• Minor
• Major (BA)

The Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies program provides a major and a minor to all interested undergraduate students who wish to structure their studies of Latin America, Latinos or the Latin American Diaspora in the United States. The program offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and the Latin American Diaspora in the United States. Students with widely ranging interests are welcome.

The Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (LACLS) Program at Brandeis offers an interdisciplinary major and minor. The program draws on faculty in nine departments in the school of Arts and Sciences as well as in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and International Business School. Although individual classes might emphasize local and regional studies, the LACLS major and minor moves beyond a particular area to view communities and regions as embedded within global processes.

The deep commitment of faculty in LACLS to a multidisciplinary approach to the study of Latin America and Latinos is evidenced in the range of courses available and the program distribution requirements. This structure enables students to appreciate the subject matter in its rich social, economic, political, cultural, and historical implications, and encourages students to develop methodological flexibility. Such intellectual breadth is complemented through the completion of the upper level writing intensive seminar designated each semester as fulfilling the requirement for the major or minor and the fact that many students focus on one or two specific disciplines in completing their major or minor.

LACLS majors must take nine courses within the major, of which no more than four can be within the same department (thus ensuring disciplinary breadth). The courses must include the upper level writing intensive seminar designated each semester as fulfilling the requirement for the major or minor, two courses in the humanities and two courses in the social sciences. Other course offerings in the disciplines round out the major’s offerings.

The learning goals for students completing the LACLS major are threefold: knowledge about the region of Latin America and Latinos in the United States; core skills that can be used in graduate study or in a variety of professions; and critical awareness and engagement as the basis for social justice and global citizenship.

Knowledge

Students completing the major in LACLS will come away with a strong understanding of:

1. The history and current circumstances of Latin America and the peoples living there;
2. The history and current circumstances of Latinx people living in the US or elsewhere outside of the geographic boundaries of Latin America and the Caribbean;
3. The hemispheric and global connections between Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinx communities and people and other places;
4. One or more languages spoken in Latin America (not including English).

Core Skills

The LACLS major also emphasizes core skills in data collection, critical thinking and communication. LACLS majors will be well prepared to:

1. Conduct scholarly or professional research applying different critical methods, such as textual analysis and fieldwork, using primary and secondary sources;
2. Evaluate information and cultural artifacts critically, with particular attention to examining taken-for-granted assumptions about Latinx Studies and/or Latin America and the Caribbean;
3. Generate original, informed ideas and insights about Latin America and the Caribbean,  and Latinx people, expressed in a variety of written and oral formats, such as traditional, web-based, visual and other media.

Critical Awareness and Engagement (Social Justice)

The LACLS curriculum provides graduates with the knowledge and perspectives needed to participate as informed citizens in a global society. The exposure to a variety of cultural traditions and social formations gives LACLS majors a grounded view of global processes. The possibility of curricular or extra-curricular experiential learning components, such as community engaged courses working with Latinx people in Waltham, field study in relation to a thesis, internships, and more, also provides tools and opportunities for those committed to Brandeis's ideal of learning in service of social justice.

Upon Graduating

A Brandeis student with a LACLS major will be prepared to:

1. Pursue graduate study and a scholarly career in Latin American, Caribbean, and/or Latinx studies or in one of the disciplines represented in the program;
2. Pursue professional training and a range of careers including healthcare, government, business, law, journalism, education, arts, and non-governmental work in local and international settings.

Students in the major and the minor work closely with an adviser to develop an individual plan of study that combines breadth with a focus in one discipline (usually anthropology, history, politics, or Spanish). Students whose interests do not easily fit the courses available at Brandeis may arrange independent study with members of the faculty. Students may also take advantage of the resources of neighboring institutions including Boston College, Boston University, Tufts University, and Wellesley College. Study in Latin America for a term or a year is encouraged. In the past, students have studied at universities in Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Brazil, and other possibilities are available. Credit may also be obtained for internships in 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.

Patricia Álvarez Astacio
(Anthropology)

Gregory Childs
(History)

Maria Durán
(Romance Studies)

Elizabeth Ferry
(Anthropology)

Charles Golden
(Anthropology)

Sarah Mayorga
(Sociology)

Lucia Reyes de Deu
(Romance Studies)

Fernando Rosenberg
(Romance Studies)

Faith Lois Smith
(African and African American Studies; English)

Alejandro Trelles
(Politics)

Javier Urcid, Interim Chair
(Anthropology)

Affiliated Faculty (contributing to the curriculum, advising and administration of the department or program)
Ricardo Godoy (Heller School)
Charlie Goudge (Anthropology)
Prakash Kashwan (Environmental Studies)
James Mandrell (Romance Studies; Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies)
Aldo Musacchio (IBS)
Laurence Simon (Heller School)

The minor in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies consists of five semester courses in at least three departments.

1. One upper level writing intensive seminar designated by the program as fulfilling the seminar requirement.
2. Four additional semester courses from the course listings under Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx studies.
3. No more than two of the required five courses may be from the same department; and no more than two courses may be electives requiring a paper to count for LACLS.
4. No course with a final grade below C- can count toward the LACLS minor. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements.
5. No more than three study abroad courses may count towards the minor.

The major consists of nine semester courses. No more than four of the nine required courses may be from the same department, and no more than two courses may be electives requiring a paper to count for LACLS.

1. LACLS 1a, designated as fulfilling the oral communication requirement.
2. One upper level writing intensive seminar designated by the program as fulfilling the seminar requirement.
3. Seven additional elective classes are required. At least two of these must be humanities courses offered by departments and programs in the Division of Humanities or Creative Arts. At least two of these electives must be social science courses offered by departments and programs in the Division of Social Sciences.
4. Language requirement: majoring in LACLS requires a passing grade in any 30-level Spanish or French class, or equivalent placement. This can be substituted by a reading competency examination in Spanish, French or another language spoken in Latin America such as Portuguese, Nahuatl, or Aymara, for example (with permission of the LACLS committee).
5. Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies major, students must:
   • Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing one of the following: The upper level writing intensive seminar designated each semester as fulfilling the requirement for the major, or equivalent.
   • Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing: LACLS 1a.
   • Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing: Any LACLS  course approved for DL.
6. No course with a final grade below C- can count toward the LACLS major. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the major requirements. Candidates for the degree with honors in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx studies must be approved by the committee and must complete LACLS 99d, a two-semester senior thesis.
7. No more than four study abroad courses may count towards the major.