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Courses for Spring 2025

Title Instructor Location Time All taxonomy terms Description Section Description Cross Listings Fulfills Registration Notes Syllabus Syllabus URL Course Syllabus URL
LALS 0018-401 Perspective in Afro-Luso-Brazilian Culture Carlos Bento Dos Santos Pio TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM This interdisciplinary survey course offered in two sections (Portuguese and English) will provide additional exposure to the language and culture of the Portuguese speaking countries (including Brazil, Portugal and its ex-colonies in Africa), and students will broaden their knowledge by complementing the classroom discussions with the experience of visiting historic and cultural sites in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The history of Portuguese colonization and its influence, and current discussions about contemporary challenges will be incorporated in this course as a way to familiarize students with key issues, such as the influence of African and Indigenous culture in Brazil's language, art, culture, and racial relations in Portugal and the Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. At the end of this course, students will recognize and discuss important themes, historical figures and cultural characteristics of the Portuguese speaking countries. This course is a Penn Global Seminar, which includes a travel component. An application is required. For more information and to apply, visit: https://global.upenn.edu/pennabroad/pgs PRTG0018401
LALS 0270-401 The Immigrant City Domenic Vitiello T 10:15 AM-1:14 PM This course focuses on immigrant communities in United States cities and suburbs. We survey migration and community experiences among a broad range of ethnic groups in different city and suburban neighborhoods. Class readings, discussions, and visits to Philadelphia neighborhoods explore themes including labor markets, commerce, housing, civil society, racial and ethnic relations, integration, refugee resettlement, and local, state, and national immigration policies. The class introduces students to a variety of social science approaches to studying social groups and neighborhoods, including readings in sociology, geography, anthropology, social history, and political science. Ultimately, the class aims to help students develop: 1) a broad knowledge of immigration and its impacts on U.S. cities and regions; 2) a comparative understanding of diverse migrant and receiving communities; and 3) familiarity with policies and institutions that seek to influence immigration and immigrant communities. ASAM0270401, SOCI0270401, URBS0270401 Society sector (all classes)
LALS 0450-401 Modern Latin America 1808-Present Melissa Teixeira TR 10:15 AM-11:14 AM This course examines central themes of Latin American history, from independence to the present. It engages a hemispheric and global approach to understand the economic and social transformations of the region. We will explore the anti-imperial struggles, revolutions, social movements, and global economic crises that have given rise to new national projects for development, or have frustrated the realization of such goals. Taking a historical perspective, we will ask: What triggers imperial breakdown? How did slaves navigate the boundary between freedom and bondage? Was the Mexican Revolution revolutionary? How did the Great Depression lead to the rise of state-led development? In what ways have citizens mobilized for equality, a decent standard of living, and cultural inclusion? And what future paths will the region take given uneasy export markets and current political uncertainty? HIST0450401 History & Tradition Sector (all classes)
LALS 0720-401 Introduction to Latin American and Latino Studies Ann C. Farnsworth MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM Designed to introduce students to the interdisciplinary field of Latin American and Latino Studies, this is a seminar oriented toward first and second year students. Readings will range widely, from scholarly work on the colonial world that followed from and pushed back against the "conquest"; to literary and artistic explorations of Latin American identities; to social scientists' explorations of how Latinos are changing the United States in the current generation. HIST1702401
LALS 1121-401 U.S. Intervention in Latin America Jane Esberg MW 1:45 PM-3:14 PM Why has the United States government participated in regime change in Latin America? How have these interventions affected Latin American political and economic outcomes? How have they helped or hurt U.S. interests in the region? This lecture course provides an introduction to the history and politics of U.S. participation in regime change in Latin America since 1949. For each event, the course will help students understand (1) the goals of the U.S. government; (2) the historical and political context of the intervention; and (3) the outcomes and consequences, both in Latin America and for the United States. One set of short writing assignments will train students to identify the main argument of a reading and assess the quality of the evidence presented in support of that argument; a second set of short writing assignments will train students to make and defend their own argument (see draft syllabus for details). PSCI1121401
