Gen Ed: Tier 1 Individuals & Societies - Exploring Perspectives, Social Scientist

In this course, students will apply a social science perspective to the study of Latin America as a complex region. This course will examine the historical, political, economic, and social factors contributing to racism, inequality, and violence in Latin America, as well as how Latin Americans have fought for social justice and waged social revolutions to challenge systems of oppression. This course emphasizes the experiences, struggles, and contributions of marginalized populations such as women, Black and Indigenous people, economically disadvantaged, and members of LGBTQIA+ communities. Using the analytical tools and qualitative methods of social scientists, students in this course will analyze how specific case studies exemplify broader regional trends; identify the historical antecedents of current events; and propose solutions to pressing global problems. Along the way, students will reflect on their own stereotypes about Latin American countries and peoples and come to a greater understanding of the importance of learning about this dynamic region of the world.

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Individuals and Societies - Exploring Perspectives, Social Scientist

Food is of wide-ranging interest because it makes up a significant part of the cultures that bind people together into national communities. Food is central to cross-cultural studies of behavior, thought, and symbolism. This course explores the connections between what people in Latin America eat and who they are through cross-cultural study of Latin Americans' food production, preparation, and consumption. Readings are organized around critical discussions of what people cook and eat in Mexico, Tucson-Mexico Border, Caribbean, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina. A primary goal of the course is to provide students with theoretical and empirical tools to understand and evaluate the relationship between food, history, culture, and economy in Latin America at local and global levels.

Gen Ed- Diversity Emphasis - Gen Ed: Tier 2 Individuals and Societies - Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Social Scientist 

Cross listed with Public Administration & Political Science

How does power shape international relations? In this course, students will apply a social science perspective to the study of U.S.-Latin American relations. The course is organized around the concept of power, and how asymmetric power relations between the United States and Latin American countries contribute to inequality and in justice between states (global) and within societies (social). In this course, students identify and explore social science approaches to the global power structure and use theory to analyze five hemispheric challenges: unequal economic development, cross border displacement, insecurity, climate change, and global health inequalities. In addition, students explore how a social scientist's position in the global power structure shapes their perspective through a comparison of the main U.S. approach(realism) and the main Latin American approach(dependency). Students use the analytical tools and methods of social science to identify how U.S. imperialism shapes the five hemispheric challenges, and to connect imperialism to structural injustice at the international level. Finally, throughout the course, students reflect on their position in the global power structure and how they can contribute solutions to hemispheric problems.

Gen Ed: Tier 2 Individuals and Societies

Gen Ed: Exploring Perspectives, Social Scientist

What do witches in colonial Guatemala, nuns in a Mexican convent, born-again gang members in El Salvador, Catholics seeking in-vitro fertilization in Ecuador, and lesbian practitioners of Candomblé in Brazil have in common? Their experiences tell us something about the complex intersection of sex, gender, and religion in Latin America. This course draws on anthropological methods and scholarship to consider two central questions: (1) How do religious ideologies and institutions shape sexuality and gender in Latin America? (2) How do Latin Americans contest gender norms, patriarchy, and heteronormativity through their religious practices, thus contributing to larger processes of social change? To address these questions, this class focuses on the social scientific study of diverse religious communities in Latin America from the pre-Columbian past to the present.

The course will focus on the specific characteristics of the current conflict by learning about President Felipe Calderón's approach to combating organized crime, the involvement of the ATF and DEA in Mexico, and the important Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), such as the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas, The Gulf Cartel and their leaders Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, "El Lazca", Osiel Cardenas, Miguel Felix Gallardo, the Beltran Leyva brothers to name a few. We will also discuss the Peace Movement in Mexico and the work that is being done to change the course of the conflict. As the semester advances we will discuss more broadly the social issues embedded in this conflict and provide opportunities for students to arrive at complex understandings of the role of drugs and violence in contemporary society.

Cross listed with Political Science

This course offers a general introduction to contemporary Latin American development from the perspective of political economy. We will focus on structural factors to help explain the main political, social and economic trends in the region. The overall goal of the course is to provide theoretical, historical, and policy tools for understanding and addressing the current challenges of development in Latin America.

Cross listed with Africana Studies & Anthropology

In this course, we will explore race and resistance across the Americas. Taking the Brazilian situation as a springboard, this class will critically analyze notions of race, racism, and anti-racism. Students will have the opportunity to work on projects that explore racial ideology, structural/institutional racism, and anti-racist resistance across the Americas. Through a social science lens, students will select, examine, and share examples of racial injustice in a particular country, paying attention to how race has been a determining factor in discrimination, exclusion, and resistance. Course materials are organized around critical discussions of the deeply seated racial inequality and discrimination that impact all aspects of economic and social life, as well as the ways in which different forms of mobilization confront racism.

This course examines the causes and experiences of Central American migration, both historically and in recent years. It explores diverse drivers of migration across the region, as well as the experiences of Central American diasporic communities, drawing on multiple kinds of texts, including film, and engaging with experts and community leaders from the region. You will analyze current policy debates related to Central American migration and you will carry out individual research and group projects.   

GIDP: Applied Intercultural Arts Research (AIAR)

Interdisciplinary introduction to graduate work and research in Latin American Studies.