Program Advisor: Alessandra Santos alessandra.santos@ubc.ca
General Requirements for the Major and Minor
Latin American Studies is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program administered by the French Hispanic & Italian Studies Department.
In consultation with the program advisor, students may complete a Major or a Minor in the program. Both the Major and the Minor allow students to construct truly interdisciplinary approaches to their programs incorporating a broad range of disciplines within Arts. Students who are considering pursuing graduate studies in another discipline after completion of the Bachelor of Arts are encouraged to complete at least a Minor in that discipline.
Interested students should consult the current course offerings available from the Departments of Anthropology, Art History, Visual Art, and Theory, French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Geography, History, School of Economics, School of Social Work, Sociology, or Political Science.
Major in Latin American Studies
The Major program is designed to give students a general knowledge of and strong interdisciplinary approach to the language, culture, society, geography, political systems, and history of Latin America.
Language Requirements
No 100- or 200-level Spanish language courses count towards the minimum of 42 credits required for the Latin American Studies Major. However, SPAN 301 and SPAN 302, required for the Major, are counted toward the 42-credit minimum. Students with a previous knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese should consult a program advisor.
First and Second Years
Students take LAST 100 (3), LAST 201 (3), and six credits from the following courses:
ANTH 232 (3) or ANTH 202 (3/6) (when the topic concerns Latin America)
ARTH 261 (3)
HIST 250 (3/6)
HIST 252 (3)
LAST 205 (3)
SPAN 220 (3/6)
SPAN 280 (3)
Third and Fourth Years
SPAN 301 (3) and SPAN 302 (3) are required. Students with a previous knowledge of Spanish for whom this requirement may be waived are required to take six additional credits from the list below.
Students choose at least 24 credits from the list below or from other courses approved by the advisor in any given year. A minimum of three credits must be taken in at least five of the following areas: Anthropology, Art History, Economics, Geography, History, Latin American Studies, Political Science, Social Work, Sociology, and Spanish and Portuguese literature and culture courses with Latin American content. At least three of these 24 credits must involve a fourth-year seminar course.
ANTH 303 (3/6)* 323 (3) 332 (3)* 353 (3) 403 (3/6)* 411 (3)*
ARTH 342 (3) 370 (3) 371 (3) 372 (3) 373 (3) 440 (3)* 471 (3)
GEOG 395 (3) 495 (3)
HIST 357 (3), 358 (3), 444 (3), 450 (3/6), 451 (3), 453 (3), 455 (3), and 456 (3)
LAST 301 (3) 303 (3)
POLI 332 (3/6)
PORT 392 (3), 405 (3)
SOWK 440 (3)*
SPAN 312 (3) 322 (3) 364 (3) 365 (3) 404 (3)* 405 (3)* 406 (3)* 450 (3) 470 (3) 490 (3)
* These courses are variable in content and thus may be counted toward the major only when the topic concerns Latin America.
Minor in Latin American Studies
This is an interdisciplinary program intended to provide students with a broad exposure to the cultures, histories, and languages of Latin America. Ideally, the Minor complements a major in one of the participating disciplines that comprise Latin American Studies, but it can be combined with any major program in Arts.
First and Second Years
Students take LAST 100 and nine credits from the following courses:
ANTH 202 (3/6) (when the topic concerns Latin America)
ARTH 261 (3)
HIST 250 (3/6)
HIST 252 (3)
LAST 201 (3)
LAST 205 (3)
SPAN 220 (3/6)
SPAN 280 (3)
Third and Fourth Years
Students take at least 18 credits of upper-level courses with Latin American content as listed for the Major (see above) in at least three of the following subjects (disciplines): Anthropology; Art History; Economics; Geography; History; Latin American Studies; Political Sciences; Social Work; Sociology; and Spanish and Portuguese literature and culture courses with Latin American content.
Up to six credits from these courses taken for a major may also be counted toward the Latin American Studies minor.
UBC 2020W Courses with Latin America Content
(this list is not exhaustive, the advisor may approve courses not listed):
ANTH 203 Anthropology of Drugs
ANTH 332 Oral Tradition
GEOG 121 Geography, Environment and Globalization
GEOG 352 Urbanization in the Global South
GRSJ 311 African/Black Women in the Americas
GRSJ 315 Critical Racial Theories
HIST 104D Topics in World History – GLOBAL MIGRATION
HIST 250A Latin American History
HIST 357 History of Mexico
HIST 358 State and Society in 20th century Cuba
HIST 391 Human Rights in World History
HIST 450A Soccer in Latin American History
HIST 460 Revolution and Resistance in the Third World
LAST 100 Introduction to Latin American Studies
LAST 201 Popular Culture in Latin America
LAST 303 Indigenous Peoples of Latin America
SOCI 301 Sociology of Development and Underdevelopment
SPAN 221 Introduction to Hispanic Literature
SPAN 222 Introduction to Hispanic Culture
SPAN 280 Revolution! (in English)
SPAN 312B Latin American Literature and the Environment (in English)
SPAN 364 Colonial Encounters in Spanish-American Literature and Culture
SPAN 365 Spanish-American Literature and Culture since the 1820s
SPAN 490C Topics in 20th and 21st Century Culture: Hispanic Caribbean SPAN 495 Research Intensive Seminar in Hispanic Literature and Culture
PORT 405 Amazonia (in English)