LALS 1166-401 A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered Hardeep Dhillon MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM Many Americans widely accept the notion that the United States is a nation of immigrants despite the fact that immigration and border control has been a central feature of this nation’s past. This course explores the United States’ development of immigration and border enforcement during the twentieth century through an intersectional lens. It roots the structures of modern immigration and border enforcement in Native dispossession and histories of slavery, and interrogates how Asian, Black, and Latinx immigration has shaped and expanded immigration controls on, within, and beyond US territorial borders. In addition to historicizing the rise and expansion of major institutions of immigration control such as the US Border Patrol and Bureau of Naturalization, we explore how immigration controls were enforced on the ground and impacted the lives of everyday people. AFRC1166401, ASAM1166401, HIST1166401
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 1310-401 Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Roquinaldo Ferreira MW 5:15 PM-6:44 PM This course focuses on the history of selected African societies from the sixteenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries. The primary goal is to study the political, economic, social, and cultural history of a number of peoples who participated in the Atlantic slave trade or were touched by it during the era of their involvement. The course is designed to serve as an introduction to the history and culture of African peoples who entered the diaspora during the era of the slave trade. Its audience is students interested in the history of Africa, the African diaspora, and the Atlantic world, as well as those who want to learn about the history of the slave trade. Case studies will include the Yoruba, Akan, and Fon, as well as Senegambian and West-central African peoples. AFRC1310401, HIST1310401
LALS 1810-401 Perspectives in Afro-Luso-Brazilian Culture Mercia Flannery TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This interdisciplinary survey course offered in two sections (Portuguese and English) will provide additional exposure to the language and culture of the Portuguese speaking countries (including Brazil, Portugal and its ex-colonies in Africa), and students will broaden their knowledge by complementing the classroom discussions with the experience of visiting historic and cultural sites in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This 1000-level course fulfills the following requirements: 1) advanced language course for students in the Huntsman Program in the Portuguese track, 2) course towards the major or minor in LALS, and 3) the Portuguese certificate. The history of Portuguese colonization and its influence, and current discussions about contemporary challenges will be incorporated in this course as a way to familiarize students with key issues, such as the influence of African and Indigenous culture in Brazil's language, art, culture, and racial relations in Portugal and the Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. At the end of this course, students will recognize and discuss important themes, historical figures and cultural characteristics of the Portuguese speaking countries. PRTG1810401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=LALS1810401
LALS 2012-401 Introduction to Data Analytics Leticia Marteleto MW 3:30 PM-4:29 PM In a time of abundant fake news and mis-information, it becomes ever important for students (for all, really!) to learn how to critically assess (and produce) robust empirical evidence to uncover patterns and trends about social life. The goal of this course is to do just that through the use of census microdata, video and photographs, with a focus on social inequality! Or, in other words…a first goal of this course is to introduce students to empirical work that will let them identify robust evidence on social inequality across a diverse set of topics and countries. A second goal of the course is to provide students with key analytical skills through working with microdata to uncover social inequality globally. Having exposure and hands-on experience with the correct tools to read (and produce) evidence on patterns and trends on social research is an important skill for students in any major. We will use publicly available census microdata on more than 100 countries from IPUMS and photographs from the Dollar Street Project. Students will work with a country, produce their own analysis and combine it with photographs and videos. As a Signature Course, a third key goal of the course is to teach students skills that will enable them to more easily read empirical work and write results more clearly and concisely. Students will practice reading academic research, do class exercises, write case studies, and complete a research paper/video/photo essay that will aid them in these goals. HSOC2012401, SOCI2020401, STSC2012401
LALS 2020-401 International Organizations in Latin America Catherine E.M. Bartch TR 10:15 AM-11:14 AM International organizations (IOs) play a powerful role in mitigating conflict at the global level.  What role do they play in solving problems related to politics, economic development, corruption, inequality, and civil society in Latin America? How much power, influence, and control do they possess in the region?  This course examines the role and impact international organizations have had on Latin America since the mid-20th century.  After a review of theoretical perspectives on the significance of IOs in inter-American affairs, students will examine the workings, issues, and controversies surrounding IOs in Latin America across themes of democracy, human rights, security, and development - the four main pillars of the OAS. Through readings, short presentations/debates, and guest speakers, students will explore IOs and their action in the region. Some of these IOs include the IMF, World Bank, UN, ICC as well as regional organizations and area trade blocs and agreements of USMCA/NAFTA, Mercosur, Pacific Alliance, ALBA, and other civil society and human rights organizations. A large part of the course will focus on the Organization of American States and its various departments and divisions such as the Inter American Commission for Human Rights.  Students will be invited to participate in the Washington Model OAS simulation in April. PSCI2421401
