Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies Courses for Fall 2025
| Title | Instructor | Location | Time | All taxonomy terms | Description | Section Description | Cross Listings | Fulfills | Registration Notes | Syllabus | Syllabus URL | Course Syllabus URL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LALS 0400-401 | Colonial Latin America | Marcy Norton | MW 12:00 PM-12:59 PM | The colonial period (1492- 1800) saw huge population movements (many of them involuntary) within the Americas and across the Atlantic. As a result, Latin America was created from the entanglement of technologies, institutions, knowledge systems, and cosmologies from Indigenous, European, and African cultures. We will learn about colonial institutions such as slavery and encomienda. We will also explore the different strategies pursued by individuals and communities to build meaningful lives in the face of often dire social and environmental circumstances. Class readings are primary sources and the focus of discussions, papers, and exams will be their interpretation. | AFRC0400401, HIST0400401 | History & Tradition Sector (all classes) | ||||||||
| LALS 0527-401 | The Aftermath of Slavery: Language, Storytelling, Experimentation | Zita C Nunes | W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This seminar explores how writers in the African Diaspora have engaged, challenged, and experimented with English and its literary forms to write about slavery. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings. | AFRC0527401, COML0527401, ENGL0527401, GSWS0527401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1060-401 | Race and Ethnic Relations | Tukufu Zuberi | TR 1:45 PM-2:44 PM | The course will focus on race and ethnicity in the United States. We begin with a brief history of racial categorization and immigration to the U.S. The course continues by examining a number of topics including racial and ethnic identity, interracial and interethnic friendships and marriage, racial attitudes, mass media images, residential segregation, educational stratification, and labor market outcomes. The course will include discussions of African Americans, Whites, Hispanics, Asian Americans and multiracials. | AFRC1060401, ASAM1510401, SOCI1060401, URBS1060401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1090-401 | Urban Sociology | Alec Ian Gershberg | TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | This course is a comprehensive introduction to the sociological study of urban areas. This includes more general topics as the rise of cities and theories urbanism, as well as more specific areas of inquiry, including American urbanism, segregation, urban poverty, suburbanization and sprawl, neighborhoods and crime, and immigrant ghettos. The course will also devote significant attention to globalization and the process of urbanization in less developed counties. | AFRC1090401, SOCI1090401, URBS1090401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1103-401 | Dilemmas of Immigration | Michael A Jones-Correa | TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | Beneath the daily headlines about refugees blocked entry, and undocumented migrants deported there is a set of hard questions which deserve closer attention: Should countries have borders? If countries have borders, how should they decide who is kept out and who is allowed in? How many immigrants is 'enough'? Are immigrants equally desirable? What kinds of obligations do immigrants have to their receiving society? What kinds of obligations do host societies have to immigrants? Should there be 'pathways' to citizenship? Can citizenship be earned? Should citizenship be automatic? This course explores these and other dilemmas raised by immigration. | PSCI1103401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1120-401 | Latin American Politics | Tulia G Falleti | M 3:30 PM-6:29 PM | This course examines the dynamics of political and economic change in twentieth century Latin America, with the goal of achieving an understanding of contemporary politics in the region. We will analyze topics such as the incorporation of the region to the international economy and the consolidation of oligarchic states (1880s to 1930s), corporatism, populism, and elict pacts (1930s and 1940s), social revolution, democratic breakdown, and military rule (1960s and 1970s), transitions to democracy and human rights advocacy (1980s), makret-oriented reforms (1990s), and the turn to the left of current governments (2000s). The course will draw primarily from the experiences of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Mexico. No prior knowledge of the region is required. | PSCI1120401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1290-401 | Race and Ethnic Politics | Daniel Q Gillion | TR 10:15 AM-11:14 AM | This course examines the role of race and ethnicity in the political discourse through a comparative survey of recent literature on the historical and contemporary political experiences of the four major minority groups (Blacks or African Americans, American Indians, Latinos or Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans). A few of the key topics will include assimilation and acculturation seen in the Asian American community, understanding the political direction of Black America in a pre and post Civil Rights era, and assessing the emergence of Hispanics as the largest minority group and the political impact of this demographic change. Throughout the semester, the course will introduce students to significant minority legislation, political behavior, social movements, litigation/court rulings, media, and various forms of public opinion that have shaped the history of racial and ethnic minority relations in this country. Readings are drawn from books and articles written by contemporary political scientists. | PSCI1290401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1320-401 | Portuguese for the Professions | Carlos Bento Dos Santos Pio | TR 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | Portuguese for the Professions is designed for advanced-level