Undergraduate Major & Minor
The major and minor concentrations are offered by the Latin American Studies Program in cooperation with several academic departments, including Anthropology, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, and Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures.
Major in Latin American Studies
The Major Concentration consists of two optional tracks:
- General Studies
- Brazilian Studies
The general studies track requires 27 upper-division hours taken from courses offered by at least three different academic departments. Three hours are to be selected from either Spanish 323 or Portuguese 315, 326. The remaining hours are to be chosen from Anthropology 313, 316, 319; Geography 373; History 360, 361, 460, 461, 462, 475; Political Science 456; Portuguese 430, 432; Spanish 331, 333, 334, 401, 402, 465, 479.
The Brazilian studies track requires 27 upper-division hours offered by at least three different academic departments. Of these hours, a minimum of 6 hours must be taken as part of UT Knoxville's summer study program in Fortaleza, Brazil (Portuguese 491 or 493). Nine hours must come from University of Tennessee Knoxville courses that focus on Brazil (History 460; Portuguese 315, 326, 430, 432). The remaining 12 hours are to be selected from courses listed above as part of the general studies track.
(Student petitions for course substitutions for either track or the minor may be appropriate when the content of unlisted courses focuses on Latin America. Students should consult the Chair of Latin American Studies.)
Minor in Latin American Studies
The minor consists of 18 hours taken from courses offered by at least three different academic departments. Six of the hours are
to be the Introduction to Latin American Studies sequence 251-252; 3 of the hours are to be selected from either Spanish 323 or
Portuguese 315, 326; the remaining 9 hours are to be selected from the courses listed in either track of the concentration.
A practical working knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is a prerequisite for majors and minors. All students are strongly encouraged to earn credit hours through UTK's Latin American Studies Abroad Program at the Federal University of Ceara in Fortaleza, Brazil or through the UTK Summer Program in Puebla, Mexico. Students will also want to consider participating in UT's Social Justice Fall Semester Program in Guayquil, Ecuador which includes a community-service internship in Guayaquil. Other foreign study programs are also available for Brazil and Spanish-speaking Latin America.
For further information, consult the Chairperson of the Latin American Studies program.