LALS 2121-401 People of the Land: Indigeneity and Politics in Argentina and Chile (Penn Global Seminar - PGS) Tulia G Falleti M 3:30 PM-6:29 PM This undergraduate seminar compares the evolution of relations between States and Indigenous peoples and movements throughout the Americas, with a particular focus on the Mapuche people of the Patagonia region, in the south of nowadays Argentina and Chile. The main goal of the course is to comparatively study the organization of Indigenous communities and analyze their political demands regarding plurinationality, self-determination, territory, prior consultation, living well, and intercultural education and health, as well as the different ways in which States repress, ignore, or address such demands. The course starts by reviewing what does it mean to indigenize and decolonize the academy and political science. We then focus on the controversial question of who is Indigenous and comparatively assess the legal answer to this question in different countries of the Americas. Next, we tackle the issue of research methodology and positionality of the researcher, the ethics of studying Indigenous peoples, and using in-depth interviews as a tool for social science research. After briefly reviewing some of the consequences of the conquest and colonialism, we study the topic of global Indigenous rights and politics and from there we zoom in the politics of Indigenous peoples in Argentina, and the Mapuche of Neuquén, in particular. In the last part of the course, including during our travel component, we delve into what are the main issues that Mapuche communities of Neuquén confront in the present: from territorial land claims, to interactions with extractive industries, co-management of natural resources with the National Parks Service, intercultural education, and intercultural health, among other topics. PSCI2121401
LALS 2415-401 Fascism and Anti-Fascism Jennifer Lyn Sternad Ponce De Leon T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM This course examines fascism and anti-fascist struggles through the study of film, literature, political theory, visual art, and history. While situating fascism in a global context, it focuses on its history in North and South America and Europe from the early 20th century into the 21st. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings. CIMS2415401, COML2415401, ENGL2415401
LALS 2610-401 Latinos in the United States Guadalupe Del Rosario Barrientos TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This course presents a broad overview of the Latino population in the United States that focuses on the economic and sociological aspects of Latino immigration and assimilation. Topics to be covered include: construction of Latino identity, the history of U.S. Latino immigration, Latino family patterns and household structure, Latino educational attainment. Latino incorporation into the U.S. labor force, earnings and economic well-being among Latino-origin groups, assimilation and the second generation. The course will stress the importance of understanding Latinos within the overall system of race and ethnic relations in the U.S., as well as in comparison with previous immigration flows, particularly from Europe. We will pay particular attention to the economic impact of Latino immigration on both the U.S. receiving and Latin American sending communities, and the efficacy and future possibilities of U.S. immigration policy. Within all of these diverse topics, we will stress the heterogeneity of the Latino population according to national origin groups (i.e. Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other Latinos), as well as generational differences between immigrants and the native born. SOCI2610401
LALS 2680-401 Contemporary Immigration in the U.S. Robert G. Gonzales T 12:00 PM-2:59 PM While this course will engage immigration issues more broadly, we will centrally focus on questions of immigrant incorporation and the effects of U.S immigration policy. We will start with the broad question of what should be done about the estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Then, we will take a deeper look at the ways in which macro-level forces such as our laws and institutions shape the micro-level, everyday lives of undocumented immigrants and those living in mixed-status families. We will pay close attention to the circumstances of young people, including their experiences of exclusion and belonging across social and educational contexts. More specifically, we will examine how these factors might affect young people's development, schooling experiences, academic trajectories and aspirations, assimilation and ethnic identity, family dynamics, civic engagement, and employment. EDUC5432401, LALS5680401, SOCI2680401, SOCI5680401
