Program Overview

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Overview of the Latin American Studies Major, B.A.

The Latin American Studies major is an interdisciplinary program designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the region's history, culture, politics, and social complexities. The program aims to enhance students' knowledge of Latin America and the Caribbean, promote critical language competencies and cultural skills, and foster an understanding of the historical and cultural origins of the Latin American and Caribbean communities in the United States.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the political, geographical, and social complexities of the region
• Demonstrate knowledge of the historical and cultural complexities of the region
• Demonstrate proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese (or other language(s) of the region if approved)
• Demonstrate an interdisciplinary grasp of Latin American and Caribbean literatures, arts, and ideas
• Apply basic research methods and skills and synthesize and evaluate scholarly research
• Gain admission to graduate programs or apply knowledge and skills learned in relevant careers

Requirements

In addition to the program requirements, students must:

• Earn a minimum final cumulative GPA of 2.000
• Complete a minimum of 45 academic credit hours earned from UNC–Chapel Hill courses
• Take at least half of their major core requirements (courses and credit hours) at UNC–Chapel Hill
• Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the major core requirements

Core Requirements

The major requires 33 hours of coursework, including:

• Select two courses numbered under 200 (6 hours)
• Select three courses numbered 200-399 (9 hours)
• Select three courses numbered 400 and above (9 hours)
• LTAM 697: Capstone Seminar (3 hours)
• Additional Requirements: Spanish or Portuguese at least through the fifth-semester course (6 hours)

Courses Numbered Under 200

Select two courses from the following list:

• AAAD 57: First-Year Seminar: Afro-Latinxs in the U.S.
• ANTH 68: First-Year Seminar: Forced Out and Fenced In: Ethnography of Latinx Immigration
• ANTH 121: Ancient Cities of the Americas
• ARTH 160: Introduction to the Art and Architecture of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica
• ENGL 164: Introduction to Latina/o Studies
• HIST 51: First-Year Seminar: Latin American Revolutions
• HIST 142: Latin America under Colonial Rule
• HIST 143: Latin America since Independence
• HIST 145: Latin American Indigenous Peoples
• LTAM 52: First-Year Seminar: The Cuban Revolution, Latin America, and the United States
• LTAM 101: Introduction to Latin American Studies
• MUSC 147: Introduction to the Music of the Américas
• POLI 57: First-Year Seminar: Democratic Governance in Contemporary Latin America
• RELI 151: Religion in Latin America
• ROML 58: First-Year Seminar: Mexican Women across Borders and Genres

Courses Numbered 200-399

Select three courses from the following list:

• AAAD 260: Blackness in Latin America
• AAAD 261: Afro-Cuban Dance: History, Theory, and Practice
• AAAD 278: Black Caribbeans in the United States
• AAAD 284: Contemporary Perspectives on the African Diaspora in the Americas
• AAAD 286: The African Diaspora in the Colonial Americas
• AAAD 360: Black Women's Struggles and Resistance in Latin America and the Caribbean
• AAAD 362: Black Latin American Politics
• AAAD 389: The Caribbean Anticolonial: Caribbean Literature, Film, Aesthetics, and Politics
• ANTH 231: The Inca and Their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Andean South America
• ANTH 232: Ancestral Maya Civilizations
• ANTH 360: Latin American Economy and Society
• ARTH 267: Latin American Modernisms
• ARTH 277: Art and Architecture of Viceregal Latin America
• ENGL 240: Caribbean Literature
• ENGL 359: Latina Feminisms: Civil Rights, Ecofeminism, and Health Studies
• FREN 280: French "Discoveries" of the Americas in Translation
• FREN 288: Francophone Caribbean Literature in Translation
• GEOG 259: Society and Environment in Latin America
• HIST 240: Introduction to Mexico: A Nation in Four Revolutions
• HIST 241: History of Latinos in the United States
• HIST 242: United States-Latin American Relations
• HIST 248: Guerrillas and Counterinsurgencies in Latin America
• HIST 280: Women and Gender in Latin American History
• HIST 314: Law and Society in Latin America
• HIST 315: Nation-Building in Latin America
• LTAM 215: Peoples, Cultures, and Landscapes of Latin America
• LTAM 241: History of Latinos in the United States
• LTAM 261: Afro-Cuban Dance: History, Theory, and Practice
• LTAM 291: The Latino Experience in the United States
• LTAM 314: Law and Society in Latin America
• LTAM 350: The United States and Latin America
• LTAM 362: Black Latin American Politics
• LTAM 390: Special Topics in Latin American Studies
• MUSC 258: Musical Movements: Migration, Exile, and Diaspora
• POLI 231: Latin America and the United States in World Politics
• POLI 238: Politics of the Global South: Latin America
• PORT 316: Brazilian Performance: Capoeira, Resilience and Resistance through Movement, Music and Dance
• PORT 323: Advanced Communication in Portuguese: History, Nature, and Society
• PORT 370: Modern Brazil through Literature and Film in Translation
• PORT 375: Portuguese and Brazilian Fiction in Translation
• PORT 382: Women Writers: Brazil and Beyond
• PORT 387: Brazilian Religious Movements through Film and Literature
• PORT 388: Portuguese, Brazilian, and African Identity in Film
• PLCY 349: Immigration Policy in the 21st Century
• RELI 245: Latina/o Religions in the United States-Mexico Borderlands
• RELI 246: Supernatural Encounters: Zombies, Vampires, Demons, and the Occult in the Americas
• SPAN 270: Contemporary Spanish American Prose Fiction in Translation
• SPAN 344: Latin American Cultural Topics
• SPAN 361: Hispanic Film
• SPAN 363: Experiences of Disease and Health through Hispanic Literature and Culture
• SPAN 373: Studies in Latin American Literature
• SPAN 388: Narratives of the Mexican Revolution
• WGST 352: Rahtid Rebel Women: An Introduction to Caribbean Women

