BA Minor

The minor program in Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) provides students majoring in other disciplines the opportunity to become familiar with Latin American social, cultural, economic, and political history, and a major language of the region. It can provide an appropriate cultural background for careers in business, journalism, government, teaching, or the nonprofit sector, or for graduate studies in one of the social sciences. The course of study is designed to be flexible so as to serve students in the humanities, social sciences, biological sciences, and physical sciences.

No courses in the minor can be double counted with the student's major(s) or with other minors, nor can they be counted toward general education requirements. They must be taken for quality grades and more than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.

At a Glance:
3 CIV Courses Latin American CIV sequence (also fulfills Core)
2 Language Courses in 2nd year Spanish or Portuguese or the Practical Language Proficiency Certification
3 Content Courses that focus on Latin America and/or the Caribbean

Program Requirements

The minor requirements include coursework, language proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese, and the submission of a research paper from a LACS course. Students can choose every year from dozens of course listings across the disciplines.

Please visit the LACS page of the College catalog for detailed program requirements of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies minor.

Declaring a minor

  1. Please contact Diana Schwartz Francisco, LACS program adviser, to schedule a meeting and go over your plan of study. You may want to complete the BA Minor Plan in preparation for the meeting.
  2. Submit your Consent to Complete a Minor form to your College adviser. This form should be submitted no later than Spring Quarter of your third year.

Grading

Each of the required courses for the LACS minor must be taken for a quality grade.
Exceptions may be made for courses taken in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Winter 2021), during which time CLAS implemented a Pass/Fail option. Students pursuing the LACS minor were able take up to 1 courses per quarter, with a cap of 3 courses total, for a Pass/Fail grade during this period. Students were required to request approval in the quarter in which they enrolled in any Pass/Fail courses. All “I” and “NGR” grades for courses to be used for the LACS major and minor must be resolved before the student graduates, or courses cannot be counted.

Global Honors

LACS minors may be interested in pursuing Global Honors, a designation awarded through the Chicago Language Center that appears on the transcript and will be recognized at Convocation. For more information, please visit the Global Honors website.

Questions? Contact Diana Schwartz Francisco, LACS Program Adviser.