Latino/Latin American Studies (LLS)

LLS 1000  LATIN AMERICA: AN INTRODUCTION (3 credits)

The course introduces the students to the study of Latin America. Its main focus is on contemporary Latin American societies and regional dynamics, but historical forces and the impact of globalization are continuously evaluated. Students will learn about the region's dominant forces and trends associated with development policies, political regimes, population changes, urbanization, and a whole host of social problems, challenges and perspectives. Topics for readings, discussions and assignments include social inequality, gender, race, violence, the environment, food, health, education, social media, religion, emigration and international relations. Students will have opportunities to explore in more depth specific topics as well.

Distribution: Social Science General Education course and Global Diversity General Education course

LLS 1020  INTRODUCTION TO CHICANO/LATINO STUDIES (3 credits)

The course introduces students to intellectual, artistic, literary, musical, and other cultural traditions and contributions of Chicanos/Latinos in the U.S. and in their historical crossing of real and imaginary borders. This course focuses on the specific groups that make up the Latino population in the United States (i.e. Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Central Americans and South Americans) and examines each group's settlement, migration, and social integration paths. Topics for readings, discussions, and assignments include the different racial, ethnic, gender, sexual identities, immigration status and other social groups that construct the Latino population.

Distribution: Humanities and Fine Arts General Education course and U.S. Diversity General Education course

LLS 2480  HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA: PRECONQUEST TO THE PRESENT (3 credits)

A history of the nations of Latin America from the pre-Columbian indigenous cultures to the present time. Among the topics included will be the nature of indigenous cultures, the various European incursions, regional revolutions against European empires, nation-building, and the place of Latin America in global history. (Cross-listed with HIST 2480).

Distribution: Global Diversity General Education course and Humanities and Fine Arts General Education course

LLS 2810  MUSIC IN LATIN AMERICAN CULTURE (3 credits)

This course surveys musical traditions from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Characteristic regional genres, ensembles, instruments, and music rituals will be examined. We will also trace the historical, cultural, and socio-political aspects of Latin American music on a global scale and delve into the developments of some international musical genres. (Cross-listed with MUS 2810).

Distribution: Humanities and Fine Arts General Education course and Global Diversity General Education course

LLS 3050  LATIN AMERICA IN CONTEXT: HEALTH, BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENT, AND SOCIETY THROUGH ORAL PRACTICE (3 credits)

This course focuses on the development and intensive practice of oral expression in Spanish, and is intended for students interested in the fields of business, health, education, environmental sciences, social work, and cultural studies, who are either heritage speakers of Spanish or who are completing a major/minor in Spanish. The class provides a broad context of current relevant issues in Latin America, including politics and society; the state of the economy after decades of neoliberalism; racism; indigenous and Afro-descendent identities; domestic and gender violence; health and disabilities; adult, youth, & child immigration; and ecology and the environment. (Cross-listed with SPAN 3050).

Prerequisite(s): SPAN 3010 or SPAN 3030

LLS 3070  GEOGRAPHY OF LATIN AMERICA (3 credits)

This course surveys the physical and human environments of Latin America. Emphasis is placed upon cultural factors in the use of land and Latin American development. (Cross-listed with GEOG 3070).

Prerequisite(s): LLS 1000 or instructor approval

LLS 3140  LATINO/-A POLITICS (3 credits)

This course introduces students to the dynamism and growth of the role of Latinos, as a group of political actors, in the United States. This course provides students with an exposure to and understanding of various concepts and dimensions of this phenomenon, including historical and contemporary Latino political thought and the efforts to increase political empowerment (representation and participation) and influence through grassroots, social, and political movements. (Cross-listed with PSCI 8145, PSCI 3140, LLS 8145)

Prerequisite(s): PSCI 1100 is recommended.

Distribution: U.S. Diversity General Education course

LLS 3420  LATIN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION (3 credits)

What do we know about Latin American culture, geography, politics and languages? How has Latin America been imagined from the United States? Does it make sense to think of Latin America as one space brought together by a similar history or is it better to imagine it as twenty particular countries with intersecting pasts and futures? This course will attempt to answer these questions by introducing you to a number of key topics and debates common to contemporary Latin American culture, including issues such as democracy, class, race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality, religion, family and globalization. (Cross-listed with SPAN 3420).

