Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies

Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies: Self-Designed Major, Concentration 

The Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies program explores the diversity of Latin America’s peoples and cultures. Students choose from an array of courses from different departments and examine Latin American and Caribbean peoples and Latinx communities in the United States, as well as the common cultural and historical roots that connect them.

Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies is an interdisciplinary program. Students work intimately with faculty experts from the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts to analyze the changing political, social, economic and cultural realities of Latin America’s peoples.

Students develop an understanding of how processes and decisions in the United States affect Latin American countries and their populations, both within and beyond the region. The program provides opportunities for students to engage with relevant and urgent topics affecting the relations between the United States and Latin American countries, as well as institutions in the United States and its Latinx population. Among such topics are immigration, trade, security, nationalism, activism (on behalf of minorities, the environment, and human rights), and cultural identity.

The program enables students to become engaged global citizens, who are sensitive to cultural, social, economic, and political differences while competent to establish bridges among them. 

Program Highlights

The Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies program includes courses that will help students to recognize, understand, and analyze:

  1. the diverse peoples, cultures, histories, politics, identities, languages, and religions of the region, including the United States.
  2. how racism, colonialism, imperialism, and globalization have shaped the histories, cultures, and experiences of Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean peoples, either directly or indirectly.
  3. the influence of Latin America and the Caribbean on other areas of the world.
  4. how Latin American, Latinx and Caribbean identities and experiences shape and are shaped by contact and migration.

 

Students
Community-Based Learning

Connect learning in the classroom with civic engagement by taking part in Community-Based Learning.

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Study Abroad

Participate in a semester or yearlong study abroad experience in Latin America or Spain.

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Volunteer Opportunities

Engage and interact with the sizeable Hispanic and Latino population in the area through volunteer opportunities.

Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies News

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Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Movement Opal Tometi to Speak on Campus
In observation of Black History Month, the 17³Ô¹ÏÍø community will host a variety of discussions, film screenings, lectures, and a fashion show, planned by a range of academic departments, offices, and student organizations across campus. Opal …
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Blog: Olson ’17 Embraces Spanish Language and Culture During Study Abroad
NAME Ali Olson ’17 HOMETOWN Sioux Falls, S.D. AREAS OF STUDY Spanish major, anthropology minor, Latin American and Latino studies concentration WHERE SHE’S STUDYING University of Leon in Leon, Spain WHY SHE CHOSE SPAIN “I chose to study in Spain …
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Washington Semester Award Winner to Present Lecture on Latin American Politics and the Countries’ Relationships with the U.S.
The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at the 17³Ô¹ÏÍø has selected Brian Beaton ’16, a political science major with a concentration in Latin American and Latino studies from Lynn, Mass., as the 2015 spring semester’s Maurizio Vanicelli …