Latin American Studies Minor

Program Requirements

  • Total units required: 18

The minor in Latin American Studies (LAS) allows undergraduate students pursuing other major programs to complement their existing curriculum with a study of Latin America across diverse disciplines and how the region engages with the Western world — to which it belongs — at large. The minor in LAS is conceived as an option for students across a variety of disciplines in the social sciences, the humanities, the sciences, the pre-med program, and business and engineering to add knowledge about Latin America to their professional portfolio. The vast relations that the United States has with Latin America in all fields make the minor in LAS the source of valuable skills for our existing population. It also allows students in other major programs to access discussions of socioeconomic and ethnic diversity in one of the regions central to those debates in the world.

Credit Requirements

The minor in LAS requires students to complete 18 units. At least 15 units must be at the 300 level or higher, and at least 3 units must be at the 400 level. All units must be exclusive to the minor and may not be double-counted, unless the College of Arts & Sciences regulations state otherwise. The requirements for the minor mirror some of the requirements for the major. To count for LAS, courses must have an L45 number or receive authorization from the LAS director of undergraduate studies (DUS), who determines which requirements can be fulfilled by each available course. Units must be fulfilled as follows:

  • 3 units for the successful completion of LatAm 165D Latin America: Nation, Ethnicity and Social Conflict, offered annually. LatAm 165C can also fulfill this requirement.
  • 3 units in history or politics at the 300 level or higher. Courses may come from relevant offerings in the departments of History or Political Science, the Global Studies program, or study abroad.
  • 3 units in literary or cultural studies at the 300 level or higher. These units may include courses offered by the departments of Romance Languages and Literatures, Art History, and Archaeology; LAS home-based courses; and study abroad.
  • 3 units in anthropology or pre-Columbian cultures at the 300 level or higher. These courses may come from offerings in the Anthropology, Global Studies, and the LAS departments or from study abroad.
  • 3 units of elective credit at the 300 level or higher.
  • 3 units of a Latin American seminar. Seminar courses are 400-level classes that are taught by core LAS faculty on theoretical issues related to the region.

Language Requirement

LAS requires all minors to complete a language requirement in Spanish or Portuguese. The Spanish requirement may be fulfilled by the completion of Span 202 Intermediate Spanish II or certification as an advanced heritage or native speaker by the DUS in LAS.

The Portuguese requirement may be fulfilled as follows:

  • Successful completion of Portug 215 Reading and Conversation I with a grade of B- or higher
  • Native or heritage speaker status, as determined by the DUS in LAS.
  • Successful completion of a program abroad, conducted in Portuguese, with a minimum of 3 credit units in the target language

Additional Information

Study Abroad

All minors in LAS are strongly encouraged (but not required) to pursue a study abroad program in the region. Students who attend study abroad programs may request credit for appropriate courses at the 300 level, with approval from the DUS. A maximum of 6 units is allowed. LatAm 165D and the seminar requirement must be completed in residence at Washington University.

Visit the Latin American Studies page
for additional information about this program.

Contact Info

Contact:Professor Ignacio Sánchez Prado
Phone:314-935-5175
Email:isanchez@wustl.edu
Website:http://lasprogram.wustl.edu