Latina / Latino Studies Informaion

University of Virginia

Availability / Marketing of Content

The website for this program shows everything that this program is about, the geography of the area, the cultural things, like pottery, the people and the places. Everything is laid out clearly so that you can find it, like the courses, program requirements and the faculty. The backgrounds and the information layout on the individual pages can be sort of bland and boring. Also, there are a few of the links that are not functioning properly, so it can be assumed that they have not updated those sections in quite awhile. Overall, the site is quite easy to navigate and rather attractive to look at.

Courses Offered

The courses University of Virginia offers include topics on everything from African and Caribbean Plantations to Latin American Economic Issues. Many of their courses are based on the history of Latin America, whether it be of the culture, the economics or the politics. Also, they offer language courses in Spanish and Portuguese at a variety of levels. There are also courses on immigration, women in Latin American cultures and the Spanish Inquisition. Most of these courses are focus on learning about Spanish or Caribbean Latin American cultures. Also, history courses and current culture courses are the most emphasized among the course listing.

Program Structure

The University of Virginia has a Latin American Studies major which focuses on learning the language, culture and history of Latin America. Students are required to take thirty credit hours in Latin American Studies to complete the major. These courses can be taken in a variety of departments, including government, anthropology, economics, and foreign affairs. The main implication to the thirty credit rule is that those credits must be achieved in at least four of the ten areas of study within the program. Also, students are expected to take up to the second year of Spanish or Portuguese, but only Portuguese courses can be counted towards the total credits required for the major. The University of Virginia also offers a minor in Latin American Studies.

The minor program consists of eighteen credit hours in Latin American studies and up to the second year of either Spanish or Portuguese. Students must take courses in at least three of the ten departments that offer classes in Latino Studies. These are the only requirements to the Latin American minor program at the University of Virginia.

Demographics

As of the 2000 US census, the city of Charlottesville, VA had 2.45% of its residents considered themselves to be of Latino/a descent. While the University of Virginia boasts 4% of its students to be from Latino/a descent. This increase in percentage is likely caused by the 29% of its students from out of state or those that simply come from cities other than Charlottesville.

Sources

Latin American Studies at the University of Virginia. (n.d.). Retrieved February18, 2006, from University of Virginia Web site: http://www.virginia.edu/latinamerican/