Courses
LLAS-101. Introduction To Latino & Latin American Studies. 3 Hours.
This course is an introduction to Latino and Latin American Studies. It explores the diverse origins and conditions of the multiple groups encompassed by the terms "Latino" and/or "Hispanic." The course traces connections with ancestral Latin America in terms of its pre-Hispanic and colonial past, as well as its post-colonial present.
LLAS-109. FYE:Art, Thought, And Revolution In Chicago. 3 Hours.
An introduction to the cultural life of Chicago Latino youth with its regional differences with key themes/symbols and cultural norms created by the historical interaction between Latinos and American society as expressed in literature, art, music, and folklore. Attention will also be given to change and continuity in Latino cultural norms on the basis of historical events. This class explores the history of art and its role in the civilizations from Modernism, the Mural Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement. Using the rich artistic legacy of this area, the class examines the way art functions across borders and how borders have been constructed, debated and lived through in the art of the past.
LLAS-201. Writing Intensive Program: Culture & History Of Latinos. 3 Hours.
Culture and History of Latinos is intended to insure that Latino and Latin American Studies students understand the religious, social, economic and political aspects of Latino groups. It explores their roles and conditions in the new demographic context of the United States as its largest ethnic minority group.
Prerequisite: ENGL-101 with a minimum grade of C.
LLAS-224. The Chicano Movement. 3 Hours.
This course is an analytical overview of stories and histories of and about people of Mexican ancestry or origin in the United States of America. The course examines involvements, events, and conditions directly affecting the fates and opportunities of this constituency through time. The course focuses on regional, class and gender particularities as well as symbolic and epistemological characteristics.
LLAS-225. Puerto Ricans & The Caribbean. 3 Hours.
This course is an overview of people in the Caribbean and/or in the U.S. with ancestral or migratory ties to the Caribbean.
LLAS-285. Mexican Chicago. 3 Hours.
This course aims to examine the meaning, conditions, and prospective future of the extensive and long-established Mexican presence in the Chicago region. Beginning with a comparison of Mexican populations in major US urban centers, the course proceeds to urban and suburban dimensions in the Midwest. It examines the complexity of the Mexican population in terms of regional, generational and phenotypical characteristics, as well as in relation to other minority populations in the region. The course highlights specific profiles of members of Mexican communities in the region and incorporates field experiences and online tours of cultural sites and manifestations.
LLAS-290. Research Methods In Latino And Latin American Studies. 3 Hours.
The course provides an introduction to the theories and processes of critical inquiry in the social sciences and humanities. Each student conducts a focused review of the literature in response to a specific, identified issue and is introduced to the elements of scholarly writing. The course creates a learning community of scholars working to explore meaningful solutions to identified research questions in Latino and Latin American Studies humanities and social sciences area.
Prerequisite: LLAS-101 with a minimum grade of D and LLAS-201 with a minimum grade of D.
LLAS-301. Field Seminar In Latino & Latin American Studies. 3 Hours.
The course aims towards the formulation of a sophisticated understanding of social and political life of Latinos in the current context. It combines theoretical insights and documentary information to examine the assets and current challenges of these communities. This course seves as the cap-stone course for LLAS minors.
Prerequisite: LLAS-101 with a minimum grade of C or MCS-101 with a minimum grade of C and LLAS-201 with a minimum grade of C or MCS-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LLAS-312. Introduction To The Barrio. 3 Hours.
Students do research on their residential neighborhoods using historical and demographic data, along with political and theoretical insights from the social sciences and the students' experiences.
LLAS-340. Latina/x Feminisms & Social Media. 3 Hours.
This course has two goals: first, students will become familiarized with a panorama of texts exemplifying the historical trajectory of Latina/x intersectional feminist thought in the United States. During the second half of the course, students will research social media activism and contextualize popular Latina/x social media activists and representation, with special emphasis on the disputes and ongoing developments in group identities and senses of self, as well as broad social and political questions relevant to Latina/o/xs, with an eye towards citizenship, consumerism, and immigration issues.
LLAS-345. Race, Class, Gender & Latinos. 3 Hours.
This course is an analytical overview of the complexity of Latino community/ies. The course aims towards the formulation of a sophisticated understanding of social and political life of Latinos in the current context. It combines theoretical insights and documentary information to examine the assets and current challenges of these communities.
LLAS-346. Introduction To Oral History For Communities. 3 Hours.
This course introduces students to oral history, a practice that has expanded to many disciplines for its ability to providing information on aspects of life missing from documentary sources and offering different perspectives on historical events and processes. Notably, oral history is used in recovering the experiences of ordinary people. Students will gain knowledge and skills for engaging people in communities in telling their own stories. Students will learn the principles of oral history methodology by analyzing theoretical, ethical, and practical challenges interviewers and researchers face. Students will also learn basic skills on interviewing, transcribing, and abstracting oral histories.
Prerequisite: LLAS-290 with a minimum grade of C or JUST-241 with a minimum grade of C.
LLAS-347. The U.S.-Mexican Border. 3 Hours.
This course examines the instrumental role that the international boundary plays in the regional and international contacts between Mexico and the United States. It examines origins and transformation of the current border demarcation and underscores the strategic role it plays in social and economic respects for both countries regarding trade, industrial production, and migration. Particular attention is placed on the contrasting impacts of this strategic role on the lives of the residents of this binational setting in terms of social, economic, environmental, and political characteristics. Symbolic aspects of the region in both countries will also be explored.
LLAS-348. Mestiza/o Ways Of Knowing. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on the hybrid character of Latino and Latin American identities. It focuses on the notion of Mestizaje, a central concept to refer to the blending of indigenous and other cultural roots in Latin America. It emphasizes the multi-racial and multi-cultural character of Latino and Latin American populations. Yet, the manifestation of these blendings varies--countries like Argentina and Chile, for example, manifest clearer European influences while Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and others, present more evident African influences. The course examines recent academic claims that hybridity influences the senses of the world.
