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Program

The Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) offers a set of carefully selected courses taught in departments and divisions in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. As an interdisciplinary program, LACS allows students to take courses in a range of disciplines to get a deeper understanding of the cultures and societies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Program core courses introduce and develop interdisciplinary ways of looking at the regions while integrating knowledge obtained in other courses. Program courses also provide shared intellectual meeting grounds for LACS majors and other students.

LACS works together with FoundersCollege and the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) to offer students a variety of events related to the Latin American and Caribbean regions. These include guest lectures by internationally renowned academics, workshops and conferences, and cultural and social events. Events are announced in classes or in special mailings to majors, and are regularly posted on the LACS bulletin board. Students are encouraged to participate in these events. LACS majors may also use the Documentation Centre of CERLAC (8th floor York Research Tower).

LACS is housed in FoundersCollege, which is also the home of four other interdisciplinary programs: African Studies, East Asian Studies, International Development Studies, and South Asian Studies. We recommend that LACS majors become members of FoundersCollege, so they can participate in events co-sponsored by the program and the College.

Degree Requirements

Honours (Double Major) Interdisciplinary BA Program

Students who wish to follow this program should register in the Honours (Double Major) program. Students participating as majors in LACS must also select a major in one of the following departments: Anthropology, Economics, English, History, Humanities, Political Science, Sociology, Spanish, or another approved discipline. Students in the Faculty of Environmental Studies may also pursue a linked Double Major with LACS.

To pursue a combination of studies not listed above, students must obtain permission from the relevant departmental Undergraduate Programme Director and the LACS Coordinator. All LACS majors should arrange their programme of study in consultation with the LACS Coordinator and an advisor in their other department.

Honours (Minor) BA Program

The program also allows students the option of an Honours Minor degree in LACS in combination with their major. The Honours Minor in LACS comprises at least 30 credits, including one of the LACS core courses AS/HUMA 2310 9.0, Introduction to Caribbean Studies or AS/SOSC 2460 9.0, Contemporary Latin America (six credits of these course will count towards the LACS minor) and a minimum of six credits in LACS at the 4000-level. Students must also meet the language requirement.

Course Requirements

Since LACS is a linked interdisciplinary program, students will combine a minimum of 36 credits in their chosen departmental/divisional major with a minimum of 36 credits in LACS. Courses taken to meet LACS requirements cannot be used to meet the requirements of the departmental/divisional major.

Once they have successfully completed 24 credits, students registered in LACS will take one of two core courses: AS/HUMA 2310 9.0, Introduction to Caribbean Studies or AS/SOSC 2460 9.0, Contemporary Latin America (Note: six credits of these courses will count towards the LACS major). In addition to the core course, students will take at least 30 credits in LACS including a minimum of six credits at the 4000-level.

Language Requirements

In addition to their course work, all students must satisfy a language requirement by demonstrating a working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, French, Creole or any other language (other than English) spoken in Latin America and the Caribbean relevant to the student's programme of study. Language courses do not count toward the 36 credits required of LACS majors or the 30 credits required of minors. Students may satisfy this requirement in two ways:

  1. by completing a university-level language course (at a level determined by a departmental placement test) with a final grade of C+ or higher;
  2. by translating into English a text of no more than two pages in length.