Courses

Hispanic Studies 336: Latin American Culture
This course examines the political, social, cultural and historical development of the Spanish-speaking Americas. In geographic terms, the course includes countries of North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. Historically, the course covers the period prior to the Conquest, the Colonial era, the emergence of national identities, and current cultural trends, issues and conflicts. The primary texts of the course—whether these be literary, visual, performative, or ideological in character—will be approached in an interdisciplinary fashion that combines socio-historical, political and literary critical perspectives. Prerequisite: Spanish 312 or 316. Offered in Fall.

Hispanic Studies 337: Latino Identity in the United States
The diverse population of Latino groups traces its origins to a variety of countries and their experience in the United States is quite varied. This course will examine the socio-historical background and economic and political factors that converge to shape Latino/Hispanic identities in the United States. This class will explore issues of race, class, and gender within the Latino community in the United States (Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Central and South America). Prerequisites: 312 or 316.Offered in Spring.

Hispanic Studies 342: Latin America: Autonomy, Nation and Identity  
This course examines the emergence and development of regional and national literary traditions in the Spanish-speaking Americas following Independence of Spain. Works from a variety of genres, such as poetry, essay and the novel, will be used to explore important aesthetic, economic and political manifestations of the nineteenth-century quest for autonomy and development in Latin America. Prerequisite: Spanish 312 or 316.

Hispanic Studies 345: Modern Latin America through Literature
A study of major themes and works of contemporary narrative, criticism, poetry. This course examines the historical background of the texts under study as well as the emerging literary and cultural debates surrounding them. Prerequisite: Spanish 312 or 316.

Hispanic Studies 355C: Topics in Hispanic Literature (with LLAS topic)
An in-depth study of a particular work, author, or theme in Hispanic literature or language. The precise subject to be studied will be announced prior to registration. Recent topics include: the picaresque novel; literature of the gaucho; women authors; Siglo de Oro; Generación del 98; Spanish drama from Lope de Vega to Buero Vallejo; Latin America short story. Prerequisites: 312  or 316 and one upper-division course in linguistics, literature or culture. (To count toward the LLAS Minor the topic must be a Latino or Latin American topic.)

Hispanic Studies 357: Chiapas Embedded Study Abroad
This course combines classroom learning at CSB/SJU during CD mod and ends with an experiential component abroad. With portions both at home on campus and abroad in Chiapas, Mexico, at the heat of this “embedded” course are the language and intercultural learning opportunities afforded by an immersion experience in Chiapas, in the Mexican Southeast. Through small-group intensive instruction, 1-1 tutoring, a homestay experience and on-site engagement, students will expand their language proficiency and global perspectives. The course will begin with an on-campus seminar organized around the practice of accompaniment (walking with) as embodied by Bishop JTatik Samuel Ruiz. We will study some of the ways that the indigenous communities of Chiapas have struggled for rights and justice while exercising autonomy in the most important areas of their social lives (food production, education, health and good governance). We will explore a poetic mayatsotsil worldview and consider its relationship to contemporary social problems. Once onsite, in Chiapas, students will apply that on-campus learning as context for deeper engagement in language class, field trips to related sites and individual and group reflection.

History 121: Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas
This course examines the development of indigenous civilizations in Mesoamerica and the Andes from 1200, paying particular attention to the rise of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Investigates the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the 1500s and its consequences, focusing on how indigenous peoples and European settlers through conflict and cooperation created new, hybrid societies and cultures in the colonial New World.

History 277D: Revolution and Repression in Modaern in Latin America
¡Viva la Revolución! Latin Americans from many countries shouted their loyalty to revolutionary movements over the twentieth century. The revolutionaries sought to overthrow unresponsive and often times corrupt, brutal governments. They also desired a new, more egalitarian society, one that more evenly distributed the wealth generated from the region’s rich resources. Most of these movements, however, failed. What caused Latin Americans to rise in revolution in the twentieth century? What were the revolutionaries’ goals? Why did most of these movements fail? We will examine precisely these questions over the semester.

History 321: Mexico: From Aztes to Independence
This course begins with the Spanish conquest and ends with Independence from Spain in 1821. Includes the consequences of the conquest for Native Americans, the formation of new hybrid societies and cultures in a racially diverse world, gender relations, religion and the church, and 18th-century efforts to reform Mexican society according to Enlightenment ideals.

History 322: Mexico from Independence to Today
This course traces the history of Mexico from Independence in 1821 to the present. Although we will examine Mexico's political development since 1821, this course focuses mostly on the social and cultural history of Mexico. We will explore Mexico's ethnic diversity, national identity, religious traditions, and gender patterns and how all these elements changed over time-from a chaotic nineteenth attempt to forge an independent nation, through the throws of the Mexican Revolution, to the present-day struggles between the state and drug cartels.

