In this course students will become familiar with the major debates that have animated Latinx and Latin American Studies, addressing a wide range of issues from the Conquest to the present. Each week students will focus on specific questions such as: Does Latin America have a common culture? Is Latin America part of the Western world? Is Latinx a race or an ethnicity? Is U.S. Latinx identity rooted in Latin America or the United States? Are Latin American nations post-colonial? Was the modern concept of race invented in the Caribbean at the time of the Conquest?

Independent reading course. Reading in an area selected by the student and approved in advance.

Fall and spring semesters. The Department.

(Research Seminar) In the United States, “free speech” is held to be a legal, political, and moral ideal.  As interpreted over the last 100 years, the First Amendment has become a centerpiece and flashpoint of American liberal democratic values and processes.   But what, precisely, do we mean by “free” and “speech”?  This course will explore that question through the lens of linguistic and cultural theory, problematizing the classic liberal view by examining closely what speech is and what it does.  Conceptualizing speech as a per

This course provides an introduction to the LJST major. It explores the ways in which law combines moral argument, interpretive practice and force in the regulation of social life. Through the close and sustained study of an exemplary case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, students will attain a nuanced understanding of law as a subject of liberal inquiry. While focused on the history and development of legal orders in the United States, the course also will enable students to appreciate law in its broader cross-cultural, historical, and global dimensions.

This course provides an introduction to the LJST major. It explores the ways in which law combines moral argument, interpretive practice and force in the regulation of social life. Through the close and sustained study of an exemplary case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, students will attain a nuanced understanding of law as a subject of liberal inquiry. While focused on the history and development of legal orders in the United States, the course also will enable students to appreciate law in its broader cross-cultural, historical, and global dimensions.

Fall and spring semester. Members of the Department.

The authors read in LATI 441 and 442 vary from year to year, the selection being made according to the interests and needs of the students. Both 441 and 442 may be repeated for credit, providing only that the topic is not the same. In 2020-21 LATI 441 will read Roman philosophy, including Cicero's De Senectute and a selection of Seneca's letters. Three class hours per week. Seminar course.

Requisite: LATI 215 or 316 or equivalent. Fall semester. Professor Zanker.

This course will examine Catullus’ poetic technique, as well as his place in the literary history of Rome. Extensive reading of Catullus in Latin, together with other lyric poets of Greece and Rome in English. Three class hours per week.

Requisite: LATI 202 or equivalent. Fall semester. Visiting Professor Scarborough.

This course prepares students to read classical Latin. No prior knowledge of Latin is required. Three class hours per week.