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Latin American Studies

1500 N. Warner St., #1053
Tacoma, WA 98416-1053

las@pugetsound.edu

Program Director

Monica DeHart
253-879-3491

Program Description

What historical conditions and relations have shaped Latin America as a distinct regional, political, and cultural entity? How have the United States and the countries of Latin America exerted influence over each other in the past, and how do they interact today?

The Latin American Studies (LAS) program brings together faculty members and students whose diverse interests converge around the region that, starting in around 1850, began to be called “Latin America.” The program offers a minor that creates a space of exchange that is both transnational and interdisciplinary. Through a series of courses and co-curricular activities, students become aware of the different cultures, languages, historical processes, political systems, and economic models that have shaped the diverse and often divergent experiences of Latin American societies.

 

 

Who You Could Be

  • Attorney
  • Social Worker
  • Consultant
  • Global Ambassador
  • Senior Domestic Policy Advisor
  • Manager of Strategic Impact
  • Senior TESOL Instructor
  • Dual Language Immersion Teacher

 

 

Adriana Flores '13
Alumna
Adriana Flores '13

"I want to make sure that the history that we have is not one-sided, that there are multiple perspectives."

 

What You'll Learn

  • The historical conditions and relations that have shaped Latin America
  • The contemporary cultural, political, and economic dynamics that define the region
  • Latin America’s place within global relations
  • Role of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region
Sample Courses
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This course introduces students to the history, literature, and culture of the different Latin American regions. It examines the products of individual and collective experience and creativity in a variety of ways. Using historical and anthropological texts, the course provides a brief overview of historical periods and legacies, and considers how anthropologists have understood the cultures of urban and rural, racial and ethnic existence. In addition, using a series of literary works, students reflect on the cultural and national identity, moral and religious values, and individual experience of Latin Americans as well as the cultural, intellectual, and linguistic influence of these people in the United States. Classes are organized around discussion and occasional presentations by guest speakers. In addition to exams, students write several short evaluations of readings and are involved in several group presentation projects. The course serves as a required introduction to the Latin American Studies minor.

Code
Artistic and Humanistic PerspectivesKnowledge, Identity, and Power

This course explores the concept of Modernity as it applies to the creation and development of the modern nation with particular attention to the Latin American region. The role of the local and autochthonous cultures versus global and external trends and forces, and the impact of modern inventions and technical developments in an ever-evolving society are examined using literary, historical, and political texts, combined with readings on post-colonialism and post-modernism, globalization and neo-liberalism. These texts inform the reading of the English translation of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a novel often read as an allegory of the forces at play in the shaping of modern Latin America.

Code
Connections 200-400 Level

The Latin America Travel Seminar combines an on-campus semester-long class with group travel to Latin America after the completion of the semester. The instructors, themes, and travel destinations vary each time the course is offered.

Code
Connections 200-400 Level
Prerequisites
Permission of the instructor.

This course introduces students to the business environments and practices of Latin America. The countries of this region are viable trading partners and destinations for foreign direct investment, and the course considers pertinent historical, cultural, macro-economic and political factors that impact business activity in the region. The course focuses on business opportunity and risk assessment, and introduces students to appropriate managerial, organizational, and strategic planning skills and methods for successfully doing and growing business in the region. The course relies on various teaching methods, including lectures, readings, case studies, class discussions, videos, independent research, and guest presentations.

Code
Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives
Prerequisites
BUS 305 or 310 and Junior standing, or permission of the instructor. All prerequisite courses must be C- or higher.

A broad survey of politics in a region often characterized by poverty, political instability, authoritarianism, populism, corruption, and violence. The course explores some of the major approaches to Latin American politics by focusing on political institutions, political culture, non-state actors, and civil society. The course is organized around key themes that are illustrated using a number of cases, which may include among others, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, and Brazil.

Code
Social Scientific and Historical Perspectives
Prerequisites
PG 102, 103, or LAS 100.

