Latin American Studies Course Descriptions

LAS - 201. Third Semester Spanish (4)

Prerequisite: SPAN - 101-102. A one-semester intensive review of the basic structures of Spanish. Class conducted in Spanish, with activities designed to practice and consolidate all language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Cultural readings to expand vocabulary, stimulate discussion, and broaden students' understanding of the Hispanic world. Offered every semester. Cross Listed With: SPAN - 201

LAS - 202. Intermediate Spanish II (4)

Students develop reading, speaking, and writing skills, and expand their active vocabulary. The readings (which explore economic development, education, environment, politics, and social institutions in Latin America) are the core of the course, serving as the basis for class discussion and essays and for the selective review of grammar. Students learn to read/write discipline specific content in preparation for upper level classes at USF or abroad. Discussion, essays, grammar exercises, individual lector sessions, tests. Offered every semester. Cross Listed With: SPAN - 202

LAS - 203. Latin American Literature (4)

Offered in English. Representative works of various countries to show Latin American literature in its social context. Historical coverage from pre-Columbian American peoples to contemporary writers. Course is conducted in English. Offered every Fall. Cross Listed With: SPAN - 203

LAS - 301. Religion in Latin America (4)

This course addresses the major religious themes and patterns in Latin America from pre-Colombian civilizations through the colonial period, up to the present. Major issues include indigenous religions; the arrival and impact of Catholicism and the Jesuits in colonial Latin America; syncretism and religious blending of American, African, and European religious beliefs; the challenge of modernity (the Enlightenment, democracy, secularism, nationalism); Protestant and Jewish history in the region; and the recent impact of liberation theology and of the presence of evangelicals in Latin America. Cross Listed With: THEOL - 363

LAS - 303. Latin American Literature (4)

Representative works of various countries to show Latin American literature in its social context. Historical coverage from pre-Columbian American peoples to contemporary writers. Course is conducted in Spanish. Offered every Spring. Cross Listed With: SPAN - 303

LAS - 310. Border Issues I (2)

This classroom and field course examines the history of U.S./Mexico relations from a point of reference at or near the Tijuana-San Diego border. It includes a socio-economic, political and cultural analysis of the border region and of the hybrid culture present in the area within the context of globalization and increased economic integration. Students must take Border Issues I and II in the same calendar year.

LAS - 311. El Salvador Today I (2)

This course studies national and international factors shaping El Salvador's postwar reconstruction. Topics include the role of liberation theology during El Salvador's civil war; the "popular movement" including women's, environmental, and labor groups; political and economic transitions following the war; the peace process and issues of human rights, violence and the environment. Students must take El Salvador Today I and II in the same calendar year.

LAS - 317. Latin American Cinema (4)

This course introduces students to films made by Latin American filmmakers about Latin America. It offers the chance to explore how the national cinemas of the Americas portray their societies' experiences. Topics covered include: relations between cinema and the state, questions of ideology, national identity, class, race and ethnicity, gender, concerns about historical representations and political memory, and the use of film as a tool for social change and human rights education.

Cross Listed With: MS - 317

LAS - 320. Border Issues II (2)

This course examines U.S./Mexico relations as exemplified by the situation existing in the Tijuana-San Diego border. It includes a socio-economic, political and cultural analysis of the border region and of the hybrid culture present in the area within the context of globalization and increased economic integration. Students must take Border Issues I and II in the same calendar year.

LAS - 321. El Salvador Today II (2)

This course studies national and international factors shaping El Salvador's postwar reconstruction. Topics include the role of liberation theology during El Salvador's civil war; the "popular movement" including women's , environmental, and labor groups; political and economic transitions following the war; the peace process and issues of human rights, violence and the environment. Students must take El Salvador Today I and II in the same calendar year.

