Interdisciplinary Minor

The Latin American Studies interdisciplinary minor is open to students majoring in any department or program who wish to study the region of Latin American in-depth from the combined perspectives of the humanities and social sciences.

Students may earn an interdisciplinary minor by completing a total of six approved courses drawn from at least three different academic departments and meeting a language requirement. The list of approved courses is subject to change, based on course offerings in a given year from the various departments participating in the program.

In addition to the six courses the minor also requires proficiency in either Spanish or Portuguese, equivalent to SPA 260. Students may show proficiency through a placement test.

For complete information about the Latin American Studies interdisciplinary minor, please refer to the College Catalog.

Application for the Interdisciplinary Minor

A student seeking to earn an interdisciplinary minor in Latin American Studies should discuss a proposed plan of study to the chair of the major, listing the courses they will take to fulfill the requirements. In general, proposed plans of study for the interdisciplinary minor should be discussed with the chair of Latin American Studies no later than the second semester of the sophomore year. This allows students in the interdisciplinary minor to take advantage of the special events to which they are invited, as well as to appropriately plan their courses of study both at Davidson College and/or abroad.

The Latin American Studies chair will review the proposed plan of study in consultation with the student and other Latin American Studies core faculty. It will be the purview of the chair to approve courses from abroad for the interdisciplinary minor.

Courses You Might Take

SPA345 Latinx Digital Cultures

This course introduces students to the shifting formations of Latinx culture by centering the question: How does thinking through the lens of the digital illuminate the past, present, and future of Latinx culture? The formulation “Latinx culture” includes cultures that communities and scholars have described using terms like Hispanic, Latino, Afro-Latino, Latina/o, Latin@, Chicana/o, and/or Xicana).

POL 361 U.S.-Latin American Relations

This course traces the evolution of United States involvement in Latin America beginning with the War of 1898 and continuing through the present day. It focuses on recent US-Latin American issues such as the war on drugs, undocumented immigration, and intermittent U.S. interventions in the hemisphere.

HIS 466 Migrations and Immigration in Latin America

This course is a study of the relationship between internal migrations and outward immigration in Latin America. Students will acquire in-depth information about migration/immigration in the early colonial period, in the neo-imperial nineteenth century, and in the twentieth century.