LACS	Latin American & Caribbean Studies Program  International Institute, University of Michigan

This guide lists courses offered at the University of Michigan in Fall 1999 that will fulfill concentration requirements for the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Undergraduate Interdepartmental Concentration Program. (Click here for a list of Graduate Courses.) Fuller course descriptions and links to current time schedule and enrollment information can be found through the LS&A Online Course Guide. Past course guides are found in the archive.

For a LACS major, basic program requirements are: 30 credits at the 300 level or higher, including at least one course in each of these areas: Anthropology, History, Literature, and Politics, as well as a senior thesis or paper (LACS 399). Double majors are welcome; Study Abroad credits will in many cases count towards your LACS major. For more information, contact the LACS Undergraduate Advisor at 647-0844.

Anth 314 / Amer. Cult. 313. Cuba and Its Diaspora. (4) Cuban history, literature, and culture since the Revolution, both on the island and in the United States Diaspora. Will read and discuss the writings of Fidel Castro, Oscar Hijuelos, Edmundo Desnoes, Reinaldo Arenas, Lourdes Casal, Senel Paz, Dolores Prida, and Carmelita Tropicana, among others, and view major Cuban feature and documentary films. Lecture W 2-5, film T 5-7 (Behar)

Anth 414/CAAS 444. Introduction to Caribbean Societies and Cultures, I. (3). Historical origins of the social structure and social organization of contemporary Caribbean states; family and kinship; religion, race, class, ethnicity, and national identity; Caribbean immigration; politics and policies of socioeconomic change. TTh 10-11:30, B134 LSA (Owusu)

Anth 489. Maya and Central American Archaeology. (3) Cultural evolution of the ancient Maya, whose civilization once extended from eastern Mexico through Guatemala and Belize into El Salvador and Honduras. Religion, social organization, architecture, political hierarchies, subsistence strategies, settlement patterns, exchange systems, and hieroglyphic writing. TTh 11:30-1:00, 2009 Museums Building. (Joyce Marcus)

History 476/Anthro. 416. Latin America: The Colonial Period. (4). Creation and first 300 years of Latin America, from Spanish/Portuguese conquest to 19th-century wars of independence. Interactions between Native Americans and Europeans; transformations in religion and culture; class, race, gender, and ethnicity. MW 10-11:30, 3410 Mason; discussion sections: T 2-3, M 1-2, or W 2:30-4. (Frye) - UC 490.001. Spanish-language section. (Must be enrolled in discussion section 4, W 2:30-4.) (1).

History 478.001 / Portuguese 474.001 / LACS 455.002. Literature and Social History (Brazil, 1850-1920). (3). 19th- and early 20th-century Brazilian novelists sought to describe and interpret the history of the nation since independence. Changes in the politics of social dominance, from slavery and paternalism to the worlds and meanings of 'free' labor; questions of race, class, and gender in the context of defining citizenship rights. M 3-6, 2417 Mason (Visiting Prof. Sidney Chalhoub) - UC 490.002. Portuguese-language section. T 1-2 pm. (1).

History 478.002 / LACS 455.001. Epidemics and Social History. (3) The role of 19th- and early 20th-century epidemics in the construction of theories of "civilization" and "scientific" racism in Latin American, U.S., and European cities; popular healing practices that competed with official methods of disease control in Brazil, particularly those derived from Afro-Brazilian medical knowledge and practices. TTh 10-11:30, 171 Lorch (Visiting Prof. Sidney Chalhoub)

Amer. Cult. 498, Section 002 – Politics of Language and Latino/a Identity. (3) Language and bilingualism as sites for defining and reconceptualizing cultural identity among Latinos/as in the United States; the political meanings of using Spanish, English, and code-switching in literature and in daily life. W 3-5, 2024 Tisch (Frances Aparicio)

Engl. 417. Senior Seminar. Section 004 – Literature in the Americas. (4) (For senior English concentrators). Is there anything that 'The Americas' (US, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Jamaica...) share? Certain basic images, certain kinds of cultural features, that "New World-ness" imposed on the art forms that each one these places has produced? What about differences? How much of Walt Whitman’s "I hear America singing / The varied voices I hear" is there in Jose Marti’s "Our America"? TTh 10-11:30, 4207 Angell (Lem Johnson)

RC, Core 324.001. El cuento latinoamericano. (4). Algunos de los cuentos más conocidos de famosos escritores latinoamericanos; una breve historia del desarrollo del cuento, así como ideas sobre el cuento de diferentes escritores. MW 10-11:30, 220 Tyler. (Moya-Raggio)

RC, Core 324.002. Latin American Women Writers on Social Justice. (4). Main areas of inquiry: Literature and history in the Caribbean (colonial and neocolonial legacies); literature and war in Central America; testimonial literature in the Andes; and literature and repression in the Southern Cone. MWTh 10-11, 66 Greene. (Olga Lopez-Cotin)