LAS - 330. Semester in Latin America (6-18)

This experiential field course involves USF students completing a semester's study at a Jesuit university in Mexico, El Salvador, or Chile. Students learn both in and out of the classroom, improve their Spanish, and mature as individuals and thinkers. Preferably, Latin American Studies majors and minors will complete their semester or summer course in Latin America during their junior year.

LAS - 340. Telenovelas/Soap Operas (4)

A survey of the soap opera and melodrama genre focusing on its Latino version: telenovelas. The course looks at the production, distribution, and content of soaps, and their audiences around the world. It explores questions of class, gender, race and ethnicity, and the use of soaps for education and social change.

LAS - 350. Human Rights and Film (4)

This course introduces students to the study of human rights issues through film screening, readings, and writing assignments, and by collaborating in the organization of the Human Rights Film Festival at USF. The course is designed around a selcection of both U.S. and foreign documentary and narrative films addressing civil, political, economic, cultural, social, women's and LGBT rights. Cross Listed With: MS - 350

LAS - 361. Women and Religion in Latin America (4)

This team-taught course involves professors from the Departments of History and Theology and Religious Studies and focuses on how gender constructions and religion have left a deep imprint in historical and contemporary Latin America. Comparative approaches, critical and original thinking, and interdisciplinary facilty are all hallmarks of this course.

LAS - 362. History, Literature, and Film in Latin America (4)

This team-taught course involves professors from the Departments of History and Modern Languages and focuses on how the facts and fictions, the history and the literary, the text and film have shaped our ideas, images, and understanding of Latin America. Here we will unpack disciplines, narratives, and media as we ponder and reinterpret Latin America.

LAS - 363. Latin American Philosophy (4)

This course is an introduction to philosophy in Latin America, Vasconcelos, Mariategui, Zea, Dussel, etc.) and significant philosophical movements (Positivism, Philosophy of Liberation, Dulturalists, etc.). Topics may include: human nature, epistemology, the significance of science and technology, the nature of philosophy, freedom and liberation, colonialism and oppression, racism, and ethnic and cultural identity.

LAS - 372. Colonial Latin America (4)

The blending of indigenous, European, and African cultures during the colonial period to form and create Latin America. This survey explores the tensions and richness embedded in this diverse and dynamic history and tracks how colonial attitudes and ideologies shape the region today. Offered every other year. Cross Listed With: HIST - 370

LAS - 376. Latin American Perspectives (4)

A social and cultural survey from pre-Columbian roots to the present, focusing on how Latin Americans have shaped their lives within colonial, authoritarian, and paternalistic societies. Offered every semester. Cross Listed With: HIST - 140

LAS - 380. Latin@s in the U.S. Media (4)

This course examines the multiple experiences of Latin@ communities in the United States, focusing on media representations within historical, cultural, political, and economic contexts. Students study film, television, the news, advertising, and the music industry. Topics analyzed include stereotypical representations of this group and the development of Latin@ media. Cross Listed With: MS - 380

LAS - 390. Special Topics (4)

A course offering innovative and new approaches in Latin American Studies. Course content, theme, and discipline will vary by semester and professor.

LAS - 395. Internship (4)

Course description pending.

LAS - 396. Internship (4-8)

Course description pending.

LAS - 401. Latin American Seminar (4)

A reading and research seminar focused on themes, regions, issues, and disciplines relevant to students and professors of Latin American Studies.

LAS - 402. Service Learning Project (4)

Students teach English As a Foreign Language to Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a grassroots organization based in the San Francisco Women's Building. They learn about immigration issues in the U.S., gender and race discrimination, foreign language teaching techniques, and the role of education in challenging injustice. Cross Listed With: SPAN - 402

LAS - 450. Capstone Seminar: Contemporary (4)

A reading and research seminar focused on specific geographical areas--the Southern Cone, Brazil, the Andean Region, Central America and the Caribbean, Mexico, the Borderlands--or on particular comparative themes relevant to Latin America--Revolution, Religion, Labor and Politics, Women, Race and Class. Offered every Fall. Cross Listed With: HIST - 430