Prerequisite(s): SPAN 3030 or SPAN 3010, LLS 1000 or instructor approval.

LLS 3510  IMMIGRATION LAW AND LATINOS (3 credits)

This course provides an overview of the U.S. Immigration laws with an emphasis on Latino migration. In analyzing Latino migration, we will look at the push and pull factors of migration, the channels available for lawful migration, and the impact immigrants have in our society. (Cross-listed with PSCI 3510).

Prerequisite(s): Must have taken at least one social science course as well as a different LLS course, junior standing or above, or permission of the instructor.

LLS 3680  GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF LATIN AMERICA (3 credits)

This course introduces students to the political institutions, processes, and public policies of the states of Latin America. (Cross-listed with LLS 8685, PSCI 3680, PSCI 8685)

Prerequisite(s): PSCI 2500 or junior status or permission of instructor.

Distribution: Global Diversity General Education course

LLS 4140  INTRODUCTION TO LATIN AMERICAN FILM (3 credits)

The course will be a thematic study of significant Latin American films emphasizing and further investigating their relationship to history, culture, society and political issues that have often given rise to social movements. Films from a variety of Spanish-speaking countries including Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Bolivia, etc. will be studied in their socio-political context. At the 8146 level, students will be introduced to theoretical approaches such as early film theory, montage theory, feminist theory, race theory, and phenomenological film theory in order to deepen their understanding these themes. (Cross-listed with SPAN 8146, SPAN 4140).

Prerequisite(s): SPAN 3030 or SPAN 3010, SPAN 3040 or SPAN 3020, SPAN 3060

LLS 4170  INTRODUCTION TO LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURES (3 credits)

The course is intended as an introduction to the study of canonical and non-canonical texts in Latin American literatures, from the 16th to 21st centuries. It seeks to acquaint students with the rich literary traditions of a large region, from South America to Central America and Mexico, as well as with the historical challenges posed by the salient heterogeneity of texts included in the Latin American corpus, from the standpoint of ethnicity, gender, social class, and literary genre. The course also focuses on continuing to develop Spanish language skills, specifically reading for comprehension and interpretation of metaphorical meaning, writing, and presentational speaking skills in Spanish. (Cross-listed with SPAN 8176, SPAN 4170).

Prerequisite(s): SPAN 3030, SPAN 3040; or SPAN 3010, SPAN 3020; SPAN 3060.

LLS 4240  SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA (3 credits)

The course reviews the main social, economic, and political forces that have shaped Latin American societies, and the sociological theories used to understand Latin American development and underdevelopment. Race, ethnicity, gender and class in Latin America, as well as the region's position in the global economy are examined. (Cross-listed with SOC 8246, SOC 4240, LLS 8246).

Prerequisite(s): Must have taken at least one social science course as well as a different LLS course, junior standing or above, or permission of the instructor.

Distribution: Global Diversity General Education course

LLS 4250  CRISSCROSSING THE CONTINENT: LATIN AMERICAN MIGRATIONS (3 credits)

In this course we will use an interdisciplinary lens to study the changes and continuities of migration in the Americas. The course starts with an overview of immigration to the Americas during the first era of mass migration (1850-1920) to explore the relevance of European migrations for national and identity constructions in the Southern Cone of America. Students then will be introduced to the impacts of social and political change on emigration flows, both regionally and beyond the region. They will also explore migration related policies at the national and regional level. We will also study the changes and continuities in the migration system of the Americas. Lastly, we will analyze the new North-South migration, as well as immigration to Latin America from Asia (recent and historical), Europe, and Africa. (Cross-listed with SOC 4250, SOC 8256, LLS 8256).

Prerequisite(s): Must have taken at least one social science course as well as a different LLS course, junior standing or above, or permission of the instructor.

