Latina/o Studies Minor
Latina/o studies is constituted from the transdisciplinary study of Latina/o cultural production and experience in terms of a whole variety of factors. Latinas/os are defined as people of Latin American and Iberian descent living and working or based in the United States, but also moving between the United States and the rest of the Americas. Latina/o studies takes as its primary concern the presence of Latin America, Spain, and the myriad combinations of Hispanic-Native-African-Asian and European non-Hispanic cultures within the borders of the United States. However, Latina/o studies is not confined within those borders to the extent that its subjects of study (and the very creators of the field itself) are in motion and in flux, coming and going, crossing borders and boundaries. In this respect it shares some of the transnational and transcultural scope, momentum, and issues of Latin American studies but with its own foci, its own perspectives. Latina/o studies does not duplicate the work of Latin American studies; it draws on it and complements it.
Latina/o studies encompasses Chicana/o studies, Puerto Rican studies, Cuban American studies, Dominican studies, Central American studies, South American studies, and so forth. It takes into account the cultural production and the socioeconomic and political experiences of a diverse population located in many parts of the country, not just in the Southwest borderlands.
The main stipulation of the minor is that students must take a combination of courses in the humanities (literatures and cultural production) and the social sciences (communities and cultural space), some of which have been designated as core courses and others as electives. Students who feel they need a basic introduction to Latina/o studies should take ENGL 164 .
Requirements
In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:
- take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
- earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the minor core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for minor or specific courses.
For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.
Requirements for the five-course minor in Latina/o studies are as follows:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | ||
| One humanities/fine arts course in Latina/o literatures and cultural production (see list below) | 3 | |
| One course in social sciences or Latina/o communities and cultural space (see list below) | 3 | |
| Three elective courses chosen from the two lists below or from AAAD 260 or DRAM 486. | 9 | |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
Humanities/Fine Arts Course in Latina/o Literatures and Cultural Production
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AAAD 284 |  Contemporary Perspectives on the African Diaspora in the Americas | 3 |
| DRAM 288 | Theatre for Social Change | 3 |
| DRAM 488 | United States Latino/a Theatre | 3 |
| ENGL 164 | Introduction to Latina/o Studies H | 3 |
| ENGL 265 | Literature and Race, Literature and Ethnicity H | 3 |
| ENGL 267 | Growing Up Latina/o | 3 |
| ENGL 359 | Latina Feminisms | 3 |
| ENGL 467 | Educating Latinas/os: Preparing SLI Mentors | 3 |
| ENGL/WGST 665 | Queer Latina/o Literature, Performance, and Visual Art | 3 |
| ENGL/WGST 666 | Queer Latina/o Photography and Literature | 3 |
| ENGL/AMST/CMPL 685 | Literature of the Americas | 3 |
| HIST 241 | History of Latinos in the United States | 3 |
| HIST 237 | Colonial American History to 1763 | 3 |
| MUSC 147 | Introduction to the Music of the Américas | 3 |
| RELI 245 | Latina/o Religions in the United States-Mexico Borderlands H | 3 |
| SPAN 389 | Outside Cuba: Diasporic Literature and Culture | 3 |
| SPAN 398 | Undergraduate Seminar in Literature and Culture | 3 |
| WGST 211 | Introduction to Latina Feminisms: Literature, Theory, and Activism | 3 |
| WGST 233 | Introduction to Latina Literature | 3 |
| WGST 465 | Gender, (Im)migration, and Labor in Latina Literature | 3 |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
Social Sciences or Latina/o Communities and Cultural Space
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| AAAD 278 | Black Caribbeans in the United States | 3 |
| AAAD 290 | Topics in African, African American, and Diaspora Studies | 3 |
| AAAD 340 | Diaspora Art and Cultural Politics | 3 |
| ANTH/FOLK 130 | Anthropology of the Caribbean | 3 |
| ENGL 467 | Educating Latinas/os: Preparing SLI Mentors | 3 |
| GEOG 56 | First-Year Seminar: Local Places in a Globalizing World (first-year students only) | 3 |
| GEOG 423 | Social Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 542 | Neighborhoods and Health | 3 |
| MEJO 443 | Latino Media Studies | 3 |
| PLCY 349 | Immigration Policy in the 21st Century | 3 |
| WGST 211 | Introduction to Latina Feminisms: Literature, Theory, and Activism | 3 |
| WGST 233 | Introduction to Latina Literature | 3 |
| WGST 465 | Gender, (Im)migration, and Labor in Latina Literature | 3 |
See the program page here for special opportunities.
Department Programs
Majors
Minors
- Comparative Literature Minor
- Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Literacy Minor
- Creative Writing Minor
- English Minor
- Global Cinema Minor
- Latina/o Studies Minor
- Medicine, Literature, and Culture Minor
Graduate Programs
Department of English and Comparative Literature
Greenlaw Hall, CB# 3520
(919) 962-5481
Chair
Marsha Collins
