Learning about Latin America In & Out of the Classroom Cultural Programming Sponsored by the Latin American Studies Program To learn more about the Latin American Studies major, visit scranton.edu/latinamericanstudies
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aunched in 2000 after years of preparatory work by members from various departments at The University of Scranton, Latin American Studies (LAS) has grown from a concentration comprised of six faculty members, two students and six courses into a major and a concentration with 12 faculty members, 35 current students and 26 courses. Seventy-eight students have graduated from the program as of May 2011. LAS majors and concentrators must study either Portuguese or Spanish and take an array of structured courses in history and political science, philosophy and theology/religious studies, biology, anthropology, geography, and literature. They typically combine the LAS major and concentration with majors and minors in international language/business, international business, secondary education, Spanish, biology, English, international studies, political science, psychology and philosophy, among others. LAS alumni have launched successful careers in teaching, business, law, medicine, journalism and the priesthood. In keeping with the mission of the University, LAS prepares students to confront the responsibilities and challenges of our increasingly interdependent world. As such, the program seeks to provide both broad, general knowledge of the Latin American region as a whole and to advance students’ understanding of specific countries, regions and cultures. This need is reinforced by the significant movement of peoples and ideas globally and especially among the American nations. Demographic trends in the United States, moreover, point to a strengthening of the U.S. Latino population, which is approximately 80 percent Catholic and destined to play an important role in shaping parishes, student bodies in parochial schools and Catholic universities, Catholic life and values in the United States, and the regional and national influence of the church. LAS’s spectacular growth and multidisciplinary nature led, in 2009, to its partnership with the University’s Women’s Studies Program and the subsequent creation of the Department of Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies (LA/ W/S). The operating agreement of these separate programs
delineates how each complements the other: students acquire “knowledge about society, culture, identity, politics, power, and social justice ... [and] share a commitment to the interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary study of political, social, and cultural issues …” 1 LAS consistently schedules cultural programming for members of the University and greater community, including guest speakers, musical concerts and instructional film series. Nearly 80 movies (four per semester) have been shown during the past decade around themes such as the martyrdom of the Jesuits and their housekeepers in El Salvador, the 125year anniversaries of Mexican independence and revolution, and indigenous rights. Specific examples of LAS programming follow: In fall 2009, LAS commemorated the 20th anniversary of the vicious murders of six Jesuits at El Salvador’s University of Central America (UCA). Since 1999, The University of Scranton has forged strong ties to the UCA via its “Bridges to El Salvador” program. In fact, more than 100 Scranton professors and administrators, including nine LAS faculty, have traveled to the UCA. Classroom lectures in LAS classes focused on El Salvador’s brutal civil war and the deaths of Monsignor Oscar Romero, the Jesuits and churchwomen.
In 2009, the University remembered in a special way the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador and the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero. 1
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Ignite Faculty work in the Ignatian tradition
University of Scranton Undergrad catalog 2010-11