RC, Core 324.003. Bilingualism: Linguistic Competence vs. Linguistic Culture. (4). For a global understanding of bilingualism, not limited to the acquisition of linguistic competence, but rather as a means for the development of linguistic culture. MTh 12:30-2, 70 Greene. (Maria Rodriguez)

RC, Core 324.004. Gabriel García Márquez in Literature and Film. (4). The work of Gabriel García Márquez and its transposition into film. TTh 11-12:30, 17 Tyler; W 5-7, 122 Tyler. (Margarita De La Vega Hurtado)

RC, Humanities 317. The Writings of Latinas. (4) Essays, poems, and narrative fiction of Chicana writers, as well as women writers from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. TTh 11-12:30, 24-26 Tyler. (Moya-Raggio)

Portuguese 350, Independent Study; Portuguese 450, Independent Study; and Portuguese 489, Directed Readings in Portuguese. (Proposal forms are available in the Department of Romance Languages Office.)

Spanish 328.001. Performance and Agency in Latin American Popular Cultures. (3). The role of popular cultures in Latin America in the "representation" of Latin American identities and the constructions of race, gender, and sexual identities, and how they relate to notions of performance, performativity and agency in Latin American cultures. TTh 1-2:30, B111 MLB. (Jossianna Arroyo)

Spanish 332. Short Narrative in Latin America/Spain. (3). MWF 1-2, 3000 Frieze. (tba)

Spanish 341. Introduction to Latin American Cultures. (3). An interactive muti-media class intended to give participants a better understanding of the myriad dimensions of Latin American Cultures both in Latin America and the United States. Classes conducted in Spanish only. MWF 12-1, 3012 Frieze. (Lucía Suárez)

Spanish 373. Topics in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures. (3). MWF 3-4, B131 MLB. (tba)

Spanish 381. Survey of Latin American Literature, I: Colonial through Romanticism. (3). Major trends and authors in the Spanish American literary tradition from the time of discovery to Romanticism. MWF 10-11, 3512 Frieze. (Herrero-Olaizola)

Spanish 470. Latin-American Literature, Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries. (3) MWF 1-2, 221 Dennison. (tba)

Spanish 475.001. Latin American Narrative of the Twentieth Century - Cuban/Cuban-American Reality. (3) Intensive analysis of the historical events, intersecting ideological narratives, cinematic presentations, political evolution, and personal experiences that have resulted in a complex and complicated Cuban/Cuban-American reality. In Spanish. MWF 10-11, 2114 MLB. (Lucía Suárez)

Spanish 485.001. Narrativa Indigenista. (3). MWF 11-12, 2002 MLB. (Andrew Anderson)

Spanish 485.003. The New Narrative of Latin America: The Novel Of The "Boom". (3). The new Latin America narrative that captured the imagination of an international reading audience in the 1960s,1970s, and beyond. MWF 1-2, 3415 Mason. (Herrero-Olaizola)

Note: Due to the fact that Political Science courses on Latin America and the Caribbean are not offered every semester, LACS accepts a variety of courses to fulfill this concentration requirement. Please contact the LACS Undergraduate Advisor for more information.

CAAS 348.001/Dance 358.001 (Music)/American Culture 311. 001. Dances of Latinas/Latinos. (3) Through an analysis of selected choreography and performance, we will establish a dialogue that recreates the historical-political-cultural background and context of works about Puerto Rico, New York, and Latino America. Choreography will focus on factors such as race, class, gender, and sexuality. MW 11-12:30 Dance Studio B (Evelyn Velez Aguayo)

LACS 399. Thesis-Writers' Seminar. (3) All LACS concentrators enroll in this course for their final term. Each works directly with a thesis adviser. The seminar meets only occasionally as a group; its main function is to provide a mechanism for consultation and support among thesis-writers and the concentration adviser. (Frye)

Academic Credit for Study Abroad programs, whether administered by U-M or by other universities, can in many cases be applied toward a LACS major. Application deadlines for Summer 1999 and academic year 1999-2000 programs generally are from January 1999 onward. For detailed information, please contact the Office of International Programs, G513 Michigan Union.

The following courses do not satisfy requirements for the LACS major, either because they are below the 300 level or because they do not deal primarily with Latin American and the Caribbean, but they may be of interest to many LACS students.

Am. Cult. 410.001/Women's St. 483.001. Women in Prison: Gender and Crime Among Blacks and Latinas in U.S. (José-Kampfner)

Anthro. 158.001 Race and Power in the Americas (Julie Skurski)

Psych. 319. Empowering Families and Communities. (Lorraine Gutierrez)

RC, Social Science 250. Ecology, Development, and Conservation in Latin America. (de la Cerda)

Portuguese 150. Brazilian Women. First-year students only. (Fedrigo)

Spanish 232. Second-Year Spanish, Continued.

Spanish 305. Spanish for Business and the Professions.