Winter 2025 Courses

LACS 16200/34700 (HIST 36102/16102, ANTH 23102, SOSC 26200, CRES 16102, PPHA 39770)

Section 1: TR 11:00 – 12:20PM with Diana Schwartz Francisco

Section 2: TR 2:00 – 3:20PM with Diana Schwartz Francisco

Section 3: MW 1:30 – 2:50PM with Mauricio Tenorio

Section 4: TR 11:00 – 12:20PM with Mary Hicks

May be taken in sequence or individually. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This course addresses the evolution of colonial societies, the wars of independence, and the emergence of Latin American nation-states in the changing international context of the nineteenth century.

LACS 25137/35137
Carlos Soto Román
Schedule TBD

This course will focus on literature as a tool to explore tragic and traumatic events in history, such as wars, genocides, and natural disasters, among others. Through different examples, we will review different poetic and narrative forms that delve into historical and personal memory, remembering, reflecting, and analyzing events that have marked the lives of individuals, communities, and nations. We will discuss how writing can be an effective way of coping with the painful burden of history, helping to heal the wounds of the past, as well as to reflect on the ways in which literature can serve as a way of preserving the memory of the victims of these tragic events, allowing their stories to be told, remembered and honored in order to bring us a little closer to reparation and justice.

LACS 25138/35138
Luciana Luz
Schedule TBD

The objective of the course is to introduce key demographic concepts and measures to analyze population size, composition, and distribution, as well as the three demographic components: fertility, mortality, and migration. The course discusses the main demographic techniques for period and longitudinal data, most frequently used in demographic analyses. The course aims at developing basic skills for population analysis, such as understanding and applying the Lexis diagram; identifying period, cohort, and age measures; calculating and interpreting main demographic indicators, to build and critically analyze life tables, and properly using standardization and decomposition methods to compare populations. The course
has a strong focus on the application of demographic techniques to census data from different Latin American countries at different points in time, which enhances comprehension over the course of the demographic transition in place in the region, and the applicability of these measures to understand recent demographic trends. Applications with be conducted using software Excel and R.

LACS 26380 (ANTH 23077, CRES 26380, GLST 26380, HIPS 26380, HIST 26318, LACS 36380)
Diana Schwartz-Francisco
TR 11:00-12:20 PM

This course examines the history of Indigenous policies and politics in Latin America from the first encounters with European empires through the 21st Century. Course readings and discussions will consider several key historical moments across the region: European encounters/colonization; the rise of liberalism and capitalist expansion in the 19th century; 20th-century integration policies; and pan-Indigenous and transnational social movements in recent decades. Students will engage with primary and secondary texts that offer interpretations and perspectives both within and across imperial and national boundaries.

LACS 26381 
Diana Schwartz-Francisco
TR 2:00-3:20 PM

The course will explore how water shapes—and is shaped by—humans in Latin America. Drawing from case studies from the pre-Columbian era to the present, the course will consider struggles over aquatic resources, dam building, and hydraulic development, as well as the social life of water in the region. Some background in Latin American history or politics is helpful but not required.

LACS 29700

Students and instructors can arrange a Reading and Research course in Latin American Studies when the material being studied goes beyond the scope of a particular course, when students are working on material not covered in an existing course, or when students would like to receive academic credit for independent research.

LACS 29802
Diana Schwartz-Francisco
F 9:30-12:20 PM

This second part of the BA Colloquium, which is led by the LACS BA Program Adviser, continues to assist students in formulating approaches to the BA capstone project and developing their research and writing skills, while providing a forum for group discussion and critiques.

Prerequisite(s): For fourth year (graduating) students majoring in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

LACS 29900

Independent BA thesis course.

LACS 40100

Students and instructors can arrange a Reading and Research course in Latin American Studies when the material being studied goes beyond the scope of a particular course, when students are working on material not covered in an existing course or when students would like to receive academic credit for independent research.