Department Information
The Center for Latin American Studies advances knowledge about Latin America and the Caribbean and its peoples throughout the Hemisphere, enhances the scope and quality of research, teaching, and outreach in Latin American, Caribbeans and Latinx Studies.
Website
CONTACT
Email | 352.273.4705 (tel) | 352.392.7682 (fax)
P.O. Box 115530
319 GRINTER HALL
GAINESVILLE FL 32611-5530
Map
Curriculum
Courses
LAS 1141 Human Rights in Latin America 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Explores the historical development of the idea of human rights with a focus on Latin America using an interdisciplinary approach grounded in the humanities and social sciences. Students develop their own ethnographic research using qualitative and interpretive methods to gather evidence and reach reasoned conclusions.
Prerequisite: Restricted to undergraduate degree-seeking students.
Attributes: Quest 1, Satisfies 4000 Words of Writing Requirement
LAS 2001 Introduction to Latin American Studies 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Interdisciplinary introduction to the study of Latin American societies and cultures. Provides general knowledge of Latin America and its people, preparing students for future coursework in Latin American studies. (N)
Attributes: General Education - International
LAS 3040 Drug Wars and Oil Fortunes in Latin America 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Examines the historical, comparative, and current dynamics of two global commodities—illicit drugs and licit petroleum. Considers how the presumably separate spheres of legal and illegal commodity exchange have become intertwined and covers the linkages between the Drug War, petroleum extractivism, and United States—Latin America relations.
Prerequisite: sophomore standing or higher.
LAS 3930 Special Topics in Latin American Studies 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Variable topics in Latin American studies.
LAS 4005 Latin American Thought 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Latin American Thought is designed to offer students from all majors a comprehensive overview, as well as an in-depth discussion, of the most influential Latin American thinkers and their works.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.
LAS 4010 Reproduction and Reproductive Justice in the Americas 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Examines the history of reproduction as a political and social phenomenon in the Americas, including North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean. Topics covered include eugenics, reproduction under slavery, population control, reproductive rights activism, adoption, surrogacy, and reproductive technologies as a means of understanding how societies and governments regulate belonging, citizenship, physical and moral fitness, and gendered behaviors.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or greater.
LAS 4011 Social Movements and Gender: A View from Latin America 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
This seminar examines social and cultural movements led by women and LGBTQ activists in twentieth-century Latin America. Analyze the major moments of social and political change in the region through the prisms of gender, race, and sexuality, asking how these transitions were experienced by women and people of non-normative genders and sexualities, problematizing and disaggregating these categories.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.
LAS 4012 Consumption and Social Change in Latin America 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Examines consumption patterns in Latin America and among Latinx communities in the US, situating them within processes of globalization, identity formation, and social inequality. Analyze key sectors such as food, fashion, technology, leisure, and housing, exploring how cultural, political, and environmental dynamics shape practices of consumption. Critically uses case studies and creative methodologies, including netnography, video, mapping, and visual tools.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher & at least one 4000-level course (or equivalent) or consent of the instructor.
LAS 4905 Individual Work 1-3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Qualified students choose a topic in Latin American studies that cuts across disciplines. Students work under the supervision of a faculty member affiliated to the Center for Latin American Studies.
LAS 4911 Undergraduate Research in Latin American Studies 0-3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Course provides firsthand, supervised research in Latin American Studies. Projects may involve inquiry, design, investigation, scholarship, discovery or application in Latin American Studies.
LAS 4935 Latin American Area Seminar 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Multidisciplinary variable topics seminar. Required of all candidates for the undergraduate certificate and minor in Latin American studies. (WR)
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.
Attributes: Satisfies 6000 Words of Writing Requirement
POS 4074 Latino Politics and Policy 3 Credits
Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
Examines the political behavior of Hispanic Americans in the United States. Students discuss political and public policy issues that impact Hispanic/Latino communities, such as affirmative action, the Chicano movement, English-only movements, immigration, the presidency, racial profiling and urban politics.
Prerequisite: sophomore standing or above.