Program Overview
Latin American Studies
Explore a continent and its peoples.
Lilah Drafts-Johnson ’18, a Latin American Studies major, spent a semester studying in Santiago, Chile, taking a range of courses including “Political Economy of Development” and “Sports Management.”
Photo credit: Courtesy of Lilah Drafts-Johnson
A Region of Over 30 Countries and 650 Million People
The Latin American Studies major lets students choose from more than 60 courses offered in 10 departments
Oberlin’s Latinx Resources
The Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) is pleased to cosponsor and provide support for Latinx Heritage Series each year. LHS is a year-long series of speakers, screenings, performances, and gatherings organized by the community of Latinx students, in collaboration with the MRC as well as other faculty and staff at Oberlin College.
Interested in studying the wider Spanish-speaking world? Oberlin has four academic programs you can major in - and you can choose more than one: Hispanic studies, Latin American studies, comparative American studies, and comparative literature.
Latinx Heritage House
Latinx Heritage House (LHH), officially known as Zechiel House, is an identity-based residence hall closely associated with the Latin American Studies Program. Latinx Heritage House is a designated living and learning space that prioritizes the historical and contemporary experiences of Latinx/o/a people.
Undergraduate Research
My research studies the political, social, and cultural impact La Virgen de Guadalupe has had in Latine spaces in the U.S.
Featured Courses
LATS 100
What is Latin America? Issues in Latin American Studies
What is Latin America and why does Latin American studies exist as an academic field of study? What does it mean to study Latin America from the outside, particularly from the United States? This multidisciplinary, team-taught course lays the groundwork for an intentional and self-reflective trajectory through Oberlin’s interdisciplinary LATS program. In addition to the history of Latin American studies, it addresses questions that are central to any scholarly engagement with the region.
- Taught by
- Matthew Rarey
ANTH 210
Indigenous Peoples of Latin America
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to modern historical, ethnohistorical and anthropological approaches to the indigenous populations of Latin America. The course will focus on the ongoing process of conflict and accommodation that has characterized the relationship between the native peoples of the New World and those of the Old World. We will study indigenous social movements dealing with issues such as land claims, natural resources, economic development, cultural recognition and human rights.
- Taught by
- Baron Pineda
AAST 122
Caribbean Survey: Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic: Indigenous to 1898
The course provides an introduction to the history of Caribbean nations beginning in Africa to the mid-20th century. The class explores the geography of the Caribbean, the indigenous population, and the role of Africa in providing laborers for the region’s plantation work and its enduring impact on the region’s cultural traditions. Students will examine resistance movements against slavery and imperialism. The class investigates the various methods individuals have used in recording moments of the past.
- Taught by
- Yveline Alexis
CAST 427
Borderlands
The U.S.-Mexico border region is a political, economic, and cultural crossroads. The course investigates interactions between Native Americans and Spanish colonists beginning in the 16th century, emerging United States economic and political control during the 19th century, and immigration, community building, and civil rights movements in the 20th century. We also discuss la frontera as a literary and symbolic concept.
- Taught by
- Pablo Mitchell
Student Profiles
Teaching in Guatemala
At Oberlin, Nina Harris ’20, a Latin American studies and gender, sexuality, and feminist studies major, worked in the Oberlin Spanish in the Elementary Schools (SITES) Program and with El Centro Volunteer Initiative. After graduating, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Guatemala.
Advocacy Work in Lorain County
At Oberlin, Alyssa Phelps ’15, a Bonner scholar and Latin American studies major, cofounded Project Unbound, a student group working to raise awareness about human trafficking in and around Lorain County, and to raise funds for the Human Trafficking Collaborative of Lorain County. After many educational experiences abroad, she was awarded a Fulbright to Mexico.
Fulbright Fellow to Mexico
Julia Pearlstein-Levy ’15, a Latin American studies major and environmental studies minor, spent a summer teaching computer skills in Ecuador, as well as a semester and subsequent winter term in Costa Rica, where she conducted research on conservation and sustainability. After graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright Grant to teach in Mexico.
What does Latin American Studies at Oberlin look like?
Professors Kristina Mani, Sebastiaan Faber and Renee Romano collaborated on the “Forms of Justice” StudiOC Learning Community.
Photo credit: Jennifer Manna
A presentation on Afro-Latinidad, one of the many events at La Casa Hispánica.
Photo credit: Pang Fei Chiang ’19
OSSGUA, the Oberlin student group for solidarity with Guatemala, on a trip to the country during Winter Term.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Ave Poen ’20 and Eleanor Waterhouse ’20
Students speak with Jorge Heine, former ambassador of Chile to China, after his lecture on Latin America-Asia relations.
Photo credit: Yvonne Gay