students to develop their ability to use a wide technical vocabulary. The course will cover an array of topics in the areas of Economy, Politics, Science, Technology, Law and others as they pertain to the societies and cultures of the Lusophone countries, with particular emphasis placed on Brazil. Through readings, movies, discussions, essays and presentations, students will enhance their ability to write about and discuss these topics while employing the appropriate technical vocabulary. | PRTG1320401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1625-401 | Era of Revolutions in the Atlantic World | Roquinaldo Ferreira | MW 7:00 PM-8:29 PM | This class examines the global ramifications of the era of Atlantic revolutions from the 1770s through the 1820s. With a particular focus on French Saint Domingue and Latin America, it provides an overview of key events and individuals from the period. Along the way, it assesses the impact of the American and French revolutions on the breakdown of colonial regimes across the Americas. Students will learn how to think critically about citizenship, constitutional power, and independence movements throughout the Atlantic world. Slavery and the transatlantic slave trade were seriously challenged in places such as Haiti, and the class investigates the appropriation and circulation of revolutionary ideas by enslaved people and other subaltern groups. | AFRC1625401, HIST1625401 | |||||||||
| LALS 1740-401 | Capitalism, Socialism, and Crisis in the 20th Century Americas | Amy C Offner | MW 8:30 AM-9:59 AM | From the crisis of the Great Depression through the 1970s, the United States and Latin America produced remarkable efforts to remake society and political economy. This course analyzes the Cuban and Guatemalan revolutions, as well as social movements that transformed the United States: the black freedom movement, the labor movement, and changing forms of Latinx politics. In all three countries, Americans looked for ways to reform capitalism or build socialism; address entrenched patterns of racism; define and realize democracy; and achieve national independence. They conceived of these challenges in dramatically different ways. Together, we’ll compare national histories and analyze the relationships between national upheavals. | HIST1740401 | History & Tradition Sector (all classes) | ||||||||
| LALS 1900-401 | Topics in Portuguese, African and Brazilian Cultures | Mercia Flannery | TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | This course explores aspects of Luso-Brazilian culture and film in light of its social context and reception. For current course content, please see department's webpage: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/hispanic-portuguese-studies/pc. | CIMS1901401, PRTG1900401 | https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202530&c=LALS1900401 | ||||||||
| LALS 2451-401 | Haiti's Odious Debt and Beyond (1825-2025) | Marc R Flandreau | TR 5:15 PM-6:44 PM | This seminar will ponder Haiti's experience of debt and underdevelopment going back to the 19th century. Taking cues from the debate started by the New York Times in 2023, we will read and discuss texts describing debt, debt crisis, focusing on the interaction between global and local politics, the problem of debt forgiveness, etc. The approach will be chronological, with readings that will engage with the manner in which alternative capital markets set up reverberated locally and vice versa. We will also invite a number of Haitian and other scholars through interactive zoom sessions. While the seminar is focused in the case of Haiti we will also discuss broader implications. | ECON0471401, HIST2451401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3020-401 | Diplomacy in the Americas - The Penn Model OAS Program (SNF Paideia Program Course) | Catherine E.M. Bartch |
T 4:30 PM-5:59 PM R 4:30 PM-5:59 PM |
Diplomacy in the Americas is an academically based community-service course where students explore what it means to educate youth for global civic and political engagement. Students apply theoretical and pedagogical principles in curriculum design, classroom teaching, and collaborative learning with public high school students on the topics of Latin American politics and the role of the Organization of American States (OAS). Analyzing and strategizing like a diplomat and guided by theories of democracy and the other three OAS pillars of economic development, security, and human rights, students will collectively examine and propose solutions to the most pressing issues in the Americas. This course is also an SNF Paideia Program Course. | PSCI2420401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3100-401 | Studies in Brazilian Literature and Culture | CANCELED | This course explores modern Luso-Brazilian culture and social movements through art forms such as literature, film, and music. | PRTG3100401 | ||||||||||
| LALS 3100-402 | Studies in Brazilian Literature and Culture | CANCELED | This course explores modern Luso-Brazilian culture and social movements through art forms such as literature, film, and music. | PRTG3100402 | ||||||||||
| LALS 3602-401 | Cyborgs, Robots, Gadgets: Technologies in Contemporary Hispanic Cinema | Reyes Caballo-Marquez | MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | Contemporary Latin American and Spanish Cinema offer a great reflection on the role that new technologies have in the film industry, and in our lives, in the digital era. Often, we find that technologies are used in an original way to overcome financial shortages in times of crisis, or when resources are limited. In this context, sometimes it is actually thanks to the new technologies that the work of new directors can be produced or distributed. Some recent Latin American and Spanish sci-fi movies find genuine ways to bring about social and political commentary through the use of technological narratives. Reflections on technology are often found in many other film genres too. Our aim in this course will be to explore the use of technology in film in the present and in the past, as well