Latin American studies generally refers to an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Latin America. Offered by a wide range of colleges and universities and encouraged by a number of collaborative organizations, these studies can incorporate many of the humanities. These include but are not limited to history, Spanish and Portuguese, comparative literature, religious studies, anthropology and media studies. Latin American studies might also involve social sciences such as economics, political science and sociology. Latin American studies tries to integrate the unique skills and tools of each of these fields into a collective scholarly project.
Students engage in a wide variety of courses in this field. History courses range from the Meso-American period through colonialism to the modern day. Literary subject matter includes broad surveys of Spanish literature or more contextually or geographically specific courses such as Caribbean or Latin American Francophone literature. In some cases, programs will engage in comparative studies of different regions such as Latin America and Africa, or other areas in the developing world. Economists may focus on the growth of sustainable economies and markets in Latin America, as well as how outside aid or economic treaties affect Latin American peoples culturally, socially, economically and politically.
A lot of the materials interrogated by Latin American studies scholars and students are focused on colonialism. In this sense, much of the field is concerned with the way identities, cultures and representations of Latin America were defined, presented and perpetuated during and after the colonial epoch, as well as in how Latin Americans negotiated their responses to those representations. Therefore, Latin American studies does not often see colonialism as a positive experience for colonized people, but instead one that skewed their cultural heritage and characteristics in order to justify colonialism and its methods of exploitation.
There are a number of different degrees awarded from Latin American studies programs. These include bachelor's, master's and Ph D. degrees in many schools where the field is offered. Applicants should demonstrate strong interest in one or more of the aforementioned humanities as well as progress towards competence or proficiency in the related languages. These language requirements are less the case during the bachelor's, yet prove necessary in graduate programs.