Courses

AAS 2710 | Introduction to Afro-Latin America

Professor Fatima Siwaju

We 3:30pm - 6:00pm

This seminar examines the historical and contemporary trajectories and the cultural and intellectual contributions of Afro-descendant peoples in Latin America. Students explore the myriad ways in which Afro-Latin Americans have shaped their societies from the colonial period to the present day.

AMST 3500 | Visual Cultures of the Americas 

Professor Cole Rizki

MoWe 3:30pm - 4:45pm

This class considers how visual culture operates as a shaping force of national and regional politics and identities. With a particular focus on the hemispheric Americas, we will examine how visual culture operates as an important site of political and transnational solidarity. The course draws from visual culture and performance studies theories and methods and will center photography, film, and other visual archival production to explore these concerns. 

ANTH 3541 | Mayan Languages

Professor Eve Danziger

TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am

This course offers an overview of the linguistic structures to be found among the approximately 25 different Mayan languages located across the territory of Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico

KICH 1010 | Introduction to K'iche' Maya I

Professor Mareike Sattler (Vanderbilt University)

TuTh 4:00pm - 5:15pm (Zoom)

K'iche' is one of the most common indigenous languages in LatinAmerica, spoken by one million Maya in the western Highlands of Guatemala, the heartland of Maya culture. In this class, students learn to speak modern K'iche' and study the language in its cultural and historical contexts. K'iche' is the language of the Popol Wuj, the sacred book of the Maya. This class might also appeal to students interested in issues related to immigration, language planning and politics ina globalized world, language diversity, and linguistic human rights.

This course is made possible by the Duke-UVA-Vanderbilt Partnership for Less Commonly Taught Languages. K'iche' is taught on the synchronous platform Zoom by Vanderbilt instructor Mareike Sattler. For further questions contact her at mareike.sattler@vanderbilt.edu or contact Prof. Esther Poveda Moreno at mp8yk@virginia.edu.

KICH 2010 | Introduction to K'iche' Maya I

Professor Mareike Sattler (Vanderbilt University)

K'iche' is one of the most common indigenous languages in LatinAmerica, spoken by one million Maya in the western Highlands of Guatemala, the heartland of Maya culture. In this class, students learn to speak modern K'iche' and study the language in its cultural and historical contexts. K'iche' is the language of the Popol Wuj, the sacred book of the Maya. This class might also appeal to students interested in issues related to immigration, language planning and politics ina globalized world, language diversity, and linguistic human rights.

This course is made possible by the Duke-UVA-Vanderbilt Partnership for Less Commonly Taught Languages. K'iche' is taught on the synchronous platform Zoom by Vanderbilt instructor Mareike Sattler. For further questions contact her at mareike.sattler@vanderbilt.edu or contact Prof. Esther Poveda Moreno at mp8yk@virginia.edu.

TuTh 4:00pm - 5:15pm (Zoom)

PORT 4240 | Contemporary Brazilian Cinema

Professor Eli Carter

TuTh 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Explore the power and diversity of modern Brazilian cinema. From gritty realism to lyrical storytelling, we'll examine how filmmakers across Brazil confront violence, inequality, memory, and identity. Through film and theory, discover how Brazil's screen reflects—and reshapes—its complex 21st century reality.

RELG 2464 | Latino Religions and U.S. Democracy

Professor Nichole Flores

TuTh 11:00AM - 12:15PM

This course examines how Latine religious traditions--including Latine Catholicism, Pentecostalism, Mainline Protestantism, Indigenous traditions, and religious "nones"--interact with political and democratic cultures in the United States.

SPAN 3070 Community Engagement 

Professor Esther Poveda Moreno

MoWeFr 1:00pm - 1:50pm 

Sí se puede: Community Engagements in Spanish-Speaking Charlottesville is an advanced conversation course with a community-based language element component. In this specific iteration of SPAN 3070, we will focus on the role of education as a tool for social change in the Spanish speaking world. As part of the course requirements, students will volunteer as bilingual tutors and mentors with the Center for Community Partnership’s Starr Hills Pathway Program. Through community work, engagement with course materials (podcasts, documentaries, graphic novels, short stories, and testimonials), and conversations with guest speakers, we will reflect on the importance of education as the foundation to build more fair, inclusive, and equitable societies, and how this is manifested in the local and broader Spanish speaking world.

SPAN 3420 | Politics and Power in the Early Americas, 1492-1800

Professor Fernando Operé

MoWe 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Introduces students to the expressions and experiences of people in the early Americas. By studying primary source materials, students will enrich their knowledge of the colonial period while further developing methods of historical and literary analysis. By the end of the course, students will be able to close read primary sources, situate them within specific historical contexts, and explain their analysis in spoken and written Spanish. 

SPAN 3430 Contemporary Latin American Voices (1800 to present)

Professor Elizabeth Mirabal

TuTh 9:30 am - 10:45 am

This course offers a survey of Latin American literature, inviting students to engage with the sociocultural context in which it has evolved from 1800 to the present. As we delve into a variety of short stories, poems, novels, essays, diaries, letters, and autobiographies, we will uncover how the region’s diverse cultures, peoples, and significant historical events have shaped its literary landscape. You will have the chance to express your thoughts and feelings through critical and creative reflection exercises, developing essential skills, such as close reading, debate, and informed and thoughtful writing in Spanish. Upon completing the seminar, you will have a rich interpretive appreciation of Latin America’s diverse literary tradition from the nineteenth century to the present.

SPAN 4710 | Latin American Culture and Civilization: Mexico and Argentina

Professor Fernando Operé

MoWe 5:00pm - 6:15pm

This course intends to acquaint the student with the history and culture of two important countries in Latin America: Argentina and Mexico. We will begin with pre-Columbian cultures, the historical and social evolution from colonial era, the independent period, and national period up to the present. The second part of the course will be devoted to study cultural and social themes: identity, race and ethnicity; city and countryside; migration; artistic and musical production; economic fluctuations; religion and its various manifestations; and violence and resistance among others. The methodology consist of systematic comparison of these two countries in the most important aspects of their history, culture, and development.