Area Studies

Foreign area study provides an interesting and rewarding way to organize learning in the social sciences and humanities, challenging students to immerse themselves in the study of unfamiliar cultures. This kind of study provides two important satisfactions:

1. Students find it exciting to acquire an understanding of human experiences for which they do not have an intuitive sensitivity.
2. Students are challenged by the opportunity to confront the conceptual framework of historical, cultural, and political study within the context of concrete data, which by its sheer volume and its remoteness from their experience stretches their minds.

Offerings in Area Studies include a major in Asian Studies, a minor in Latin American Studies, and a number of other regional studies available to Diplomacy and World Affairs majors. Area Study at Occidental is based on a multidisciplinary approach to learning and covers the history, politics, government, international relations, and culture of an area. The general goal is to provide a broad educational program in the study of a geographical area and to facilitate advanced research under the supervision of qualified faculty.

Latin American Studies Minor

Associate Professor López (Spanish and French Studies), Chair
Professor Emerita Jane Jaquette (Politics); Professors Chin (Critical Theory and Social Justice), Ellis (Spanish and French Studies), Fernández (Spanish and French Studies), Foreman (English and Comparative Literary Studies), Rodríguez (Psychology), Saint-Aubin (Spanish and French Studies); Associate Professors Braker (Biology), Sousa (History), Tobin (Critical Theory and Social Justice), Trevizo (Sociology); Assistant Professors Chu (Diplomacy and World Affairs), M. López (Economics), Mora (Sociology), Puerto (History), Shelton (Spanish and French Studies)

The Latin American Studies minor is open to majors from any discipline. The minor consists of 20 units from the list of approved courses. Students not majoring in Spanish should take at least eight units in the Spanish Department at the 201 level or above; comparable courses in Portuguese at other institutions will be accepted as well. Spanish majors should take at least 12 units of their Latin American Studies minor courses outside of the Spanish Department. Courses in Latino or Border Studies are accepted for credit in the Latin American Studies minor, in consultation with the chair of the program.

The following courses are among the offerings at Occidental that may be included in a Latin American Studies minor:

American Studies:

• 295 Topic: Latino/a Experience

Critical Theory and Social Justice:

• 247 Machos: Forms of Latin American Manliness

Diplomacy and World Affairs:

• 236 The Cuban Revolution: Past, Present, and Future
• 237 Cuba, Vietnam, China: Communism in a Post-Communist World

Economics:

• 324 The Economics of Immigration

Education:

• 213 Chicano Education

English and Comparative Literary Studies:

• 341 Slavery in the Americas: The Politics of Representation
• 354 Chicano Literature

History:

• 250 Colonial Latin America
• 251 Modern Latin America
• 258 Mexican Politics in the Twentieth Century
• 355 Indians of Mexico
• 358 Latin America-United States Relations
• 359 Mexico-United States Borderlands

Music:

• 102 Music of Latin America

Politics:

• 210 Latin American Politics

Sociology:

• 420 Immigration to the United States from Mexico and Central America

Spanish:

• 201 Intermediate Spanish
• 202 Advanced Spanish
• 211 Advanced Spanish for Native Speakers
• 251 Advanced Conversation I (1 unit)
• 252 Advanced Conversation II (1 unit)
• 301 Introduction to Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin American Literature and Civilization
• 303 Introduction to Modern Latin American Literature and Civilization
• 310 Literary and Cultural Themes of Mexico
• 363 Hispanic Autobiography
• 382 Contemporary Mexican Novel
• 383 Survey of Chicano Literature

Theater:

• 136 Dunham Technique (1 unit)
• 140 Afro-Caribbean Dance Workshop (1 unit)