Distribution: Global Diversity General Education course

LLS 4280  INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF LATIN AMERICA (3 credits)

Analysis of the role of Latin American states in the international political arena. Emphasis upon developing, applying and testing an explanatory theory of international politics through the study of the inter-American system: the regional, institutional and ideological environment, power relations, policies and contemporary problems. (This course fulfills the department's international politics requirement). (Cross-listed with LLS 8286, PSCI 4280, PSCI 8286)

Prerequisite(s): PSCI 2500 or junior standing or permission of the instructor.

Distribution: Global Diversity General Education course

LLS 4430  INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, DEVELOPMENT AND CITIZENSHIP (3 credits)

The course examines the forces driving contemporary global migration, the impact of migration in both sending and receiving nations' development, as well as the politics and practices of migration policy development. The course also discusses the current debates on immigrant incorporation and citizenship in the receiving countries. (Cross-listed with LLS 8436, CACT 8436).

Prerequisite(s): Must have taken at least one social science course as well as a different LLS course, junior standing or above, or permission of the instructor.

LLS 4510  ILLNESS AND DISEASE IN SOUTHERN CONE LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURES AND CULTURES (3 credits)

The course will examine representations of illness, disease, and affections in literary and cultural texts from the Latin American Southern Cone, focusing in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. It will explore notions of health and disease, as embedded in literary and cultural texts from the late 19th to the 21st centuries. We will examine the ways in which physical ailments, mental health symptoms, and other conditions or disorders have been conceptualized and portrayed, co-relating the individual "disruptions" caused by unwellness with a host of social and cultural factors. The course will also explore current treatments and therapies for the illnesses discussed in the texts, taking into account the integration of western and alternative medicine and practices. (Cross-listed with SPAN 8516, SPAN 4510, LLS 8516).

Prerequisite(s): LLS 1000; SPAN 3030 and SPAN 3040 or SPAN 3010 and SPAN 3020; SPAN 3060; or special permission from instructor.

LLS 4650  SLAVERY AND RACE RELATIONS IN THE AMERICAS (3 credits)

Slavery and Race Relations in the Americas examines the historical relationship between the trans-Atlantic slave trade and American race relations, connecting the enslavement of Africans in the Americas to race relations in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States. (Cross-listed with BLST 8656, BLST 4650, HIST 8076, HIST 4070, LLS 8656).

Prerequisite(s): LLS 1000, junior standing, or instructor permission

LLS 4780  URBAN LATIN AMERICA (3 credits)

This course examines the experience of Latin American urbanization, attending to its contributions to urban sociology, social movements, and policymaking. Topics include urban transitions (e.g. pre-Hispanic to colonial, post-colonial to industrial, and the neoliberal turn), socio-spatial configurations (e.g. plazas, squatter settlements), urban marginality debates, urban politics, and planning as well as governance innovations (e.g. bus rapid transit systems, participatory budgeting). Students will compare city case studies across the region and to urban life in the United States. (Cross-listed with SOC 4780, SOC 8786, LLS 8786, CACT 8186).

Prerequisite(s): Must have taken at least one social science course as well as a different LLS course, junior standing or above, or permission of the instructor

Distribution: Global Diversity General Education course

LLS 4900  INDEPENDENT STUDY (3 credits)

This course is designed for those students who are capable of pursuing, independently, an area of Latino/Latin American Studies that is not covered under the existing curriculum. The student will be supervised by a member of the faculty of the LLS department. All course assignments, requirements, and expectations will be clearly indicated in advance. May be repeated for credit, up to six hours, under a different topic.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of LLS faculty member required.

LLS 4950  LATIN AMERICAN STUDY ABROAD (3 credits)

This course is designed as an international study abroad course that will introduce undergraduate and graduate students to the dynamism of socio-cultural, economic, and political changes taking place across Latin America. Note: International travel and special fees required. (Cross-listed with LLS 8956, INST4950)

Prerequisite(s): Senior standing or Junior standing with permission of the department. LLS 1000 or LLS 1010 or equivalent and departmental permission.