Latina / Latino Studies Informaion

University of Minnesota

Availability / Marketing of Content

The University of Minnesota's Chicano Studies website is very informative. It gives information on the faculty and staff, academics, curriculum, projects, majors, minors and student resources. A part of the website also posts scholarships that are possible for the program.

The history of the Chicano Studies program and how it came about is given on this website which is very interesting. The contact information of all the faculty and staff are given with a brief paragraph explaining some of their back ground, title and other programs they may be involved in.

Courses Offered

Courses are offered in Chicano/a culture, intellectual, aesthetic, literature, historical, ethical, and human values. Courses are also offered that highlight Chicano/a issues in society. Oral and communication skills are also necessary in the program. Subjects explored are race, ethnicity, culture and identity, gender, and class in the United States.

Program Structure

For the major program students are required to take prep courses along with community studies, gender and sexuality, history and politics, literature and cultural studies a few additional courses and a senior project. A Bachelor of Arts degree in Chicano Studies requires the students to complete 18 core requirements and 18 electives that are within the Chicano Studies program. To obtain a minor in the program students must take 18 credits along with 9 additional credits.

Demographics

According to the 2000 census for the state of Minnesota there were 2.9% people who identified themselves as being of Hispanic or Latino origin, 1.3% identified as some other race and 1.7% identified as two or more races out of a total population of 4,919,479 people. At the University of Minnesota the freshman class identified as 2% Hispanic and 1% did not report race/ethnicity.

Sources

Department of Chicano Studies. (n.d.). Retrieved February/March 10, 2006, from http://chicano.umn.edu/