This course explores the human experience of migration, exile, and/or diaspora by offering an overview of some of the more significant migration processes within the Spanish-speaking world, and by exploring the social, political, historical, economic and intellectual implications of those processes. The class consists of close readings of literary works in several genres, including poetry, plays, short stories and essays, and the screening of several films. It also includes readings on cultural aspects of and theoretical approaches to this phenomenon. Readings and visual texts are in Spanish and/or English, and all discussion and testing is in Spanish.

Code
Artistic and Humanistic PerspectivesLanguage
Prerequisites
Two courses from SPAN 202-222 or permission of the instructor.

Experiential Learning

Students gain experience in a number of ways:

  • Amanda Diaz '18, summer research grant, "Immigration and detention in Tacoma"
  • Samantha Tigner '17, summer research grant, "The Central Union of Argentine Workers during times of political change under President Macri"
  • Anya Cady '20, internship for Senator Amy Klobuchar
  • Sammie Walimaki '20, Freedom Education Project Puget Sound internship
  • Avery Closser '19 and Amairany Bautista '19, Northwest Immigrants Rights Project internship

STORIES

Read more about Brew Master
Alumni

Brew Master

Intending to go into the nonprofit sector after graduation, working in artist management or development at a performing arts organization, Madeleine took a part-time job as a barista in the campus coffee shop, and everything…
Read more about Beyond Evita
Faculty
Arches
Students

Beyond Evita

One evening last June, philosophy professor Ariela Tubert and Hispanic studies associate professor Brendan Lanctot led their class along the narrow, labyrinthian paths of Recoleta Cemetery on the acropolis of Buenos Aires,…

Where Graduates Work

Our alumni work at:

  • Mente Argentina (resident director)
  • Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (representative)
  • Sage Educators (associate director)
  • Peace Corps (higher education specialist)
  • U.S. Department of Justice (attorney advisor)
  • Butler University Institute for Study Abroad (global ambassador)

Where Graduates Continue Studying

Our alumni continue their studies at:

  • University of Puget Sound (M.Ed., counseling)
  • California Western School of Law
  • Western Oregon University (M.A., criminal justice)
  • University of Oregon (law school)
  • University of Missouri, St. Louis (law school)
Meet the Faculty
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Andrew Gomez
Associate Professor, History

With research specializing in U.S. immigration, the history of Latinos in the U.S., and public history, Prof. Gomez teaches a variety of courses on U.S. and Latin American history.

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Nila Wiese
Professor, Business and Leadership and Professor, Latin American Studies

With experience in small business development, banking, and executive training, Prof. Wiese conducts research in international business strategy, business in Latin America, and gender issues in management.

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Pepa Lago-Grana
Professor, Hispanic Studies and Latina/o Studies

In addition to researching the migration experience, Gabriel García Márquez's work, and Caribbean female authors, Prof. Lago-Grana teaches Latin American and U.S. Latina/o literature and Spanish culture/language classes.

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Monica DeHart
Professor, Sociology and Anthropology and Director, Global Development Studies

Prof. DeHart focuses on the intersection of development and identity politics in Central America, particularly the roles that gender, class, race, and ethnic difference play in shaping identity and trans-Pacific relations.

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Brendan Lanctot
Professor and Chair, Hispanic Studies

Prof. Lanctot is a specialist of nineteenth-century Latin American culture and teaches courses on contemporary Latin American cinema, visual culture and modernity, and the nineteenth-century novel.

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Ariela Tubert
Professor, Philosophy

Prof. Tubert's research is in moral philosophy and action theory. She also has interests in social and legal philosophy, Latin American Philosophy, and ethical issues in artificial intelligence and the environment.

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Beyond the Classroom

Peru
Peru

In BUS 472: Business in Latin America, students take a weeklong trip during spring break to Lima and Cuzco, as well as visiting Machu Picchu.

Class in Argentina
Argentina

Argentina: Modernity and It’s Discontents (LAS 399) offers a rigorous, interdisciplinary examination of the processes of modernization and nation-building in Argentina, culminating in a three-week trip.

Oaxaca, Mexico
Oaxaca, Mexico

Students participating in the Oaxaca Study Away Program (Development, Culture, and Social Change in Mexico) may apply separately for a supervised educational internship experience.