Introduces students to basic research and analytical methods related to Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Students will demonstrate proficiency in the major regional language of choice, and they will develop a research project related to their field of specialty that may be pursued and presented through a variety of media. Graduate students will focus on research techniques geared toward conference presentations and different publication platforms.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: Graduate students will be required to complete additional readings, write reflection papers and attend meetings to discuss these outside of class. Graduate students will write an original journal-length research paper as their final.
Athena Title
Topics in LAC Research
Prerequisite
LACS 1000 or LACS 1000E or LACS 1000H or LACS 2010 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will use interdisciplinary approaches to explore selected themes in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on cultural identity and history.
Students will identify and research a country or topic of focus for the final project, applying the logic of scientific research to an academic or non-academic written, audiovisual, or digital Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) research outcome.
Students will identify and synthesize relevant academic and non-academic LACS literature on a given historical, social, cultural, or political Latin America and the Caribbean or Latinx topic.
Students will also develop their language proficiency through primary readings in the target language as well as expository assignments and in-class debates in the target language.
Students will evaluate qualitative or quantitative data on a given historical, social, cultural, or political topic before assembling a written or digital product accessible to wider audiences.
Topical Outline
1. Latin America and the Caribbean in global and historical context.
2. Research basics in social sciences and the humanities.
3. Contemporary social and political issues in LAC.
4. Environment, development, and alternatives to development.
5. Nation and Pluri-nation, culture(s), and identities.
6. Race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.
7. Economy, neoliberalism, and post-neoliberalism.
8. Topical country/regional studies and processes.
9. Regional integration and solidarity of the past and present.
10. Colonialism, Neocolonialism, and Multipolarity: Relations with Global North countries in historical perspective.
11. Student presentations of final papers and projects.
