University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Availability / Marketing of Content
The website for Latin American Studies at UNC is interactive. It allows the visitor to view films and videos, learn about its outreach program, retrieve information about faculty and the institute, and access information about news and events. It is easy to access and navigate. The information for course listings as well as program structure is straight forward. It is obvious that the department spent some time in picking out the courses that will fulfill requirements. Students can choose from a large variety of courses while still having to meet program requirements. The Outreach program has made several initiatives with Duke University to spark interest in the community about Latin America.
Courses Offered
The program is divided into two areas, Humanities and Social Sciences. The Humanities concentration is then broken up into History and Culture-Literature. Social Sciences is broken into Journalism-Political Science and Anthropology-Economics-Geography Sciences. There are more than 400 courses offered between University of North Carolina and Duke University. There are options available to students such as First Year Seminars and Independent Studies and Capstone Courses taught by Latin American Faculty.
Program Structure
To achieve a major in Latino Studies, ten courses must be taken. There is also a language proficiency requirement. Students can choose between Spanish or Portuguese. Although it is not required of students to take classes on how to translate, it is strongly encouraged. The students must take classes in the two areas of Social Sciences and humanities. Some classes that have at least 50% Latin American content may also be counted for the major.
UNC does not offer a graduate degree in Latin American Studies but does encourage students to study at Chapel Hill for that degree.
Demographics
As of 2000, in Chapel Hill, the city where University of North Carolina is located had 48,715 people. Of that number, 3.21% identify as Hispanic or Latino. College age people (18-24) make up 37.1% of the population. A larger number, 4% of UNC's students identify themselves as Hispanic.
Sources
Latin America Studies. (n.d.). Retrieved February/March, 2006, from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Web site: http:////www.unc.edu/depts/ilas/about.html
The Course List for Spring 2006. (n.d.). Retrieved February/March, 2006, from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Web site: http://www.unc.edu/depts/ilas/crsspr06ntro.html
The Consortium in Latin American Studies. (n.d.). Retrieved February/March, 2006, from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Web site: http://www.duke.edu/web/carolinadukeconsortium/