The Latin American Studies program at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese provides students in the social sciences and humanities an opportunity to engage and deepen their understanding of Latin American regions, their histories, politics, cultures, economies and societies. Courses encourage students to situate both their special interests and the contemporary debates in fields such as anthropology, political science, geography, literature, or history within a broader interdisciplinary framework, while at the same time committing themselves to an understanding of the historical, cultural and political experiences of Spanish and Portuguese America. Through an engagement with different texts and faculty expertise, this program trains students in current themes such as postcolonial thinking, critical readings of colonial histories, literary and anthropological genres, comparative politics, politics of indigeneity and human rights, as well as in environmental policies and political economy of Latin America and the Americas as a transnational whole. With the possibility to carry out curricula experience in Latin America, this program also offers an important lead for career development experiences on Latin America. This knowledge is increasingly necessary for Canada, as the country enters into new trade, political, environmental, and academic agreements with our emerging hemispheric partners.
This is an open enrolment program. A student who has completed 4.0 credits may enrol in the program.
There are no specific first-year requirements. However, first-year students are encouraged to take a Spanish or Portuguese language course ( SPA100Y1, SPA219Y1, SPA220Y1, SPA320Y1, PRT100Y1, PRT120Y1/ PRT120H1, PRT219Y1/ PRT219H1, or PRT220Y1), which counts towards the Latin American Studies Major.
(7.0 credits, including a minimum of 2.0 LAS credits at the 300+ level, of which a 0.5 credit must be at the 400-level)
- LAS200H1 and LAS201H1.
- 1.5 LAS credits at the 300-level.
- 0.5 LAS credit at the 400-level, or an equivalent 0.5 credit at the 400-level, approved by the Associate Chair of Latin American Studies / program administration.
- JQR360H1/ POL222H1/ GGR270H1/ DTS300H1 or another 0.5 credit course on a combination of quantitative and qualitative reasoning/ research design approved by the Associate Chair of Latin American Studies/program administration.
- 2.5 LAS credits or pre-approved courses from cognate units listed below (List A and List B). As part of the 2.5 credits, students may choose up to one 0.5 credit from the disciplinary group course list (List B), or all 2.5 credits from the thematic group course list (List A).
- Students must successfully complete (with a minimum grade of 65%) at least the second level of language instruction in Spanish or Portuguese by the end of the third year of study. This requirement is normally met through 1.0 credit from either the list of Spanish courses in Group A or from the list of Portuguese courses in Group A. Students can also demonstrate equivalent proficiency in the given language through completion of 1.0 credit from the list of Latin American Cultural Expressions courses in Group A at a second-year level of instruction or higher.
List A (Thematic Group):
Latin American Societies: ANT320H1, ANT340H1, ANT407H1
Historical Understandings of Latin America: HIS291H1, HIS292H1, HIS390H1, HIS397H1
Latin American Politics: POL305Y1/ POL305H1, POL325H1, POL360H1, POL442H1
Latin American Cultural Expressions: SPA275H1, SPA375H1, SPA381H1, SPA382H1, SPA384H1, SPA385H1, SPA386H1, SPA387H1, SPA389H1, SPA467H1, SPA475H1, SPA480H1, SPA482H1, SPA486H1, SPA488H1, SPA489H1, PRT275H1
Forest Conservation and Forest Biomaterials Science: FOR201H1
Geography: GGR341H1
Music: MUS305H1
New College Caribbean Studies: JLN327H1, JLN427H1
Portuguese: PRT100Y1, PRT120Y1, PRT219Y1, PRT220Y1, PRT368H1, PRT420H1
Spanish: SPA100Y1, SPA120Y1, SPA196H1, SPA219Y1, SPA220Y1, SPA258H1, SPA259H1, SPA320Y1, SPA323H1
List B (Disciplinary Group):
Diaspora and Transnational Studies: DTS200Y1
Economics: ECO324H1, ECO403H1
Geography: JGE321H1
Indigenous Studies: INS200H1, INS205H1
New College Caribbean Studies: CAR120Y1, CAR220H1, CAR221H1, CAR324H1
New College Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity: CSE240H1, CSE270H1, CSE346H1
Course work: Students must successfully complete 7.0 credits sponsored or approved by LAS, as well as satisfy the requirements of their departmental specialization.
Note: Effective Fall 2021, courses associated with New College's Caribbean Studies, and Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity programs will have the new "CAR" and "CSE" designators respectively.