History 323: Religion in Latin America
This course studies the changing nature of religious cultures in Latin America from the pre-Columbian period to the present day. Includes the study of indigenous religious practices, the European “spiritual conquest” of the New World, the creation of syncretic forms of Catholicism, 19th century conflicts between religion and secularism, the spread of Protestantism in the 20th century, and the advent and course of liberation theology in Latin America. Within a historical context, examines the role of religion in shaping sense of self, forms of community, and human interaction with the physical world. 

Latino/Latin American Studies 120: Latinx Identites in the United States
This course provides an introduction to categories and concepts that are necessary for understanding Latinx communities in the contemporary United States. An interdisciplinary mapping of the diversity of groups with ties to Latin America will provide the background for a close exploration of the ways that gender, race and ethnicity are constructed in a range of settings. With a focus on contemporary issues and contexts, the course will encourage students think critically about their own identities. Fulfills Culture and Social Differences: Identities for the Integrations Curriculum and counts towards the Latino/Latin American Studies minor.

Latino/Latin American Studies 270: Readings in Latino/Latin American Studies
Readings and discussions in specific areas of Latino/Latin American Studies. Topics tied to on-campus lectures, performances, or exhibits presented by invited speakers or artists. Approval of the Latino/Latin American Studies Rpogram Chair and/or the faculty moderator of the reading circle required. This course can be repeated for credit with the permission of the Program Director. S-U grading only.

Political Science 343: Revolutions and Social Movements
Analysis of revolutions and social movements as political, economic, and social phenomenon. Focuses on writing by both political actors and social scientists. Case studies are drawn from throughout the world, including movements within the United States.

Political Science 347: Latin American Politics
Comparative analysis of Latin American politics focusing on the themes of the military in politics, economic dependency, reform and revolution, and agrarian reform. Case studies include Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Nicaragua and Cuba.

Political Science 380B: Race and Gender in Brazil
This course combines classroom learning at CSB/SJU during CD mod and ends with an experiential component abroad. Brazil is a complex country. Blessed with abundant natural resources, it has constantly failed to transform this potential into sustained economic development. The economic growth of the past century has exacerbated long lasting inequalities that date back to the colonial period, with the legacy of slavery looming large to this day. These inequalities, when analyzed more deeply, show that race and gender are important categories in understanding the country’s struggle for social and economic development. This class explores the relationship between development, inequality, race and gender in Brazil. Students will learn about the historical contexts that have created Brazil as a nation while also seeing firsthand the economic, social, cultural, and racial diversity of the country.

Sociology 327: Food Culture, Society
Food is central to human life, but how food is defined, acquired, and consumed varies widely throughout the world. This class takes a four-field anthropological approach to the study of food. In this course, students will explore how food nourishes and shapes our bodies, how historical changes in food acquisition have shaped society, and how globalization is re-shaping what and how we eat. The social and cultural importance of food will be emphasized in this class, and students will examine the role of food in building identity, making meaning, organizing society, and creating social practices. This course will draw on anthropological theory and methods to understand the importance of food in shaping and giving meaning to human life.

Sociology 336A: Latin American Anthropology
This course offers an introduction to the region of Latin America and to the field of anthropology. Latin America is a vast expanse of geographic extremes from the glaciers of Patagonia to altiplano desert to the Amazon basin. The region is home to more than half a billion people, speaking over eight hundred languages, and living in twenty different nations. It is a region of contrasts, where wealth and poverty are often in proximity. It is the world’s most urbanized region, yet Latin America is often associated with agrarian communities. Using anthropological concepts such as culture, community, identity, and political economy, students will explore Latin America’s great diversity while also identifying the cultural factors that unify and shape Latin America.

Theology 329D: Theologies of Liberation
Liberation theology is the name for a well-known and, to some, notorious form of religious action and reflection that emerged in Latin American some forty years ago. Today, it has now grown into a family of related though different theologies, which have similar methods, and which all start for the experience of oppression. Although Latin American theology of liberation is perhaps the most influential expression of this relation in the twentieth century, other forms of religious reflection owe a debt to liberation theology, even as they add to the profundity of its insights. This course will begin with Latin American liberation theology and then turn to the work of black, feminist, womanist, U.S. Latino/a, gay/lesbian and ecological theologies to broaden our understanding of the relationship between the Gospels and the imperative to structural change in our society. Prerequisite THEO 111 or HONR 240A