The Latinx, Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LLACS) Program supports Fairfield University's commitment to a humanistic perspective and social justice by introducing students to the societies and cultures of Latin America and the Latinx populations of the Americas from regional and global perspectives. The five-course minor complements students’ completion of the Magis Core and incorporates a multidisciplinary curriculum from art history, languages and literatures, religious studies, history, film, politics, economics, applied ethics, sociology and anthropology, communication, biology, and nursing and public health. LLACS courses emphasize the study of Latin America and the Caribbean beyond the geo-political borders of the region to include the United States, allowing students to gain a critical understanding of the importance of migrations, borders, ethnic interactions, and exchanges of indigenous, European, African, and Asian peoples throughout the Americas.

The wide variety of courses across departments and schools encourage students to examine the region in all of its global dimensions. Among other themes, LLACS courses explore:

• Pre-Columbian and indigenous cultures
• Diasporic movements and migrations
• Economics
• 20th and 21st centuries politics
• Environmentalism 
• Cultural expression in art, literature, and film
• Religion
• Borders
• Movements for racial and social justice
• Democracy
• Education
• Gender equality
• Public health

You may choose this program for its own inherent interest or to enhance a major in Spanish, politics, economics, history, sociology and anthropology, or fine arts. Latinx, Latin American and Caribbean Studies bundles together a strong array of courses on the nations and people of the Americas that are offered in all the above fields.

The faculty also encourages you to take a semester abroad in Latin America or the Caribbean through our international programs to gain a deeper understanding of the particular culture you are studying.

Students who successfully complete the LLACS minor at Fairfield University will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of basic knowledge of the history, geography, economics, biodiversity, political processes, social dynamics, and culture of Latin America, the Caribbean, and US Latinx peoples. Demonstrate accurate referencing of factual data about the region’s basic geographical characteristics, major historical developments, most salient cultural aspects, and major current events throughout different courses’ assignments and evaluations.
2. Demonstrate breadth in approaching questions pertaining to the region by seeking, applying, and evaluating relevant literature generated by Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx authors.
3. Demonstrate analytic, interpretive and critical thinking skills to explore issues and trends affecting or characterizing Latin American, Caribbean, and US Latinx peoples through the completion of the LLACS culminating research project.
4. Students will demonstrate depth in their approach to questions pertaining to these regions by conducting integrative inquiries that recognize complexity and multi-causality in the subjects explored, through the application of interdisciplinary methodologies, longitudinal analysis, and/or cross-national or cross-cultural comparative inquiries in the LLACS culminating research project.