as to study narratives that place technology at the center. We will focus our study on films where technology is a key factor and will reflect on the impact of technologies in our experience as spectators as well. | CIMS3602401, SPAN3602401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3675-401 | Inner Outer Space Travel Writing: A Creative Writing Workshop | Ricardo Bracho | R 3:30 PM-6:29 PM | Inner Outer Space Travel Writing is a creative writing workshop focused on writing work within the science fiction/speculative fiction/alternative futurities, science/land/travel writing, and creative-critical nonfiction traditions. Students will work within a variety of genres, with an emphasis on the essay, the short story, screen/tele-play, play, blog and performance. Students will read recommended texts from within their particular interests, and the course will culminate in both a public performance and dissemination/publication via another media platform (zine, website, podcast, etc). All levels of experience, from none/first-time writer to published writers, are encouraged to register for the course. | ENGL3675401, GSWS3675401 | https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202530&c=LALS3675401 | ||||||||
| LALS 3730-401 | Horror and Science Fiction Narratives in Latin America | Andres Garcia Londono | TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | Studies in Modern and Contemporary Latin American and Latinx Literature is an upper-division seminar taking a literary-studies approach to Latin American cultural production of the 19-21st centuries. Traditions covered may include Spanish American, Brazilian, and U.S. Latinx literature. Course content may vary. Please see the department website for current course offerings: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/hispanic-portuguese-studies/undergraduate/hispanic-studies | SPAN3730401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3734-401 | The Boom in Latin American Literature | Jean O'Bryan Knight | MW 3:30 PM-4:59 PM | Why has Latin American narrative of the 1960s and 70s enjoyed such popular and critical success? What distinguishes this literature from that which was written earlier or later or outside Latin America? Who were the major writers of the boom generation, and what unites or separates them? In this course we will consider these questions as we read important works of fiction by authors such as Cortázar, Donoso, Fuentes, GarcÃa Márquez, and Vargas Llosa as well as criticism that sheds light on the phenomenon of the boom. | SPAN3734401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3800-401 | Studies in Modern and Contemporary Latin American and Latinx Culture | MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM | Studies in Modern and Contemporary Latin American and Latinx Culture is an upper-division seminars focusing on significant issues or historical moments in Latin American and Latinx culture. Course content may vary. Please see specific Section Details. | SPAN3800401 | ||||||||||
| LALS 3814-401 | The Caribbean and Its Diaspora: Culture, History, and Society | Odette Casamayor | TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM | A thorough panorama of contemporary Caribbean societies and their diasporic communities, this course enhances the students' knowledge of the region's main historical, political, and sociocultural trends. We will examine Caribbean multiple narratives of survival and resilience within a global context, through the study of 20th and 21st-centuries literary, cinematographic, musical, visual and performative works. The cultural analysis will be supported by a theoretical framework encompassing critical Caribbean theories on identity and identification. | AFRC3814401, SPAN3814401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3902-401 | What Is Mexico? Questioning Mexican Icons | Jorge Tellez | TR 12:00 PM-1:29 PM | This course studies Mexico through many lenses. From history to art, from anthropology to pop culture, from literature to film, our primary objective is to question current and past iconicity to develop a more complex and nuanced understanding of Mexican history and culture. | SPAN3902401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3911-401 | Immigration and the Making of US Law | Hardeep Dhillon | CANCELED | This course illuminates how debates over immigration have transformed the legal contours of the United States. We examine the evolution of federal immigration policy and the legal battles immigrants waged against exclusionary practices in the U.S. from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1980s. The key federal and state cases explored in this course center on national citizenship, housing segregation, and school segregation. In addition to considering the key legal issues at stake in these cases, this course also encourages an analysis of the roles race, disability, gender, and labor play in shaping U.S. law within the context of immigration history. | ASAM3110401, HIST3910401 | |||||||||
| LALS 3934-401 | Cinema on the Brink of Revolution |
Michael G. Hanchard Karen E Redrobe |
W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | This co-taught course examines films with thematic and epochal focus on some of the major political and historical events of the 20th century that have resulted in revolutions. In this course, Brink and Revolution will be given equal emphasis, as many film makers document, or render plausible through fiction, failures as well as successes, new vistas as well as blind spots, in attempts at revolution. We seek to explore the arc of revolutions, their beginnings, conflicts, and propulsion as people in movement attempt to create new social, cultural and economic orders, and the efforts of film makers to chronicle their actions, manifestos, popular mobilization, conflicts and constraints. Marx’s dictum “Men make history, but not as they choose” is evident in many films that capture cinematically the dialectical tensions between institutions and people seeking to maintain an existing order, often with high doses of repression, and those social movements and actors with oppositional imaginaries of the political present and future. Yet we are expanding Marx’s dictum to encompasses people of all genders who make, act in, produce and serve as models for cinemas on the brink of revolution. | AFRC3934401, CIMS3934401, PSCI3934401 | |||||||||
