Penn Arts & Sciences Logo

Major Requirements

  1. Twelve courses with Latin American/Latinx content. All courses that are cross-listed with LALS or have one of the following attributes - ALCR, ALDI, ALHI, ALMR, ALRP, or ALSS - may count towards the major. 
  2. At least one credit each from the following course clusters. Some examples of pre-approved courses for each cluster are listed below, and many others may be approved as cluster courses if the class has the appropriate attribute or upon review by the LALS adviser.
    • Criticism Cluster (Attribute ALCR) LALS1260/ENGL 1260, LALS 1261/ENGL 1261, LALS 3652/SPAN 3652. (Many of the classes fulfilling the Criticism cluster are often offered by professors with primary department affiliations in English, Hispanic Studies, GSWS, and other areas that engage students with literature, film, arts, and other areas in the humanities and criticism.) 
    • History Cluster (Attribute ALHI) LALS 0400/HIST 0400, LALS 0450/HIST 0450, LALS 1400/HIST 1400 (Many of the classes fulfilling the History cluster are often offered by professors with a primary department affiliation in History.) 
    • Social Science Cluster (Attribute ALSS) LALS 1120/PSCI 1120, LALS 3020, LALS 1254/ANTH 1254, LALS 2610/SOCI 2610 (Many of the classes fulfilling the Social Science cluster are often offered by professors with a primary department affiliation in disciplines such as Political Science, Anthropology, and Sociology.)
  3. At least two courses addressing the regional experience prior to 1820 (Attribute ALRP). These courses almost always will overlap with the cluster courses described above. Possibilities include: LALS 0400/ HIST 0400, LALS 1310/HIST 1310, LALS 1400/HIST 1400.
  4. At least one course focused on the experiences of communities in the Latinx diaspora (Attribute ALDI). Appropriate courses include LALS1260/ENGL 1260, LALS 2610/SOCI 2610, LALS 4240 and 4250.
  5. Many courses may have the general attribute, ALMR, and can count towards the 6 electives or possibly one of the cluster areas depending on its content. 
  6. Students must meet the University's language requirement in either Portuguese or Spanish. Literature courses taken in Romance Languages will count among the twelve content courses or the Major.
  7. Courses of Latin American content taken in study-abroad programs will count toward the twelve Latin American Studies Major content courses, but approval from the LALS major advisor is required. Prospective majors studying abroad are advised to save syllabi and all of their own written work for courses they hope to count toward the major. Basic language classes cannot be counted (see above).
  8. All CLALS majors must complete a research requirement. Most often, this requirement will be completed during the student's senior year. Please see the Associate Director for more details. 
  9. Courses to be counted toward the Major must be taken for a letter grade.
  10. In addition to the cross-listed courses by CLALS affiliated faculty, there may be other courses that qualify for LALS credit depending on the content. Generally, courses that have a minimum of 30% content pertaining to Latin American and Latinx studies qualify. However, these courses will need to be approved by the CLALS Director or Associate Director.  Please contact the Associated Director, Dr. Catherine Bartch, with any questions. (cbartch@sas.upenn.edu).

In order to request to apply for a Minor or Major, students should submit their requests through the Declare/Update Field of Study form available in Path@Penn.  You may also use this worksheet (Major/Minor Declaration Form) and contact the Associate Director at clals-upenn@sas.upenn.edu to discuss the Major or Minor. 

To search for LALS courses on Path@Penn, you can search for LALS in the top toolbar on the left.  Or you can search for our Major/Minor related attribute, ALMR, or one of the other attributes - ALCR, ALDI, ALHI, ALRP, or ALSS. You will find some additional courses if you search for courses by attribute.  Feel free to reach out to us with any questions that you may have.

For more information about the Latin American and Latinx Studies Major or Minor, see the CLALS Associate Director in the Center's suite on the 4th floor of McNeil. The Associate Director is in McNeil 457, 3718 Locust Walk.