Latina/Latino Studies*

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
College of Arts and Sciences
910 Clemens Hall
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-4620
(716) 645-2191
Fax: (716) 645-5981
Web: Modern Languages and Literatures
Rosemary G. Feal, Chair
Margarita Vargas, Program Director
(716) 645-6000, ext. 1180
E-mail: mvargas@acsu.buffalo.edu

*Not a baccalaureate degree program

Introduction
In the past thirty years of U.S. higher education, three academic fields related to the Hispanic experience have emerged: Caribbean studies, Chicano studies, and Puerto Rican studies. And recently, the coalescence of members of the diverse groups and the ever-increasing number of Hispanics in the United States from all over the Spanish-speaking world have prompted a new, integrative approach to those fields of study in the academy as reflected in the concept of Latina/Latino studies.

The Program
Latina/Latino studies is an interdisciplinary program, the courses for which focus on various aspects of the U.S. Latina/Latino, as well as the Latin American, experience. The program offers a minor.

Latina/Latino Studies (LLS)

200 Black Roots in Spanish American Literature (3)
A study of literature of the Spanish American black experience by writers of African and European ancestry. LEC

204 Introduction to Puerto Rican Culture (3)
Exploration of dichotomies: history and myth, culture and acculturation, tradition and change in relation to the Puerto Rican experience on the island and on the mainland. LEC/SEM

208 Twentieth-Century Puerto Rican Literature (3)
Major Puerto Rican authors of the twentieth century studied within the framework of historical colonial Puerto Rican reality. LEC/SEM

301 Ethnicity and the Puerto Rican Experience (3)
Class and race as coordinates of the Puerto Rican experience in the world; ethnicity as it relates to the discovery and perception of reality. SEM

303 Mainland Puerto Rican Experiences (3)
Lifestyle and emerging cultural personality of Puerto Ricans raised on the mainland; role of Puerto Rican dynamics of social and cultural change in America. SEM

305 Contemporary Afro-Caribbean Religion (3)
Familiarizes students with the rich cultural syncretisms of Afro-Caribbean culture from a Latin American perspective, challenges the miasma of mysticism surrounding the religions as viewed by developed nations, and provides students with the basic skills necessary to conduct field research from an anthropological perspective. LEC

307 History of Ideas in Puerto Rico (3)
Sociopolitical ideas that have exerted a decisive influence in the formation of a Puerto Rican culture and conscience from the second half of the nineteenth century to present times. SEM

308 Black Presence in Latin America (3)
Black presence and black heritage within the Latin American culture, viewed through literature, films, art, and the theatre; stereotypes in arts and the mass media. SEM

401 Seminar in Puerto Rican Studies (3)
Special topics pertaining to Puerto Rican and Latin American experiences. SEM

402 Puerto Rican Literature (3)
Survey of major issues in Puerto Rican society from the late 1800s until the present as represented in major literary texts from the five literary genres: novel, short story, drama, poetry, and essay. Class, gender, race, and ethnicity are the major topics that inform class readings and discussions. The goal of the course is to discover and define what is "la puertorriquerñidad." SEM

404 Havana: City and Culture (3)
Interdisciplinary course; examines the urban development of Havana, from the sixteenth century to the present, as a process that has produced not only a city of universal projections but also a complex symbolic universe that speaks of the struggles and aspirations of its citizenry. Looks at Havana as a complex spatial phenomenon and gives students the basic background they need to understand fundamental political problems in the history of Cuba and the intricacies of its socioracial environment. LEC

Latina/Latino Studies - Minor

Acceptance Criteria
Consultation with the director of the Latina/Latino studies program and completion of a formal application
Completion of ENG277 or LLS204

Advising Notes
A minimum GPA of 2.0 in all courses that count toward the minor in Latina/Latino studies is required.
No more than two courses from another major/minor can be used to satisfy the requirements toward a minor in Latina/Latino studies.
The courses listed are offered on a regular basis to enable students to complete a minor in a timely fashion.

Required Courses

One Lower-Division Course*
ENG277 Introduction to U.S. Latino Literature or LLS204 Introduction to Puerto Rican Culture
APY283 Peasant Societies and Cultures
LLS200 Black Roots in Spanish American Literature
LLS204 Introduction to Puerto Rican Culture
LLS208 Twentieth-Century Puerto Rican Literature
SPA241 Spanish for Bilinguals
WS 219 Women of Color and the American Experience
WS 247 Women in Latin America

Four Upper-Division Courses*
APY331 Archaeology of the New World
HIS322 Latin America: Culture and History
HIS414 Cuban Revolution
HMN321 Youth Culture in Latin America
HMN453 Mexican American Anthology
LLS301 Ethnicity and the Puerto Rican Experience
LLS303 Mainland Puerto Rican Experiences
LLS305 Contemporary Afro-Caribbean Religion
LLS307 History of Ideas in Puerto Rico
LLS308 Black Presence in Latin America
LLS401 Seminar in Puerto Rican Studies
LLS402 Puerto Rican Literature
LLS404 Havana: City and Culture
PHI356 Latino-Hispanic Thought
PHI385 Latin American Thought
PSC329 U.S. Latin American Relations
PSC372 Latin American Politics
SPA320 Contemporary Spanish American Literature
SPA328 Spanish American Culture and Civilization
SPA330 Spanish American Themes
SPA416 Spanish American Theatre
SPA449 Special Topics I (with a Latina/Latino component)
TH 411 Theatre Workshop (with a Latina/Latino component)
WS 315 Cross-Cultural Study of Women (with a Latina/Latino component)

*Courses with appropriate content may be substituted with permission.

Academic Affairs

Phone: (716) 645-6003

Fax: (716) 645-2549

Last updated: Thursday, 09-Dec-2004 15:21:18 EST