| LALS 4240-401 | Latinx Communities and the Role of CBO's in Social Change | Johnny Irizarry | W 5:15 PM-8:14 PM | The purpose of this course to create a Latino Studies/Service Learning ABCS course that cultivates dialogue and knowledge about the social, political, cultural and historical complexities of the Latinx experience in the United States (Philadelphia in particular) and the roles Latinx CBO's play in meeting the needs of Latinx communities and in impacting social change. | SOCI2931401 | |||||||||
| LALS 4650-401 | Race and Racism in the Contemporary World | Michael G. Hanchard | This undergraduate seminar is for advanced undergraduates seeking to make sense of the upsurge in racist activism, combined with authoritarian populism and neo-fascist mobilization in many parts of the world. Contemporary manifestations of the phenomena noted above will be examined in a comparative and historical perspective to identify patterns and anomalies across various multiple nation-states. France, The United States, Britain, and Italy will be the countries examined. | AFRC4650401, PSCI4190401 | ||||||||||
| LALS 5570-401 | Archaeology of Landscapes | Chad Hill | M 10:15 AM-1:14 PM | Traditionally, archaeological research has focused on the "site" or "sites." Regional investigation tends to stress settlement pattern and settlement system determined through archaeological site survey. This seminar will stress the space between the sites or "points" on the landscape. Most previous attempts at "landscape archaeology" tended to focus on the relationship of sites and the natural environment. This course will highlight the cultural, "anthropogenic," or "built environment"--in this case human modification and transformation of the natural landscape in the form of pathways, roads, causeways, monuments, walls, agricultural fields and their boundaries, gardens, astronomical and calendrical alignments, and water distribution networks. Features will be examined in terms of the "social logic" or formal patterning of cultural space. These can provide insights into indigenous structures such as measurement systems, land tenure, social organization, engineering, cosmology, calendars, astronomy, cognition, and ritual practices. Landscapes are also the medium for understanding everyday life, experience, movement, memory, identity, time, and historical ecology. Ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and archaeological case studies will be investigated from both the Old and New Worlds. | AAMW5570401, ANTH5570401 | |||||||||
| LALS 6610-401 | Language Diversity and Education |
Hannah A Brenneman Nelson L Flores Suzanne Inkyung Oh Erica Marie Poinsett |
T 2:00 PM-3:59 PM | Exploration of issues affecting educational policy and classroom practice in multilingual, multicultural settings, with an emphasis on ethnographic research. Selected U.S. and international cases illustrate concerns relating to learners' bilingual/bicultural/biliterate development in formal educational settings. Topics include policy contexts, program structures, teaching and learning in the multilingual classroom, discourses and identities in multilingual education policy and practice, and the role of teachers, researchers, and communities in implementing change in schools. | EDUC5252401 | |||||||||
| LALS 6610-402 | Language Diversity and Education |
Hannah A Brenneman Nelson L Flores Suzanne Inkyung Oh Erica Marie Poinsett |
T 5:15 PM-7:14 PM | Exploration of issues affecting educational policy and classroom practice in multilingual, multicultural settings, with an emphasis on ethnographic research. Selected U.S. and international cases illustrate concerns relating to learners' bilingual/bicultural/biliterate development in formal educational settings. Topics include policy contexts, program structures, teaching and learning in the multilingual classroom, discourses and identities in multilingual education policy and practice, and the role of teachers, researchers, and communities in implementing change in schools. | EDUC5252402 | |||||||||
| LALS 6971-401 | Caribbean Thought | Odette Casamayor | T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM | In-depth analysis of the black experience in Latin America and the Spanish, French and English-speaking Caribbean, since slavery to the present. The course opens with a general examination of the existence of Afro-descendants in the Americas, through the study of fundamental historical, political and sociocultural processes. This panoramic view provides the basic tools for the scrutiny of a broad selection of literary, musical, visual, performance, and cinematic works, which leads to the comprehension of the different ethical-aesthetic strategies used to express the Afro-diasporic experience. Essential concepts such as negritude, creolite, and mestizaje, as well as the most relevant theories on identity and identification in Latin America and the Caribbean, will be thoroughly examined, in articulation with the interpretation of artistic works. Power, nationalism, citizenship, violence, religious beliefs, family and community structures, migration, motherhood and fatherhood, national and gender identities, eroticism, and sexuality are some of the main issues discussed un this seminar. | AFRC6971401, ENGL7971401, SPAN6971401 | |||||||||
| LALS 6972-401 | Brazil and the World: Geographic Imaginations in Literature and Visual Cultures | This seminar examines cultural representations of Brazil in relation to other imagined geographies, global discourses and transnational connections - Brazil and Latin America, Brazil and the Black Atlantic, etc. It provides a theoretical framework for comparative analysis, and its central cultural objects include Brazilian literature, visual culture and intellectual history. | SPAN6972401 |