Latina/Latino studies is an interdisciplinary program, comprising courses that focus on various aspects of the U.S. Latina/Latino, as well as the Latin American, experience. The term Latino is inclusive of the diverse Hispanic communities in the United States, such as Chicano, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and others. The program offers only a minor (no major). The course of study combines its Latino courses with offerings from history, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, literature, and language.
Latina/Latino Studies Program (LLS)
Transnational Studies
1004 Clemens HallNorth Campus
Buffalo, NY 14620-4680
Cecil Foster
Chair
Chair
The Learning Environment
About Our Facilities
The Department of Transnational Studies is house in 1004 Clemens Hall and has three dedicated seminar rooms. The department holds classes in centrally scheduled space throughout the campus, which includes traditional classes and lecture halls that can accommodate the program’s teaching philosophies.
About Our Faculty
The Latina/Latino Studies program has core faculty within the Department of Transnational Studies who have distinguished themselves as scholars and teachers. Additionally, they are joined by renowned affiliated faculty from throughout the university and western New York.
Faculty List Directory
Please visit the Transnational Studies department website for additional information about our faculty.
LLS Courses
- LLS 11SA Special Studies Hispanic Tutorial
Special Studies Hispanic
Credits: 0 - 99
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 200LEC Black Roots in Spanish American Literature Lecture
Examines literature of the Spanish American black experience by writers of African and European ancestry.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 204LEC Intro Latina/O Culture Lecture
Explores dichotomies, such as history and myth, culture and acculturation, and tradition and change in relation to the Puerto Rican experience on the island and on the mainland.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 208LEC Twentieth-Century Puerto Rican Literature Lecture
Studies major Puerto Rican authors of the twentieth century within the framework of historical colonial Puerto Rican reality.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 256LEC Latin/o American Politics Lecture
This course explores recent debates and major issues in Latin American and Latino politics and society using a transnational and interdisciplinary approach.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 301SEM Ethnicity and the Puerto Rican Experience Seminar
Examines class and race as coordinates of the Puerto Rican experience in the world; also considers ethnicity as it relates to the discovery and perception of reality.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 303SEM Mainland Puerto Rican Experiences Seminar
Examines lifestyle and emerging cultural personality of Puerto Ricans raised on the mainland, as well as Puerto Rican dynamics' role in American social and cultural change. This course is the same as AMS 324 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Spring
- LLS 307SEM History of Ideas in Puerto Rico Seminar
Examines sociopolitical ideas that have exerted a decisive influence in the formation of a Puerto Rican culture and conscience from the second half of the nineteenth century to present times.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 308SEM Black Presnc Lat Am Cult Seminar
Considers black presence and black heritage within Latin American culture, viewed through literature, films, art, and the theatre. Also explores stereotypes in arts and the mass media. This course is the same as AAS 318, AMS 319, and HMN 318 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Spring
- LLS 322LEC Latina/o American Cinema Lecture
This course is the same as AMS 322 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Spring
- LLS 325SEM Contemporary Afro-Caribbean Religion Seminar
Explores the many religious experiences developed from the blending of Christian, African, and Indian cultures in the Caribbean. Although the principle focus is on Voudou and Santeria many less known religions of the region are also explored through a multidisciplinary perspective. This course is the same as APY 325 and LLS 325 and course repeat rules will apply. Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Spring
- LLS 401SEM Seminar in Puerto Rican Studies Seminar
Special topics pertaining to Puerto Rican and Latin American experiences.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 402SEM Puerto Rican Literature Seminar
Surveys major issues in Puerto Rican society from the late 1800s to the present as represented in major literary texts from the five literary genres: novel, short story, drama, poetry, and essay. Class, gender, race, and ethnicity are the major topics that inform class readings and discussions. The course's goal is to discover and define what is la puertorriqueñidad.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 404LEC Havana: City and Culture Lecture
An interdisciplinary course that examines Havana's urban development, from the sixteenth century to the present, as a process that has produced not only a city of universal projections but also a complex symbolic universe that speaks of the struggles and aspirations of its citizenry. Looks at Havana as a complex spatial phenomenon and gives students the basic background they need to understand fundamental political problems in Cuba's history and the intricacies of its socioracial environment.
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 440SEM Caribbean Short Stories Seminar
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 475SEM Latino Masculinity Seminar
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Fall
- LLS 481LEC Special Topics Lecture
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Varies
- LLS 482SEM Special Topics Seminar
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
- LLS 483SEM Special Topics Seminar
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
- LLS 484SEM Special Topics Seminar
Credits: 3
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Complementary Programs
- Nursing BS - Accelerated
- History BA
- American Studies Minor
- English Minor
- African-American Studies Minor
- Global Gender Studies BA
- Sociology BA
- Asian Studies Minor
- Media Study BA - Production Concentration
- Media Study Minor
- English BA
- Global Gender Studies Minor
- Media Study BA - Critical Studies Concentration
- History Minor
- Political Science BA - General Concentration
- Sociology Minor
- Political Science Minor
- Anthropology Minor