Major Requirements : Undergraduate Program : Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (LACX) : University of Rochester

Major Requirements

To complete a Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (LACX) major, students must complete 40 credit hours of related coursework. Those courses must fulfill the following language, level, temporal, and geographic requirements, with the division determined by the mid- and upper-level course work the student completed. See the courses page for a full list of possible courses.

Language Requirement

Students must demonstrate language proficiency. A maximum of twelve hours of language-learning courses (through 200) can count toward the major.

Course-Level Requirements

Introductory courses (2): Students must take two introductory core courses, one from approved social science courses, and one from approved humanities courses.
Mid-, Upper-level (5): Students must take at least five mid- or upper-level courses.
Students must complete two upper-level writing courses, in accordance with University requirements.
Capstone (1): Each student will complete a capstone course or senior project that will be approved by the LACX curriculum committee. Seminar and capstone students must present their capstone research at the annual major colloquium, the undergraduate reseach exposition, or an equivalent forum approved by the curriculum committee.

Major-Specific Breadth Requirements

Students must complete 40 credit hours (ten 4-credit courses) of content related to the major, with 20 credit hours (five 4-credit courses) identified as core content courses. These are courses where at least 35% of the course content engages with the region and its communities.
Time period requirement (2): Students must take at least one pre-colonial or colonial course and one modern course. These courses may also count toward the core content requirement.
Geographic requirement (2): Students must take at least one course in two of the following three geographies: Caribbean, continental Latin America, and U.S. Latinx diaspora.

Divisional Requirements for an Interdisciplinary Major

Interdisciplinary: Students must take courses from at least three different departments or programs, and mid- and upper-level courses from at least two different departments.
To achieve a degree in the chosen division (humanities or social sciences), students must have completed at least 24 credit hours in the designated division, at least 12 of which (3 courses) must be a mid- or upper-level course in that division.

Course Policies

Requirement overlap policy: Courses can be used to satisfy several knowledge requirements outlined in requirements I – VIII. This ensures flexibility given that not all courses are offered annually. However, a minimum of 40 credit hours must be taken to meet requirements.

A maximum of four two-credit courses can count toward the major.

Students may petition for courses to count toward the major if a significant portion of the research or community engagement is related to the major. This can include coursework in other disciplines, independent research, and immersive experiences, such as community-engaged courses, internships, and study abroad coursework. The major director, in collaboration with the LACX curriculum committee, will approve such petitions.