Latin American & Caribbean Studies Winter 2024 Courses

LACS 16200/34700 (HIST 36102/16102, ANTH 23102, SOSC 26200, CRES 16102, PPHA 39770)    
Mauricio Tenorio
MW 1:30-2:20 PM
Discussion Sections (TH 3:30-4:20PM; F 9:30-10:20AM; F 1:30-2:20PM; F 1:30-2:20PM)             

Winter Quarter 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 26380 (ANTH 23077, CRES 26380, GLST 26380, HIPS 26380, HIST 26318, LACS 36380) 
Diana Schwartz-Francisco
TR 12:30-1:50 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 26409/36409 (LACS 36409, DEMS 26409, ENST 26409, HIST 26409, HIST 36409, HMRT 26409)
Brodwyn Fischer   

This course will examine the role played by Marxist revolutions, revolutionary movements, and the right-wing dictatorships that have opposed them in shaping Latin American societies and political cultures since the end of World War II. Themes examined will include the relationship among Marxism, revolution, and nation building; the importance of charismatic leaders and icons; the popular authenticity and social content of Latin American revolutions; the role of foreign influences and interventions; the links between revolution and dictatorship; and the lasting legacies of political violence and military rule. Countries examined will include Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Mexico.

PQ: Some familiarity with Latin American history or the history of the global Cold War is helpful.

LACS 26509/36509 (LACS 36509, HIST 26509, LLSO 26509, KNOW 36509, HIST 36509)
Brodwyn Fischer   

This course will examine law and citizenship in Latin America from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. We will explore the development of Latin American legal systems in both theory and practice, examine the ways in which the operation of these systems has shaped the nature of citizenship in the region, discuss the relationship between legal and other inequalities, and analyze some of the ways in which legal documents and practices have been studied by scholars in order to gain insight into questions of culture, nationalism, family, violence, gender, and race.

Prerequisite(s): background in Latin American Studies, Latin American History, and/or Legal History useful.

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 

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.