Major & Minor Requirements
Through its diverse program offerings on campus and a variety of opportunities abroad, the Department of Latin American, Latino, & 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.
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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 unit of an Area of Inquiry in LAIS
Three units 400-level seminars
.5 units: LAIS496 Student Research Symposium
Additional requirements for majors
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.
A maximum of three non-University of Richmond courses can be transferred toward the LAIS major
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.
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.
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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
One unit of an Area of Inquiry in LAIS
Additional requirement for minors
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.
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.
“A maximum of two courses with a C-LAC component may be counted toward the minor. Only one of these courses may be taken outside the Department of Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies.”
The Luso-Brazilian Studies Minor
Note: Students must receive a C (2.0) or above for these courses to count toward the minor. Courses taken for less than 1 unit will not count towards the minor.
5-5.75 units, including:
LAIS390 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:
LAIS390 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 LAIS390 with an elective
Completion of Portuguese language coursework at one of our partner institutions abroad (PUC Rio, SIT, CIEE Brazil, or CIEE Portugal).
LAIS314 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 related courses in other academic disciplines as listed below. For courses in other disciplines that are not listed, students are encouraged to consult with the program coordinator. As a general rule, advanced courses in other disciplines may be taken for credit for 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 Portuguese language mini-course or submit a short project -in English- focusing on a Lusophone topic that intersects with the scope of the specific course (e.g., a student enrolled in PLSC 349 Politics of Latin America and the Caribbean may choose to complete a project on Brazil’s democratic transition and the challenges it faces in the 21st century). Students with prior knowledge of Portuguese may choose to hold weekly conversation sessions on the topics covered in the main course. 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 courses are content-specific and do not require a C-LAC:
HIST262 The Making of Modern Brazil
LAIS313 Building Brasilia: Idea to Reality
LAIS329 The African Novel
LAIS339 Stories From Elsewhere: Africa, Asia Brazil, Portugal
LAIS391 Conversations on Luso-Brazilian Film
The following courses are general electives that require a C-LAC:
ANTH271 Covid-19 in International Perspective
ANTH279 Selected Topics in Anthropology
ANTH300 Sexuality and Gender Across Cultures
ANTH302 Health Inequities in International Perspective
ANTH306 Tourism and Anthropology
ANTH307 Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
ANTH308 Latin America: An Ethnographic Perspective
ANTH328 Anthropology of Human Rights
ANTH329Anthropology of Race
ECON210 The Economics of the European Union
ECON211 Economic Development in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
GEOG220 Ecotourism
GEOG325 Latin American Geographies: Transnational and Local Connections
ENVR333 Geographies of Amazonia
ENVR345 Global Sustainability: Society, Economy, Nature
HIST370 Global Climate Investment
HIST260 Colonial Latin America
HIST261 Modern Latin America
HIST265 Gender and Sexuality in Latin American History
HIST281 Africa, c. 1500 to c. 1900
HIST282 Africa in the Twentieth Century
HIST390 Food and Power in Africa and Asia
PLSC343 Politics of Asia
PLSC344 Europe Today
PLSC348 Politics of Africa
PLSC349 Politics of Latin America and the Caribbean
PLSC351 Globalization
SOC306 Social Change in a Global Perspective
Contact Dr. Dixon Abreu, dabreu@richmond.edu