LALS 2710-401 Inflationary Times: Money, Currency, and Debt in History Melissa Teixeira T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM What is inflation? What are its causes and consequences? Inflation has become a pressing concern recently, as prices of fuel, food, and consumer goods have ticked upwards at alarming rates. From the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine, and climate disasters, current inflationary pressures are inseparable from the major events disrupting the global economy. This is as much the case today as it was following the discovery of silver mines in Potosí (Bolivia), the French Revolution, the breakdown of Bretton Woods, or the 1980s debt crises in Latin America. This course explores the economic and social consequences of inflation across history. It also considers the economic models used to explain the rise and fall of prices—and how economists and policy-makers experiment with new formulas when old ones appear obsolete. By exploring inflationary moments in historical perspective, this seminar explores topics like the political and social meanings of money, how to build trust in a new currency, and what governments can do (or tried to do) to correct financial crisis. Students will be asked to explore past moments of financial and economic crises on their own terms, but also to look for how the past can offer lessons for the present. HIST2710401
LALS 3160-401 Black Magic: Transnational Feminist Perspectives of AfroLatinidad Krista Cortes T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Blackness and brujería are taboo topics within Latinx communities; both typically connote negative imagery and are actively avoided. Recently, the bruja identity has been reclaimed by many AfroLatinx women who see it as an outward expression of their AfroLatinidad and source of personal empowerment. Lara (2005) describes this as a bruja positionality – “the re-membering, revising, and constructing of knowledge as well as participation in other forms of social change...built on healing the internalized desconocimientos that demonize la Bruja and the transgressive spirituality and sexuality that she represents” (p 13). Latinx spiritual practices such as espiritismo, Santeria, Palo Monte, among others, will become avenues through which will explore key themes in Black/Latina/Chicana feminisms, including the politics of representation, stigmatization, multiple forms of state and interpersonal violence, intersecting forms of oppression, economic justice, reproductive justice, queerness/sexuality/lesbianism, and strategies of empowerment and resistance. Through a variety of course materials – academic articles, personal reflections, performance, and art – we will critically examine the construction of Afro-indigenous feminist identities within the contexts of Latin America and the diaspora. GSWS3160401
LALS 3670-401 What's Love Got To Do With It?: Art and Desire Ricardo Bracho R 3:30 PM-6:29 PM Within this course, students will have the opportunity to make work in a variety of mediums that address desire, love, lust, romance, friendship, kinship, heartbreak and loss. We will look at work from visual artists, writers of all genres, film and performance that question and center matters of the heart and the libidinal. While placing sexual and relational dynamics at the core of our artistic endeavors we will address through readings of queer, feminist and left scholarship the social and political implications of acts of love and art. Students can make work in all artistic genres: video, writing, sculpture, performance, painting, photography, collage, drawing and mixed media. In class we will do a variety of writing and some drawing exercises; look at film, video and visual art; and discuss work read and viewed outside of class. Artists, writers, and filmmakers we will study will include Jean Genet, Juan Goytisolo, tatiana de la tierra, Zadie Smith, Miranda July, Honey Lee Cottrell, Mel Odom, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lorraine O’Grady, Ai, Eileen Myles, Ana Maria Simo and many others. Work developed can be based in autobiography or history and as much about the desire for social justice as they are about the erotic. While work developed can be about the parent-child bond, lifelong friendships or sibling rivalry/solidarity, students should have ease in viewing, reading, discussing and critiquing art works that are sexually explicit. CIMS3670401, ENGL3670401, GSWS3670401
LALS 3682-401 Staging Gender in Latin America Selma Feliciano Arroyo TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM This course is based on an understanding of theater as a social space and a cultural practice that allows a collectivity--in its most concrete sense, the audience--to think in public about itself and about the fundamental forces facing and shaping it. In this course, we will mainly read contemporary Latin American and Latinx theatrical texts produced by women and queer authors. Our focus will be to discuss how, in the last approximately four decades, the stage as space and performance as practice have been used in Latin America as vehicles to represent and discuss issues related to gender and sexuality, to reconfigure the parameters of these debates, to examine and question existing social structures and attitudes, to propose and rehearse alternative solutions to the problems faced by marginalized subjects, and overall to explore the transformative capabilities of theater. We will also examine how conceptions and representations of gender and sexuality intersect with other identitarian coordinates, such as race, class, and nationality. SPAN3682401
LALS 3700-401 Abolitionism: A Global History Roquinaldo Ferreira T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM This class develops a transnational and global approach to the rise of abolitionism in the nineteenth century. In a comparative framework, the class traces the rise of abolitionism in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, examining the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade, the rise of colonialism in Africa, and the growth of forced labor in the wake of transatlantic slave trade. We will deal with key debates in the literature of African, Atlantic and Global histories, including the causes and motivations of abolitionism, the relationship between the suppression of the slave trade and the growth of forced labor in Africa, the historical ties between abolitionism and the early stages of colonialism in Africa, the flow of indentured laborers from Asia to the Americas in the wake of the slave trade. This class is primarily geared towards the production of a research paper. *Depending on the research paper topic, History Majors and Minors can use this course to fulfill the US, Europe, Latin America or Africa requirement.* AFRC3700401, HIST3700401
