Latin American Studies (LAS)

LAS 177. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

LAS 204. Brazilian Culture Through Music and Film. (3)

Through music and film this course raises questions about national identity, history, social, religious, and ethnic diversity in Brazil. IIA, IIB, IIIB. PA-3A, PA-3B, PA-4C. CAS-B.
Cross-listed with FST/MUS/POR.

LAS 208. Introduction to Latin America. (3)

This course examines social, political, and economic development in Latin America. During the semester, students will have the opportunity to engage Latin American society and culture through a variety of interdisciplinary methods including film, music, art and literature-all viewed in a historical context. We will seek to identify the common and unique elements of Latin American cultures that both unite and distinguish the countries that make up the region. IIC, IIIB. PA-4B, PA-4C. CAS-B.

LAS 211. Writing with Purpose: Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Communication. (3)

This is an intermediate level course which enables students to investigate and discuss interdisciplinary practices of knowledge creation and dissemination. Students will practice a variety of writing and other communication strategies necessary for the effective dissemination of ideas to interdisciplinary audiences and the general public, and can expect to gain experience in working with a wide spectrum of interdisciplinary research, tools and methods while engaging intellectually in interdisciplinary modes of thinking, reading, listening, and speaking. ADVW. PA-1C.
Cross-listed with AAA/AMS/CRE/WGS.

LAS 215. Latin America in the United States. (3)

Interdisciplinary examination of historical, social, economic, and cultural forces that have shaped the experience of peoples of Latin, Hispanic, Latino/a background in the United States. IC, IIB, IIIB. PA-3B, PA-4A.
Cross-listed with HST 215.

LAS 217. Modern Latin American History. (3)

Introduction to the major themes shaping Latin American history since independence, including US foreign policy; economic development; the discourses of race, ethnicity, class, and gender; cultural elements that either unite or distinguish Latin American countries.
Cross-listed with HST.

LAS 243. History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1400s to 1800s. (3)

Development of European slaving activity in the African continent in the 15th through 19th centuries. Emphasis on the activities of Portuguese, Spanish, English, French and Dutch slavers, including the Middle Passage and also the less-studied slave trade in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Identifies the economic forces, as well as the social consequences, of the ongoing slave trade.
Cross-listed with CRE 243 and HST 243.

LAS 254. Caribbean, Latin American, and Latinx Literatures. (3)

Study of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction by writers from Latin America, the Greater Antilles (Cuba, PR, DR, Haiti, and Jamaica) as well as from the Lesser Antilles islands, and Latinx communities in the US including Chicano/a, Cuban-American, Puerto Rican, and Central American. IC, IIB, IIIB. PA-3B, PA-4B. CAS-B-LIT.
Cross-listed with ENG 254.

LAS 277. Independent Studies. (0-6)

LAS 300. Special Topics. (1-3)

Topics vary.

LAS 315. Latin American Diaspora: Communities, Conditions and Issues. (3)

Study realities and challenges of Hispanic-Latino communities in Southwest Ohio in the context of transnational connections that link communities across the Americas. Incorporates Service-Learning projects and community based research. IC. PA-4B.
Cross-listed with AMS.

LAS 317. The Arts of Colonial Latin America. (3)

Explores the art of Iberia and Latin America, with a particular emphasis on the latter, from 1492 to 1810. Topics to be examined include conquest, assimilation, integration, and resistance as it informed the predominantly religious art and urban fabric of Latin America.
Cross-listed with ART.

LAS 319. Revolution in Latin America. (3)

History of modern Latin America through the experience of revolution in the 20th century. Focus on diverse expressions of political and social change with emphasis on Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Brazil.
Cross-listed with HST.

LAS 325. Identity, Race, Gender, Class. (3)

Develops conceptual tools and critical perspectives that enable students to better understand and analyze the processes through which identities are constructed and experienced. Learning activities facilitate analysis of individual identities as experienced through the life cycle and across diverse cultural and subcultural contexts, and build a systematic understanding of the processes and dynamics through which identities and identity groups develop and interact. CAS-C.
Cross-listed with ATH/CRE/WGS.

LAS 332. Latin American Popular Culture. (3)

Interprets and contextualizes elements of Latino and Latin American popular culture (art, music, food, and celebrity) in light of academic readings in Spanish and English that explore issues of hybridity, representation, commodification, and the quest for authenticity. Conducted in Spanish and English. CAS-B-LIT.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 or permission of instructor.
Cross-listed with SPN 332.

LAS 377. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

LAS 385. Race, Science, and Disease in the Americas. (3)

Surveys a variety of debates over race and disease since the European overseas expansion to the Americas, particularly in those regions that developed plantation-based agriculture. Begins with the medical and scientific construction of ideas about race from the conquest to the eighteenth century. Places the development of racial theories of sickness and health in a broad social and political context, and, in particular, explains the medical salience of race in the settings of slavery and colonialism. Discussions will focus primarily on Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States, but will also explore the making of knowledge about race in global setting.
Cross-listed with CRE 385 and HST 385.

LAS 390. Special Topics. (3)

Topics vary.

LAS 410. Current Latin American Issues. (1-3)

Apply academic knowledge of Latin America to contemporary issues by reading works by scholars, authors and artists; attending lectures and performances; and engaging in critical analysis and debate. SC.

LAS 424. Seminar on Modern Architecture in Latin America. (3)

The course combines general background readings on the subject with specific readings on a selected group of countries, architects and projects based on a thematic organization. The faculty presents introductory lectures, while class members will present the results of individual and team research and analysis as assigned. Some of the analysis will be graphical, some will be written; all presentations will require illustrations of the work(s) in question.
Cross-listed with ARC.

LAS 477. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)

LAS 677. Independent Studies. (0-6; maximum 10)