Latin American Studies Minor

The minor in Latin American studies gives students a broad view of Latin American cultures and their relations to the United States and the rest of the world. Soon, students will have the opportunity to declare a Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (LACX) major. Please email the LACX coordinator, Molly Ball (mollycball@rochester.edu) for more information about the timeline and requirements.

Requirements

A total of five courses related to Latin American people, their languages, and their cultures are required for the minor.

  • Two courses must be taken from different areas, such as anthropology, business, economics, history, international relations, political science, Portuguese, religion, or Spanish.
  • The pision of the minor (humanities or social sciences) will be that in which the student takes three courses.
  • Up to two study-abroad courses may count toward the minor with the approval of the student's advisor for the minor.
  • In order for a course to qualify for the minor, roughly 50 percent of the course must feature content relating to Latin America in the terms described in this document.
  • A student may petition for a specific course to be counted toward the minor, even if it has not been previously identified as a Latin American studies course. The student must turn in a syllabus for the course to be considered. The program coordinator will determine whether the course will count as listed or if specific Latin America-related research is required.
  • The minor must be approved by the designated program coordinator.

Prerequisite: Students must complete SPAN 151 and 152, SP 153, or PORT 151 and 152. Students who are placed in SPAN 200 may use that course as their language prerequisite.

See the Latin American Studies course information PDF for a list of courses that will automatically count toward the five courses needed to satisfy the minor as well as other courses that can be approved for minor with a research focus in the region.

Students should review the spring 2025 classes when planning for the next semester.

Program Coordinator

Molly C. Ball, Assistant Professor of History (social science, economic history), mollycball@rochester.edu

Curriculum Committee

Molly C. Ball, Assistant Professor of History (social science, economic history)

Agnes Mondragon-Celis, Assistant Professor of Anthropology (social science, Durg warfare and organized crime; US imperialism in Latin America)

Rachel O'Donnell, Assistant Professor Writing, Speaking and Argument Center; Susan B. Anthony Institute (social science/humanities, Central American feminism); Center for Community Engagement faculty liaison

Ryan Prendergast, Associate Professor of Spanish (humanities, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish literature)

Vialcary Crisóstomo Tejada, Assistant Professor of Spanish (humanities, Caribbean literature and decolonial feminism)

Affiliated Faculty

Maya Abtahian, Associate Professor of Linguistics

Raquel Alfaro, Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish

Molly C. Ball, Assistant Professor of history

Stefanie Bautista, Assistant Professor of Archaeology (Religion and Classics)

Curt Cadorette, Professor Emeritus of Roman Catholic Studies

Benjamín Castañeda, Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Jack Downey, Professor of Religion

Rubén Flores, Associate Professor of History

Anderson Frey, Assistant Professor of Political Science

Karma Frierson, Assistant Professor of Black Studies

Gretchen Helmke, Professor of Political Science

Beth Jörgensen, Professor Emeritus of Spanish

Jedediah Kuhn, Assistant Professor of History

Agnes Mondragon-Celis, Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Rachel O'Donnell, Assistant Professor in the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program; Susan B. Anthony Institute

Ryan Prendergast, Associate Professor of Spanish

Daniel Reichman, Professor of Anthropology

Raúl Rodríguez-Hernández, Associate Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature; Film and Media Studies

Luisa-Maria Rojas-Rimachi, Professor of Instruction in Spanish and Language Education

Todd Russell, Adjunct Instructor in the Program of Dance and Movement

Claudia Schaefer, Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature; Film and Media Studies

Pablo Sierra Silva, Associate Professor of History

Teresa Valdez, Head of the Portuguese program; Director of the Language Center