
Social Movements
SOC 112a
Topics on Women and Development
SOC 125b*
U.S.-Caribbean Relations
SOC 171a
Women Leaders and Transformation
in Developing Countries
SPAN 111b*
Introduction to Latin American
Literature
SPAN 161a*
Modern Latin American Poetry
SPAN 163a*
Modern Latin American Fiction
SPAN 164b*
Studies in Latin American Literature
SPAN 190b*
Latin American Fiction in Translation
SPAN 192a
Contemporary Hispanic Women's
Fiction in Translation