LLAS-349. Gloria Anzaldúa: A Deep Dive. 3 Hours.
This course is a "deep dive" into the particular social, political and economic factors contributing to the work of a single author over the long arc of her career, along with her particular contributions to literary culture in her time. Extensive reading involving a representative array of the author's work and a wide variety of critical essays on that work will provide students excellent bases for their research, writing and class discussion, culminating in an essay or creative project suitable for public presentation or publication. This section of the course focuses on the work of Gloria Anzaldúa, as well as her collaborators and literary intellectual/artistic successors.
LLAS-350. Latinos In A Transnational Perspective. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on transnational contacts between Latinos and their communities of origin in Latin America. Latino immigrants, and often their U.S. born offspring, create and maintain support networks with family and other members left in their sending communities. Transnational networks involve individuals as well as groups. “Remittances,” the money transferred through these networks from the U.S. to Latin American, have become the main source of foreign currency to Latin American Countries and are seen as a key promoter of development throughout Latin America. The course examines competing theoretical approaches to these networks and effects.
LLAS-351. Latinos And Immigration. 3 Hours.
The course examines social and cultural dimensions of the arrival and incorporation of Latin American immigrants to the United States. It reviews migratory flows across time and regions of the country. Through a discussion-based class, students explore immigration through diverse readings from a wide variety of fields (i.e. history, political science, sociology).The readings provide a comparative range of immigrant experiences from different Latin American countries and different time periods. This comparison will provide a broad exposure of the topic from which students will select a specific topic pertinent to personal and professional interest for their individual assignments.
LLAS-353. Latino Diversities. 3 Hours.
Latinos, the largest ethnic minority of the country, are far from comprising a homogeneous or cohesive group. This course examines various ways in which members of this umbrella group differ in their respective histories in this country, their integration processes, and potential outlooks. The examination goes beyond the distinction related to migratory or ancestral ties to Latin American countries to ascertain contrasts within and among groups. Thus, beyond contrast among Mexicans and Salvadorans, for example, students will explore differences within each of these two groups. Topics such as social mobility, educational attainments, labor force participation, and political involvement are some of many options students will be able to select for their research projects.
LLAS-361. Queer Latin American Narrative And Film. 3 Hours.
This course explores the representation of sexual diversity and gender nonconformity in Latin American cultural production (narrative and film) from a perspective informed by feminist theory, LGBT studies and queer theory. Students critically engage these theoretical paradigms while developing research skills and proficiency in oral and written expression through class assignments, including a final research paper.
Prerequisite: ENGL-101 with a minimum grade of C.
LLAS-381. Independent Study In Latina/o And Latin American Studies. 1 Hour.
An intensive investigation of an area of Latina/o and Latin American studies.
LLAS-382. Independent Study In Latina/o And Latin American Studies. 2 Hours.
An intensive investigation of an area of Latina/o and Latin American Studies.
LLAS-383. Independent Study In Latina/o And Latin American Studies. 3 Hours.
An intensive investigation of an area of Latina/o and Latin American Studies.
LLAS-383S. Special Topics In Latina/o And Latin American Literary And Cultural Studies. 3 Hours.
Varying topics in the field of Latinx and Latin American literary and cultural studies.
LLAS-384. Drugs, Intoxication And Addiction In The Americas. 3 Hours.
This course is an interdisciplinary approach to drugs, intoxication and addiction in the Americas. Students will challenge received knowledge on these topics by analyzing cultural products that portray drug trafficking, consumption and addiction and by engaging with critical theory that problematizes the role of drugs in our society and the social harms caused by prohibition. Special emphasis will be given to the ways that various systems of oppression, such as capitalism, racism, (neo)colonialism and patriarchy, intersect in the economy of drugs and how peripheral perspectives from the Global South can indicate more liberating perspectives on the relationship between humans and intoxicants.
Prerequisite: (100 - 399 or 100A - 399Z).
LLAS-391. Internship In Latina/o & Latin American Studies. 3 Hours.
This capstone course is an opportunity for students to culminate their Latino studies concentration with an internship tailored to enhance their understanding of social and political life of Latinos . The internship will be an intense course that will give students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills developed over the course of their undergraduate career to an actual work setting. Students should expect to work closely with site supervisor, others at internship site, seminar classmates, and Professor.
Prerequisite: LLAS-101 with a minimum grade of C and LLAS-201 with a minimum grade of C and LLAS-290 with a minimum grade of C.
LLAS-392. Internship In Latin American Studies. 3 Hours.
This capstone course is an opportunity for students to culminate their Latin American studies concentration with an internship tailored to enhance their understanding of social and political life of Latin Americans . The internship will be an intense course that will give students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills developed over the course of their undergraduate career to an actual work setting. Students should expect to work closely with site supervisor, others at internship site, seminar classmates, and Professor.
Prerequisite: LLAS-101 with a minimum grade of C and LLAS-201 with a minimum grade of C and LLAS-290 with a minimum grade of C.
LLAS-393. Independent Studies In Latino & Latin American Studies. 3 Hours.
Academic credit for special research project student conducts with individual guidance from a faculty member. Projects that could be completed in an established course are not appropriate for Independent Study. Student must submit project proposal to the faculty member in the semester prior to the one in which the project is to be conducted. Independent Study requires approval of instructor, coordinator of program, department chair and college dean.
Prerequisite: LLAS-101 with a minimum grade of C and LLAS-201 with a minimum grade of C and LLAS-290 with a minimum grade of C.