Courses Numbered 400 and Above

Select three courses from the following list:

• AAAD 460: Race, Culture, and Politics in Brazil
• AAAD 461: Race, Gender, and Activism in Cuba
• ANTH 453: Field School in South American Archaeology
• ARTH 445: The Mexican Mural Renaissance
• ARTH 452: Brazilian Modernism
• ARTH 469: Art of the Aztec Empire
• DRAM 486: Latin American Theatre
• DRAM 488: United States Latino/a Theatre
• EDUC 510: Latinx Experience in Education
• GEOG 457: Rural Latin America: Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources
• GEOG 458: Urban Latin America: Politics, Economy, and Society
• GEOG 459: Law, Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Environmental Activism in Latin America
• HIST 526: History of the Andes
• HIST 531: History of the Caribbean
• HIST 532: History of Cuba
• LTAM 402: Heritage and Migration in North Carolina
• LTAM 403: Migration and the Environment in Central America and the Caribbean
• LTAM 411: Summer Intensive Introductory Course in Yucatec Maya
• LTAM 512: Summer Intensive Continuing Course in Yucatec Maya
• LING 561: Native Languages of the Americas
• LTAM 690: Seminar in Latin American Issues
• LTAM 691H: Honors in Latin American Studies
• LTAM 692H: Honors in Latin American Studies
• POLI 435H: Democracy and Development in Latin America
• MEJO 443: Latino Media Studies
• MEJO 446: Global Communication and Comparative Journalism
• MEJO 490: Special Topics in Mass Communication
• POLI 434: Politics of Mexico
• POLI 435: Democracy and Development in Latin America
• POLI 450: Contemporary Inter-American Relations

Special Opportunities in Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Honors in Latin American Studies

Latin American and Caribbean Studies majors with an overall grade point average of 3.3 are invited to pursue a degree with honors by writing an honors thesis during the senior year. Each honors thesis is written under the direction of an appropriate faculty advisor; when completed, the thesis must be defended orally before an examining board of faculty members. Honors candidates enroll in the two honors courses (LTAM 691H and LTAM 692H). LTAM 691H counts as a course in the student's concentration.

Experiential Education

Students who are committed to field experience or experiential education in Latin America may be able to arrange for this through independent study credit. Students wishing to do so should have the academic support of a regular faculty member and contact the institute's associate director well in advance of the semester in which the experience is to take place.

Intensive Yucatec Maya

Each summer the Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina and Duke University offers intensive instruction in modern Yucatec Maya, with a secondary focus on ancient, colonial, and modern Maya culture. The courses include classroom instruction in Chapel Hill (LTAM 411) or in Mérida, Mexico (LTAM 512 and LTAM 690), and a field study experience in Yucatán, Mexico.

Independent Study

Any student may enroll in independent study (LTAM 396) with the permission of the curriculum faculty advisor and the agreement of a Latin American or Caribbean studies faculty member who will supervise the student's independent study project. This course may be used to fulfill the requirements of the major, and it is often linked to internships or to undergraduate grants for summer research travel.

Study Abroad

Study abroad is not a requirement of the major; however, living and studying in Latin America or the Caribbean is highly recommended as an experience that majors should consider. The UNC–Chapel Hill Study Abroad Office offers a broad range of programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Undergraduate Awards

Each year the Latin American and Caribbean Studies major offers funding opportunities for students conducting research or studying abroad in Latin America or the Caribbean. These include the Julia Crane, Halpern, and Mellon Awards. The Federico Gil award recognizes the best undergraduate honors thesis written on a Latin American or Caribbean topic. The LTAM Major Book Fund provides funding to defray the costs for required textbooks in Latin American-content courses.

Undergraduate Research

Latin American and Caribbean Studies majors are eligible to develop independent and/or senior thesis projects. A small number of grants are available for undergraduate field research related to Latin America or the Caribbean.