Major & Minor Requirements

Through its diverse program offerings on campus and a variety of opportunities abroad, the Department of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies (LALIS) offers students a curriculum that embraces the cultural and linguistic diversity and complexity of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. The Spanish language and Hispanic literatures comprise the core of the department’s program; yet the LALIS curriculum also brings students into contact with Portuguese, Basque, Catalan, and Galician languages, literatures, and cultures. The program is broad in scope and conceptualization but at the same time offers students a vast number of opportunities to explore specific areas of the world and specific areas of knowledge.

  • Major

    The Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Major

    Note: The grade point average of the coursework comprising the major must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade below C- (1.70).

    9.5 units, including

    • One chosen from LAIS-301-LAIS-308  Spanish in Context

    • LAIS-309 Spanish Writing Workshop

    • One unit of an FSLT taught in LAIS, chosen from

    • Three units above 310 (excluding LAIS-388 and LAIS-389)

    • Three units 400-level seminars

    • .5 units: Student Research Symposium

    Additional requirements for majors

    1. For students studying abroad for a semester or year, at least one 400-level LAIS seminar must be taken upon return to the University of Richmond. Visit lais.richmond.edu/program/study-abroad.html for all study abroad requirements and policies.

    2. A maximum of three non-University of Richmond courses can be transferred toward the LAIS major

    3. All LAIS majors need to have completed previously at least two 300-level LAIS courses in order to receive LAIS credit from a study abroad program. Visit lais.richmond.edu/program/study-abroad.html for all study abroad requirements and policies.

    4. A maximum of three courses with a C-LAC component may be counted toward the major. Only one of these courses may be taken outside the Department of Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies.

  • Minor

    The Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Minor

    Note: The grade point average of the coursework comprising the minor must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade below C- (1.70).

    Six units, including

    Additional requirement for minors

    1. All LAIS minors need to have previously completed at least two LAIS courses at the 300 level at the University of Richmond in order to transfer credit from a study abroad program.  Visit lais.richmond.edu/program/study-abroad.html for all study abroad requirements and policies.

    2. For students studying abroad for one semester or one year, at least one course must be taken upon return to the University of Richmond. Visit lais.richmond.edu/program/study-abroad.html for all study abroad requirements and policies.

The Luso-Brazilian Studies Minor

Note: Students must receive a C (2.0) or above for these courses to count toward the minor. No course taken for less than .5 units will count towards the minor.

5-5.75 units, including:

  • LAIS-349 Portuguese for Romance Language Speakers or another comparable intermediate/advanced course in Portuguese language.  The requirement in Portuguese language can be fulfilled in one of the following ways:

    • LAIS-349  Portuguese for Romance Language Speakers

    • Exemption through a placement test that measures oral, writing, reading, and comprehension skills. Exempted students must still take a total of 5-5.75 units to complete the minor; thus, they may substitute LAIS-349 with an elective

    • Completion of Portuguese language coursework at one of our partner institutions abroad (PUC Rio, SIT, CIEE Brazil, or CIEE Portugal).

  • LAIS-314 Luso-Brazilian Studies: A Global Perspective with optional C-LAC component in Portuguese language

  • Three interdisciplinary electives

Students fulfilling their electives on campus will choose from course offerings within the specific field of Luso-Brazilian Studies or from a myriad of related academic disciplines. Students are required to seek approval for each elective in consultation with the program director. As a general rule, advanced courses in related disciplines may be taken for credit within the Luso-Brazilian Studies minor as long as the student seeks prior approval and fulfills a corresponding C-LAC (Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum) component in Portuguese language or culture (worth 0.25 units). Students may fulfill the C-LAC component in different ways: students with no prior knowledge of Portuguese may choose to take a basic language mini-course, whereas students with prior knowledge of Portuguese may choose to hold weekly conversation sessions on the course’s topics –both with a peer instructor.  Students may also choose to complete a project -in English- focusing on a Lusophone topic that intersects with the scope of the course (For example, a student enrolled in PLSC-348 Politics of Africa could complete a project on the economic, migratory, and military relations between the Lusophone country of Mozambique and South Africa). If a Luso-Brazilian Studies elective is taken abroad with Portuguese as the language of instruction, then the C-LAC requirement will be waived.

The following electives in Luso-Brazilian Studies are content specific and thus C-LAC is optional: