The Latin American Studies Program at Gettysburg College is an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental program that promotes a multidisciplinary approach to the culture, history, politics, and society of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Latino/a and Hispanic communities in the United States. By emphasizing the inter-dependence of the Americas within a global perspective, the Latin American Studies program seeks to help our students to be prepared, culturally knowledgeable and competent, conscious and fully engaged citizens in a global, multicultural and rapidly changing world.

Gettysburg College offers a major in Spanish and Latin American Studies, and a minor in Latin American Studies. These programs of study draw on courses in the humanities and social sciences.

In order to complete the combined Spanish/Latin American Studies Major, students are required to:

• Take a total of twelve courses:
  • Six Latin American Studies courses
  • Six Spanish courses (Spanish 301 and above)
  • One of these 12 courses will constitute the Capstone experience as an independent study to be completed during the senior year
• Spend at least one semester studying abroad in a College-affiliated program in Latin America:
  • A maximum of two courses taken abroad may be applied to the Latin American studies component of the major, and a maximum of two courses can be used to fulfill electives for the Spanish portion of the major.
  • Approved College-affiliated programs currently include sites in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru.

In order to complete the Minor in Latin American Studies, students are required to take six courses and are encouraged to spend a semester studying abroad in Latin America or the Caribbean.

The Latin American Studies Program at Gettysburg College considers that students completing the Combined Major in Spanish and Latin American Studies should be able to:

• Develop an informed and critical view of Latin America, the Caribbean and Hispanic communities in the USA, within a global perspective.
• Integrate knowledge and learning experiences of Latin American, Caribbean and Hispanic/Latino communities in the USA into their own liberal arts education.
• Identify specific issues for research and scholarly inquiries in the field of Latin American Studies, and conduct analysis informed by the interdisciplinary, integrated and systematic approach of Latin American Studies, in dialogue with the Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Demonstrate the ability to collaborate meaningfully with Latin American or Hispanic/Latino professionals in academia, business, political, artistic, or other endeavors that contribute to the students’ professional and academic development.
• Demonstrate research, analytical and communication skills by identifying specific issues in Latin American Studies and implement an interdisciplinary, integrated and systematic approach strongly informed by the research in the field in dialogue with the Humanities and Social Sciences (Spanish 345, Capstone Experience).
• Contribute to the knowledge, experiences and issues advanced by Latin American Studies on campus by engaging actively in the promotion and discussion of issues related to the field.
• Communicate effectively in both written and spoken Spanish at the fluency level required for nuanced discussion of research findings, scholarly conversation, cultural debates and sensitive issues for the communities involved in his or her studies.