Fall 2014
Smith College Program in Latin American and Latino/a Studies
Approved Courses
http://www.smith.edu/registrar/catalogs.php
LAS 201 Colloquium in Latin American and Latino/a Studies
Topics course. Topic: Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Latin America.
Since the 1990s Latin America has witnessed increasing societal and political debates over
sexual and reproductive rights. Issues such as contraceptives, abortion, gay marriage, transgender
rights, sexual education and assisted reproductive technology have risen to the top of some
countries’ agendas after decades of silence, taboos, and restrictive or non-existent legislation.
The course aims to provide a survey of sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America
comparing the region as a whole with other areas of the world, while at the same time
highlighting the disparities that exist within it. The course analyzes the multiple factors behind
the current policies focusing particularly on the role of women and gay rights movements in
advancing more liberal legislation. In addition, we will look at the role of the Catholic Church in
these debates and their struggles to prevent any legislative change that goes against their doctrine
from happening. Among the cases we will explore are Argentina’s gay marriage and gender
identity legislation, Uruguay’s decriminalization of abortion, Costa Rica’s ban on IVF
technologies and Peru’s coercive sterilization program of indigenous populations. Credits: 4
Instructor: Cora Fernández Anderson (PENDING CAP APPROVAL)
Offered Fall 2014
T R 1:00-2:50pm
LAS 260 (L) Colonial Latin America, 1492-1821
Same as HST 260. The development of Latin American society during the period of Spanish and
Portuguese rule. Social and cultural change in Native American societies as a result of
colonialism. The contributions of Africans, Europeans and Native Americans to the new multiethnic societies that emerged during the three centuries of colonization and resistance. The study
of sexuality, gender ideologies and the experiences of women are integral to the course and
essential for understanding political power and cultural change in colonial Latin America. Basis
for LALS major. {H} Credits: 4
Ann Zulawski
Offered Fall 2014
T R 10:30-11:50am
LAS 301 Seminar: Topics in Latin American and Latino/a Studies
Topics course.
Puerto Rico and Cuba in the "American Century"
Often referred to as "two wings of the same bird," Puerto Rico and Cuba both have roots in
Spanish colonialism, slavery and cultures of the African diaspora. Through migration, trade and
shared political pursuits their people were long in contact with each other and participated in a
broader pan-Caribbean intellectual and cultural milieu. Cuba and Puerto Rico both have histories
of nationalist struggles for independence and complex political and cultural relationships with
the United States. This seminar will begin in about 1850 and examine slavery, race, colonialism
and independence in both countries. It will then concentrate on the experiences of Puerto Rico
and Cuba after 1898, in the "American Century," and explore how one became the only socialist
country in the Americas and the other a U.S. territory. Our study will be scaffolded by political
and social history, and it will use literature, music, film, and analysis of race and gender to
understand these two interrelated stories. {H}{S} Credits: 4
Ann Zulawski
Offered Fall 2014
R 3:00-4:50pm
FYS 159 What's in a Recipe?
Nancy Sternbach
Offered Fall 2014
M W F 11:00am-12:10pm
LAS 201 Colloquium in Latin American and Latino/a Studies
Topic: Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Latin America (PENDING CAP APPROVAL)
Cora Fernández Anderson
Offered Fall 2014
T R 1:00-2:50pm
LAS/HST 260 (L) Colonial Latin America, 1492-1821
Ann Zulawski
Offered Fall 2014
T R 10:30-11:50am
LAS 301 Seminar: Topics in Latin American and Latino/a Studies
Puerto Rico and Cuba in the "American Century"
Ann Zulawski
Offered Fall 2014
R 3:00-4:50pm
POR 220 Portuguese and Brazilian Literature and Culture
Brazilian Poetry and Performance Art
Malcolm McNee
Offered Fall 2014
M W 1:10-2:30pm
SPN 230 Latin American and Peninsular Literature
Transatlantic Search for Identity
Maria Harretche
Offered Fall 2014
T R 10:30-11:50am
SPN 246: Topics in Latin American Literature
Mirrors of the Self, or the Eye/I of the Artist
Silvia Berger
Offered Fall 2014
M W 2:40-4:00pm
SPN 260 Survey of Latin American Literature I
Patricia Gonzalez
Offered Fall 2014
M W 2:40-4:00pm
SPN 372 Seminar: Topics in Latin American and Iberian Studies
Stages of Conflict: Performing Memory and Change
Maria Harretche
Offered Fall 2014
T R 1:00-2:50pm
SPN 373 Seminar: Literary Movements in Spanish America
Contesting Feminisms: Transnational and Indigenous Voices Rethinking Latin American
Feminisms
Michelle Joffroy
Offered Fall 2014
M W 1:10-2:30pm