Undergraduate Program

Undergraduate Advisor
Amanda Wolfe, Associate Director for Program Development
akwolfe@unm.edu 

College of Arts and Sciences and Latin American Studies Program Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work.

• Transfer students must have a 2.0 transfer GPA.
• Continuing UNM students must have a 2.00 institutional GPA.

Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the following:

• Completion of the University Writing and Speaking Core.
• Completion of the University Mathematics Core.
• Completion of the University Foreign Language Core.

Completion of Latin American Studies Program admission coursework with grade of "C" or better:

• HIST 181 or 182.

Major Study Requirements

The undergraduate program provides a solid foundation in language skills and area competence that can be valuable in business, public service or further professional training.

The major in Latin American Studies consists of a minimum of 36 credit hours, including the required courses outlined in A through G below. Students work closely with the Associate Director in planning their program of study and must receive approval for all course work in fulfillment of the major.

A. Core LAS requirements: All LAS majors take HIST 181, HIST 182, and either LTAM 354 or LTAM 355. These requirements may be applied to either the 15 credit hours of Core Courses or the 9 credit hours of Electives. Students are encouraged to take the interdisciplinary course that best supports their chosen core.

B. Languages of Latin America (maximum of 12 credit hours counted toward the major): Students are required to achieve proficiency in two Latin American languages. There are seven options for fulfilling the language requirement:

1. Spanish option with Portuguese support skills, requiring SPAN 301 and 302 and PORT 275 or 276.
2. Portuguese option with Spanish support skills, requiring PORT 311 and 312 and SPAN 101 and 102.
3. Balanced Spanish and Portuguese option, requiring demonstrated proficiency through SPAN 202 and PORT 276.
4. Spanish option with Quichua support skills, requiring SPAN 301, SPAN 302, LING 401 (Topics: Quichua I), and LING 402 (Topics: Quichua II).
5. Spanish option with Quiche Maya support skills, requiring SPAN 301, SPAN 302, LING 401 (Topics: Quiche Maya I), and LING 402 (Topics: Quiche Maya II).
6. Portuguese option with Quichua support skills, requiring PORT 311, PORT 312, LING 401 (Topics: Quichua I), and LING 402 (Topics: Quichua II).
7. Portuguese option with Quiche Maya support skills, requiring PORT 311, PORT 312, LING 401 (Topics: Quiche Maya I), and LING 402 (Topics: Quiche Maya II).

C. Core Courses (15 credit hours): Students select 15 credit hours of Latin American content courses from one of the following three areas:

1. Humanities: Art History, Brazilian Literature & Culture; History; Media Arts; Religious Studies; Spanish American Literature & Culture.
2. Social and Natural Sciences: Anthropology, Biology, Community and Regional Planning; Economics; History; Political Science; Sociology; Women Studies.
3. A core area focused on a particular theme (such as environment and ecology, development, gender, U.S.-Latin American Relations, etc.) developed jointly by the student and the Associate Director.

D. Electives (minimum of 9 credit hours) with Latin American content as needed to complete 36 credit hours.

E. Of the courses completed for the Latin American Studies major, at least 18 credit hours must be at the 300-level or higher.

F. Courses for the core and elective requirements must be from at least three different disciplines.

G. At least half of the required credit hours for the major must be taken in residence on the main campus at UNM. The Associate Director may approve substitutions on a case-by-case basis.

H. Students must submit to the Associate Director for Academic Programs a paper written after the completion of 24 credit hours toward the B.A. degree. The paper, written for a course completed for the major, should have at least 40% Latin American content, relate to the student’s chosen core area of focus (either Humanities or Social Sciences), present an analytical argument based on data or texts, and be at least 5 pages in length.

Concentration in Brazilian Studies

Participants in the Latin American Studies undergraduate major may earn a concentration in Brazilian Studies by completing the Portuguese language track requirement and five of the following courses: HIST 376, 377; PHIL 388; PORT 200, 335, 414 or 415. The Associate Director may approve the substitution of other courses with substantial Brazil content.

Minor Study Requirements

The minor in Latin American Studies consists of a minimum of 24 credit hours including 6 credit hours of Spanish 301 and 302 or Portuguese 311 and 312; HIST 181 or 182; LTAM 354 or 355; 12 credit hours in one of the core areas listed above; and 6 credit hours of elective courses. HIST 181, HIST 182, LTAM 354 and LTAM 355 may count toward the core or elective courses.

Approved Electives

AFST 386, 388; ANTH 322, 324, 332, 333, 339, 371, 376; ARTH 411, 412, 450, 488, 493, 494; BIOL 461L; ECON 321, 421, 423, 424, 429; HIST 181, 182, 300, 318, 363, 370, 371, 373, 374, 376, 377, 463, 464, 465, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 476, 478; LING 401 (Quichua or Quiche Maya), 402 (Quichua or Quiche Maya); LTAM 354, 355, 400; MA 310, 410; PHIL 390; POLS 322, 346, 354, 355, 356, 441, 442; PORT 275, 276, 277, 301, 311, 312, 335, 414, 416, 417, 421, 457, 458, 461; RELG 422; SOC 221, 354, 420, 422, 461; SPAN 301, 302, 307, 350, 351, 352, 430, 431, 432, 433, 435, 438, 439; WMST 331, 472. Other courses of Latin American content (such as topics courses) may be approved as electives upon petition to the Associate Director.

Departmental Honors

Students seeking honors in Latin American Studies should consult with the Associate Director and submit a formal letter of application during their junior year. Honors candidates must register for 6 credit hours of LTAM 497 and 499 and complete a Senior Honors Thesis which must be orally defended.

Additional Information

Latin American Studies is an interdisciplinary program. In addition to the courses listed below, Latin American content courses can be found under the following departmental headings: Anderson School of Management (International Management), Anthropology, Art History, Communication and Journalism, Community and Regional Planning, Economics, History, Law, Philosophy, Political Science, Portuguese, Public Health, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Spanish.