LALS 3730-401 Studies in Modern and Contemporary Latin American and Latinx Literature Daniela A Cavalli MW 12:00 PM-1:29 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 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=LALS3730401
LALS 3730-402 The Spanish American Short Story Jean O'Bryan Knight MW 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 SPAN3730402
LALS 3736-401 Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Contemporary Latin American Literature Oscar Montoya TR 10:15 AM-11:44 AM The publication of Cien años de soledad in 1967 was one of the highest moments in 20th century Latin American literature. Behind this masterpiece was the arduous and tireless work of a writer that had been searching for a personal style during almost a decade. This search also has a continental dimension. In García Marquez’s work, readers find the main topics, aesthetic quests, and political conflicts that hold the Latin American imagination, from the “crónicas de conquista” to the artistic vanguard adventures of the middle of the century. His narrative brings together early discussions about magical realism and the literary boom, anthropological inquiries rooted in transculturation and critical regionalism, as well as questions on class, race, and gender. In this course we will read different moments of his work, from his early short stories to some of his major novels. In addition, we will compare his writing to some of their contemporaries’, in order to have a comprehensive idea about the formation of the Latin American contemporary canon. SPAN3736401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=LALS3736401
LALS 3800-401 Studies in Modern and Contemporary Latin American and Latinx Culture Andres Garcia Londono TR 3:30 PM-4:59 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 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202510&c=LALS3800401
LALS 4250-401 Latinx Cultural History Johnny Irizarry T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM This course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the resiliency and impact of Latinx cultural and artistic contributions, aesthetics, expressions, and institution building in the United States from the Civil Rights Era to the present. We will explore how Latinxs culturally define being "American", and how their artistic expressions shape and influence the creativity and productivity of American and global arts & cultural expressions. More broadly, we will explore the Latinx interactions of race, culture, society, economy, and politics in the U.S. SOCI2932401
LALS 5087-401 Race, Nation, Empire Deborah A Thomas M 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This graduate seminar examines the dynamic relationships among empires, nations and states; colonial and post-colonial policies; and anti-colonial strategies within a changing global context. Using the rubrics of anthropology, history, cultural studies, and social theory, we will explore the intimacies of subject formation within imperial contexts- past and present- especially in relation to ideas about race and belonging. We will focus on how belonging and participation have been defined in particular locales, as well as how these notions have been socialized through a variety of institutional contexts. Finally, we will consider the relationships between popular culture and state formation, examining these as dialectical struggles for hegemony. AFRC5087401, ANTH5087401, GSWS5087401
LALS 5680-401 Contemporary Immigration in the U.S. Robert G. Gonzales T 12:00 PM-2:59 PM While this course will engage immigration issues more broadly, we will centrally focus on questions of immigrant incorporation and the effects of U.S immigration policy. We will start with the broad question of what should be done about the estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Then, we will take a deeper look at the ways in which macro-level forces such as our laws and institutions shape the micro-level, everyday lives of undocumented immigrants and those living in mixed-status families. We will pay close attention to the circumstances of young people, including their experiences of exclusion and belonging across social and educational contexts. More specifically, we will examine how these factors might affect young people's development, schooling experiences, academic trajectories and aspirations, assimilation and ethnic identity, family dynamics, civic engagement, and employment. EDUC5432401, LALS2680401, SOCI2680401, SOCI5680401
LALS 6920-401 Colonial Literature of Spanish America Jorge Tellez R 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Topics vary. Please see the Spanish Department's website for the current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/hispanic-portuguese-studies/pc SPAN6920401
LALS 6970-401 El desierto: Desert Spaces in Latin American Literature Ashley R Brock W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Topics vary. Please see the Spanish Department's website for the current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/hispanic-portuguese-studies/pc SPAN6970401
LALS 6970-402 Studies in Latin American Culture T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Topics vary. Please see the Spanish Department's website for the current course description: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/hispanic-portuguese-studies/pc SPAN6970402