Overview
Tulane University Offers a Comprehensive and Enriching Latin American Studies Program
Latin American Studies majors and minors at Tulane gain comprehensive knowledge about Latin America through a mixture of academic study, specialized training, and research abroad. The program embraces research, linguistic fluency, fieldwork, and direct engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean as essential to critical consciousness.
The program encourages comparative studies that provide a profound understanding of differences among socio-cultural systems developed within Latin America, as well as of differences between Latin American systems and others throughout the hemisphere and globe. While the curriculum is principally intended as a vehicle of liberal education, the program also aims to prepare students contemplating business, commerce, communication, government, or teaching/research careers in Latin America or the United States. Flexibility and creative individual initiative are the keynotes of the program.
Within the re-emerging community of New Orleans, Tulane University students are active participants in a growth and renewal that will help shape the future of the city and the region. The school shares a mission with the city of New Orleans to bring the area to new heights, culturally, intellectually, and socially.
All majors and minors work very closely with the undergraduate adviser to create a course of study that meets personal goals as well as university and Stone Center requirements. All undergraduate Latin American Studies students are automatically subscribed to an electronic mailing list that informs students of university and Stone Center deadlines and of Latin America-related events both on and off campus.
Explore Tulane's Programs Leading to a Latin American Studies Degree
The Latin American Studies degree program is one of the most popular courses of study at Tulane, both as a singular major and as a second major. The B.A. degree in Latin American Studies requires a minimum of 30 hours of Latin American content course work selected from various departmental and Latin American Studies (LAST) offerings. Students focus on one of eight thematic concentrations and must meet a language proficiency requirement in either Spanish or Portuguese. Majors are encouraged to participate in one of the Tulane programs in Latin America and to pursue internships both in New Orleans and Latin America. In order to graduate with departmental honors, qualified majors also write an honor's thesis in their final year of study.
The minor in Latin American Studies is a 15-hour program for students majoring in another discipline. Students may also elect to minor in Brazilian Studies. Both minors are excellent for those students who wish to concentrate their work in a specific discipline yet maintain a Latin American focus in their course work.
Tulane is a reputable research institution with success in many disciplines, demonstrated by the success of centers such as the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute, among many others that the campus offers. The university consistently maintains its position among the elite research institutions in the nation, receiving national accolades and awards on an annual basis.
Tulane University Presents a Diverse and Imaginative Curriculum in Latin American Studies
The Latin American Studies curriculum requires a minimum of 30 credit hours in ten Latin American content courses to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree. Courses are selected from the various departments offering classes in the field as well as from Latin American Studies. The Latin American Studies curriculum requires that five elective courses must concentrate on one of the themes that are the foundation of the interdisciplinary Latin American Studies program at Tulane: Creativity, Encounter, Exchange, Identity, Land, Nation, Peoples, Welfare. Students work closely with the undergraduate adviser to construct a coherent concentration of course work, as Latin American content electives include a wide variety of courses taught in several disciplines. Latin American Studies majors must demonstrate linguistic competency in either Spanish or Portuguese.
Both majors and minors in Latin American Studies are strongly encouraged to participate in study-abroad programs in Latin America, both for the personal and the educational experiences. As a bonus, much of the course work taken abroad counts toward the Latin American Studies programs. The study-abroad programs include summer programs in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, and semester-abroad programs are held in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba. and Mexico. Argentina and Brazil host Junior Year Abroad Programs, and select courses are offered in Tulane's program in Spain.
