Spring 2026 course offerings (this list subject to change). Class roster forthcoming.
Research Strategies in Africana and Latina/o Studies - LSP 1101 (also ASRC 1900). The digital revolution has made an enormous amount of information available to research scholars, but discovering resources and using them effectively can be challenging. This course introduces students with research interests in Latino and Africana Studies to search strategies and methods for finding materials in various formats (e.g., digital, film, and print) using information databases such as the library catalog, print and electronic indexes, and the World Wide Web. Instructors provide equal time for lecture and hands-on learning. Topics include government documents, statistics, subject-specific online databases, social sciences, the humanities, and electronic citation management. Instructor(s): Reanna Esmail and Hannah Toombs. MW 2:30 – 3:20. 1 credit. PLEASE NOTE: This course is a ½ semester course – 1st 7 week session – 1/20 – 3/18/2026. (This course does not fulfill minor requirements).
Spanish for Heritage Speakers - LSP 2020 (also SPAN 2000). A course designed to expand bilingual student's knowledge of Spanish providing them with ample opportunities to develop and improve each of the basic language skills. Prerequisite: LPS score 56 or higher, SAT II 590 or higher, CASE placement, or permission of instructor. Instructor: Mary K. Redmond. Two sections: MWF 12:20 – 1:10 and 1:25 – 2:15. 3 credits. (This course fulfills an elective option for the LSP undergraduate minor).
U.S. Immigration Narratives – LSP 2251 (also HIST 2251). Americans are conflicted about immigration. We honor and celebrate (and commercialize) our immigrant heritage in museums, folklife festivals, parades, pageants, and historical monuments. We also build fences and detention centers, and pass more and more laws to bar access to the United States. Polls tell us that Americans are concerned about the capacity of the United States to absorb so many immigrants from around the world. How often have we heard the laments “Today’s immigrants are too different. They don’t want to assimilate” or “My grandparents learned English quickly, why can’t they?” The assumption is that older generations ‘Americanized’ quickly but that today’s immigrants do not want to assimilate. Did 19th century immigrants really migrate to the United States to “become Americans”? Did they really assimilate quickly? Are today’s immigrants really all that different from the immigrants who arrived earlier? Why do these particular narratives have such power and currency? This seminar will explore these issues and help students discern fact from fiction. Instructor: Maria Cristina Garcia. TR 1:25 – 2:40. 3 credits.
The North American West – LSP 2765 (also HIST 2765). In this course, we will learn about the history of the West. We will deconstruct popular myths about the West, as we engage with the major themes and significant debates that define the historical scholarship. This course will begin with Native origin stories and end with the 20th century. As a class, we will study the west from a multitude of perspectives, such as race, gender, and ethnicity, the environment, labor, politics and culture. This course is designed to increase our knowledge of the social, political and intellectual developments that have shaped our understanding of the West. Instructor: Camille Suarez. TR 10:10 –11:25. 4 credits (plus independent research).
“Vamos Pa’l Norte”: U.S. Migration and Communication – LSP 3250 (also COMM 3250). Migrants are a heterogenous group of people. The reasons for relocating to another country under which they relocate, whether they are authorized to remain in a country, their cultural background, their ethnic/racial identities, their education level, their gender identity and sexual orientation, and their socio-economic status are merely a few factors that contribute to immigrants’ diverse experiences. Thus, this course will introduce us to different frameworks, research, and practices that can help us understand the important role of communication in different migration experiences. On the one hand, communication can help mitigate some of the social and structural barriers that migrants face in the United States and elsewhere. On the other hand, communication can also exacerbate or lead to educational, economic, and health inequities among migrants. We will consider both ways in which communication can function for migrant communities. Overall, migration: (1) is a diverse area of research that can incorporate intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, organizational, institutional, cultural, and policy levels of analysis; (2) is studies using a wide range of methodologies; and (3) is affected by a variety of communication channels. Instructor: Monica Cornejo. MW 10:10 – 11:25. 3 credits. (This course fulfills Social Science distribution for the LSP undergraduate minor).
African American and Latinx Histories – LSP 3805 (also ILRGL 3805). A study of African American and Latina/o histories, cultures, and politics from the American Revolution to present. Themes include slavery, colonialism, revolutions, social movements, labor struggles and emancipation. Oral traditions, poetry, theater, memoirs, and forms of expressive cultures will be an integral part of the course. Instructor Paul Ortiz. MW 2:55 – 4:10. 3 credits. (This course fulfills social science distribution for the LSP undergraduate minor). (This course fulfills social science distribution for the LSP undergraduate minor).
Contemporary Issues in Latina/o/Latin America – LSP 4000/6000 (also LATA 4000/6000). Interested in Latina/o Studies and Latin American Studies? This course will explore topics in Anthropology, Art, Economics, History, Literature, Government, Sociology, and more, of US Latina/o and Latin American contexts. Course features guest speakers from Cornell and other institutions. Course requirements: Attend a total of 12 programming events of your choice throughout the semester sponsored by the Latina/o Studies and Latin American Studies (you should plan for at least one a week), and write a brief follow-up critical or analytic report on some aspect of what you learned. These reports are due within one week of the event. Instructor: Ernesto Bassi. T 12:20 – 1:10. 1 credit. (This course DOES NOT fulfil requirements for the LSP minor).
Desbordando: Reading Caribbean Waters in Latinx Studies – LSP 4577 (also ENGL 4577). As Latinx studies continues to expand beyond its nationalistic origins and re-examines its geographical bounds, nuancing the role of borders within the field becomes urgent. This course probes at the primacy of the border in Latinx studies by centering Caribbean waters. As a liquid that refuses to succumb to the violence of fragmentation and instead embodies iterations of radical wholeness, water has an innate capacity to “undo” borders, a quality epitomized by the Spanish verb “desbordar” (to overflow). Through discussion and analysis of key Latinx cultural products we will gain an appreciation for the multiple ways in which water sustains provocative contradictions across borders regarding representations of historical memory, gender and sexuality, migration, race, and religion and spirituality, among others. Instructor: Rebeca Hey-Colón. T 2 – 4:30 pm. 4 credits. (This course fulfills humanities distribution for the LSP undergraduate minor).
LA Stories: Literature, Film, Art & Music from Los Angeles - LSP 4612 (also ENGL 4612). This seminar will explore the extraordinary literature, music, art, and film emerging from and about Los Angeles. As a global city, Los Angeles offers a glimpse of a world in transit; one that challenges preconceptions and established forms. Paying special attention to the work of Latinx creators, but also engaging with the many communities, including Indigenous, African American, and Asian American,that make art in LA, this course will offer students a chance to study and enjoy a wide variety of creative forms while also learning about resilience, innovative resistance movements, and the complexity of collaboration. Instructor: Mary Pat Brady. M 2 – 4:30. 3 credits. (This course fulfills Humanities distribution for the LSP undergraduate minor).
Nightlife – LSP 4701/6701 (also PMA 4701/6701). This course explores nightlife as a temporality that fosters countercultural performances of the self and that serves as a site for the emergence of alternative kinship networks. Focusing on queer communities of color, course participants will be asked to interrogate the ways in which nightlife demonstrates the queer world-making potential that exists beyond the normative 9-5 capitalist model of production. Performances of the everyday, alongside films, texts, and performance at will be analyzed through a performance studies methodological lens. Through close readings and sustained cultural analysis, students will acquire a critical understanding of the potentiality of spaces, places, and geographies codified as "after hours" in the development of subcultures, alternative sexualities, and emerging performance practices. Instructor: Karen Jaime. TR 12:20 - 2. 4 credits. (This course fulfills Humanities distribution for LSP undergraduate minor).