Department of Latin American, Caribbean, & U.S. Latino Studies
Faculty
Distinguished Professor Emerita
Edna Acosta-Belén, Ph.D. (Collins Fellow and O'Leary Professor)
Columbia University
Professors Emeriti
Christine Bose, Ph.D. (Collins Fellow)
Johns Hopkins University
Colbert I. Nepaulsingh, Ph.D.
University of Toronto
Distinguished Professor
Daniel C. Levy, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Professors
Jeanette Altarriba, Ph.D. (Collins Fellow)
Vanderbilt University
Ray Bromley, Ph.D.
Cambridge University
Pedro Cabán, Ph.D. (Department Chair)
Columbia University
Associate Professors
Alejandra Bronfman, Ph.D.
Princeton University
José Cruz, Ph.D.
City University of New York
Walter Little, Ph.D.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Blanca Ramos, Ph.D.
University at Albany
Barbara Sutton, Ph.D.
University of Oregon
Assistant Professors
Ruth Felder, Ph.D.
York University
Gabriel Hetland, Ph.D.
University of California, Berkeley
Johana Londoño, Ph.D.
New York University
Full-Time Lecturer
Christine Vassallo-Oby, Ph.D. (Undergraduate Program Director)
University at Albany
Library Bibliographer for LACS
Jesús Alonso Regalado, MA.
University of Pittsburgh
Participating Faculty
Maria A. Aguilar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of St. Louis
Glyne Griffith, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of the West Indies
Ilka Kressner, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Virginia
Adjuncts (estimated): 1
Teaching Assistants (estimated): 5
The Department of Latin American, Caribbean, & U.S. Latino Studies has a cross-disciplinary faculty prepared to train undergraduates for research, service, and applied careers dealing with the U.S. Latino communities and with the Caribbean and Latin American regions.
The interdisciplinary major in Latin American, Caribbean, & U.S. Latino Studies is designed to prepare students for professional and research careers; domestic service with federal and state governmental agencies; careers in the United States foreign service; careers with business and educational organizations, public and private foundations, and other private or public agencies engaged in developing, improving, and promoting trade and the social, political, and economic life of the peoples of Latin America; editing and journalism; and paramedical and paralegal careers.
This major requires interdisciplinary course work with Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino content. Undergraduate students in the department are also provided with opportunities for community-oriented research, community service, and study abroad. LACS majors who study abroad to any country in Latin America or the Caribbean have the opportunity for their overseas credits to count toward graduation requirements in LACS.
The department also offers two minor sequences in either Latin American and Caribbean Studies or U.S. Latino Studies.
Courses focusing on cultures, peoples, and history of Latin America, the Caribbean, and U.S. Latina/os are also offered in the Departments of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, History, Geography and Planning, Anthropology, Sociology, Africana Studies, Education, Economics, Political Science, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Careers
An undergraduate degree in LACS provides students with the flexibility to pursue a wide variety of business, education, and government occupations, as well as for graduate or professional study in specific disciplinary interests in the social sciences, the humanities, or professional areas. Moreover, LACS majors can easily combine their culture and language interests and skills with a commitment to issues of diversity, civil and human rights, and social justice. Many students with a LACS degree pursue careers in law, journalism, marketing, business, social welfare, higher education administration, government, or education. LACS students have also have pursued the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program, Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps. Faculty are available to consult with students about their career interests throughout their time in the department.
Degree Requirements for the Major in Latin American, Caribbean, & U.S. Latino Studies
General Program B.A.: A minimum of 36 credits, 18 of which must be at or above the 300 level, as follows:
Required core courses (9 credits): A LCS 100, A LCS 300, and one of the following capstone seminars: A LCS 411, A LCS 412, or A LCS 413.
Electives (27 credits): A total of 27 additional credits in Latin American, Caribbean & U.S. Latino Studies with A LCS prefix courses or any courses cross-listed with A LCS from other departments. The Undergraduate Director will assist students with an individually designed and cohesive curriculum comprised of these electives.
Honors Program
The Department of Latin American, Caribbean, & U.S. Latino Studies Honors Program is a 36-credit undergraduate career distinction that consists of at least 12 credits of coursework designed to enhance and intensify the undergraduate experience.
To be admitted into the LACS Honors Program, each student must meet the following requirements: the student must be a LACS major who has already completed at least 12 credits of coursework; the student must have an overall GPA of at least 3.25; the student must have a GPA of 3.50 in the major; both the overall and major GPAs must be maintained until graduation in order to graduate with honors.
Students admitted to the Honors Program are required to complete a minimum of 36 credits in LACS courses, fulfilling all the “Requirements for the Major” listed above. Within the 36 credits, the student in the LACS Honors Program completes a junior or senior level independent honors project (ALCS 497, “Independent Study”) under the direction of the LACS Honors Committee, which is selected by the Chair, in consultation with a Faculty Director, chosen by the student.
In addition to maintaining an overall GPA of at least 3.25 and a 3.50 in the major each student enrolled in the LACS Honors Program will need the following 12-credits that are designed to enhance and intensify the undergraduate experience: A LCS 300 (3 credits) that includes an extra assignment linked to the project the student is completing for A LCS 497; A LCS 411, 412, or 413 (3 credits) that includes an extra assignment linked to the project the student is completing for A LCS 497; A LCS 497 (6 credits) which is the LACS Honors Project (e.g. research paper, etc.) that is designed in consultation with the LACS Honors Committee and Faculty Director.
