Latin American Studies Learning Outcomes

Latin American Studies at USD prepares the next generation of global citizens to rise above. To learn the challenges of society and then help to solve them.

Learning outcomes

1. Understand different worldviews and epistemologies in the imperial/colonial context of the initial encounter, the subsequent "invention" of America and the emergence of the idea of "Latin" America in the 19th century.
   • Explore the ways in which Latin America has been conceived of as part of the West and simultaneously as peripheral to it.
   • Identify the present physical geographies, administrative-political structures and demographics of the Latin American countries and analyze the ways in which these are defined from internal and external perspectives.
   • Compare and contrast different concepts on and theoretical approaches to the cultural and ethnic diversity of Latin America, such as transculturation, hybridization, mestizaje, neo-baroque, among others.
   • Explore the linguistic diversity of Latin America and develop communicative proficiency in one or more Latin American languages.
2. Explore the artistic and cultural production of Latin America throughout history, from ancient Amerindian civilizations and the legacy of the African slave trade to the present, with an emphasis on the diversity of perspectives.
   • Understand and analyze the construction of racial categories and racism in Latin America both in the context the conquest of indigenous peoples and the subsequent African slave trade and in more recent manifestations.
   • Explore the relationship between coloniality — the colonial matrix of power that goes beyond the historical period of colonialism — and the rhetoric of modernity in the economic, political, civic and personal/subjective realms.
3. Analyze the complexities of conquest, colonialism, neocolonialism and postcolonialism and their legacies.
   • Analyze the manifestation of European Enlightenment ideals in Latin America and contrast them with Amerindian and Afro-American epistemologies and world views.
   • Define and analyze the following dichotomies and concepts in this context: civilization and barbarism, progress and primitivism, development and underdevelopment.
   • Analyze the following concepts in specific junctures of Latin American history, from 19th-century nation building, throughout the 20th century and to the present:
     • revolution and subversion
     • dictatorship and state violence
     • war and armed conflict
     • human rights and memory
     • justice and reconciliation
     • (re)democratization
4. Identify and analyze the different political and economic structures or systems that have appeared in Latin America since independence and the socio-historical conditions in which they each emerged.
   • Identify and analyze current challenges faced by Latin American countries in regional, national, hemispherical and transnational contexts.
   • Explore and analyze Latin American experiences as part of the transnational flows of people, culture, technology, media and finance within global capitalism.
5. Understand the ways in which the term "Latin" America is a misnomer, both within local histories and global designs and how other terms are used to describe this region, such as Afro-Latin America, among others.

For the most updated curriculum and course information, go to the catalog of record.