Program: Latin American Studies, B.A. - San Diego State University

May 08, 2025

2025-2026 University Catalog

(Major Code: 03081) (SIMS Code: 114301)

Also Offered at SDSU Imperial Valley

All candidates for a degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences must complete the graduation requirements listed in the section of this catalog on “Graduation Requirements .”

A minor is not required with this major.

Impacted Program

The Latin American Studies major is an impacted program. To be admitted to the Latin American Studies major, students must meet the following criteria:

Complete preparation for the major;
Complete a minimum of 60 transferable semester units;
Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.

To complete the major, students must fulfill the degree requirements for the major described in the catalog in effect at the time they are accepted into the premajor at SDSU (assuming continuous enrollment).

Preparation for the Major

(12 units)

LATAM 101 - Introduction to Latin American Studies Units: 3

Three Units of Statistics or Logic Selected from

ECON 201 - Statistical Methods Units: 3
LING 270 - Elementary Statistics for Language Studies Units: 3
PHIL 120 - Introduction to Logic Units: 3
POL S 201 - Statistics and Politics Units: 3
PSY 280 - Statistical Methods in Psychology Units: 4
SOC 201 - Elementary Social Statistics Units: 3
STAT 119 - Elementary Statistics for Business Units: 3
STAT 250 - Statistical Principles and Practices Units: 3

Six Units of Electives Selected from

ANTH 102 - Introduction to Socio-Cultural Anthropology Units: 3
CCS 100 - Chicana and Chicano Heritage Units: 3
GEOG 102 - People, Places, and Environments Units: 3
GEOG 106 - World Regional Geography Units: 3
POL S 103 - Introduction to Comparative Politics Units: 3

Language Requirement

Competency equivalent to that normally attained through four college semesters of Spanish or Portuguese or three college semesters of Mixtec. Refer to section of catalog on “Graduation Requirements .”

Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement

Completing one of the approved upper division writing courses (W) with a grade of C (2.0) or better. See “Graduation Requirements ” section for a complete listing of requirements.

International Experience

All students must earn a minimum of three units by participating in a Latin American international experience such as study abroad, student exchange, internship, coursework in Tijuana, summer program, or other activities approved by the adviser.

Major

A minimum of 27 upper division units to include three units of international experience and nine upper division core units selected from three different departments:

LATAM 366 - Latin American Politics Units: 3
also listed as
POL S 366 - Latin American Politics Units: 3
LATAM 415 - Pre-Contact and Colonial Latin America Units: 3
also listed as
HIST 415 - Pre-Contact and Colonial Latin America Units: 3
LATAM 498 - Seminar on Latin America Units: 3
ANTH 440 - Mesoamerican Civilization Before the Europeans Units: 3
ANTH 442 - Cultures of South America Units: 3
ECON 464 - Economic Problems of Latin America Units: 3
GEOG 324 - Latin America Units: 3
HIST 416 - Modern Latin America Units: 3
POL S 482 - United States-Latin American Relations Units: 3

15 Upper Division Elective Units

The remaining 15 upper division elective units must be selected from courses listed below with no more than nine of the 15 units from any one department. Groups A, B, and C below are for guidance only; it is recommended that students avoid taking too many unrelated courses by concentrating their studies in one or two of the groups.

Courses numbered 495, 496, 498, 499, and 596 from all participating departments, with appropriate content, are acceptable for elective credit with approval of the adviser.

Note

*Acceptable with consent of adviser.

High School Equivalents

High school courses in a language other than English may be used for purposes of placement in college courses and may be counted toward meeting the language requirement in various majors. These high school courses will not count as college credit toward graduation.

Secondary school language courses can be used as follows:

The first two years of high school level language count as the equivalent of the first semester of a college level course.
The first three years of high school level language count as the equivalent of the first two college semesters.

Latin American Studies, B.A.