Latin American and Latine Studies
About the Minor
At Hamilton, Latin American studies offers an intense exploration of the history, culture, and politics of Latin America — the more than 40 nations and independent states that stretch from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of the Americas. Students are challenged to see this emerging, energetic, and often contradictory region through new eyes. Those who want an immersion in a Latin American culture find ample opportunities to study abroad.
A Sampling of Courses
Introduction to U.S. Latinx Literatures
Examines cultural production of representative U.S. Latinx writers primarily from the civil rights movement to present. The course explores Latinx writers’ engagement with language, political status, race, gender, nationality, and generational markers to reveal both the fluidity and instability of the Latinx imaginary. Readings include autobiographical and biographical works, bildungsroman, memoir, historical novel and vignettes in an exploration of the self and one’s relation to collective identity.
Explore these select courses:
This course explores the politics of Latin America by looking at the political history and contemporary politics of various countries in the region. We will explore how the strength of states, variations in regime type, and pervasive inequality – on the axes of class, race, and gender/sexuality – have affected and continue to affect politics in Latin America.
Beginning in the Age of Encounters and ending with the Enlightenment, the course traces how the Scientific Revolution fundamentally changed the way we think about nature through key figures, including da Vinci, Copernicus, Kepler, Galilei, Bacon, Descartes, Newton, and Linnaeus. In addition to basic concepts and terminology in the history of science, students will read and analyze primary sources; think critically about how historians write history; evaluate the role of institutions and social customs in the creation of knowledge; and articulate historical arguments orally and in writing.
Are we the only rational beings in the universe? Is such a thing as a soul? Can we predict the future? The truism goes that history is told by the victors, and the same is true for the history of ideas -- so, join us for a journey into the history of ideas that haven't made it into modern textbooks. Featuring materials from Hamilton College’s Special Collections, this course focuses on a series of case studies from early modern Europe and the Atlantic world that represent pivot points to teleologies in the history of science and thought. The result is a history of wonderment followed by doubt, illuminating divergent and sometimes abandoned paths once frequented by the wisest among humankind.
Migration in and from Latin American territory represents one of the main social, political, and economic challenges of our times. However, the displacement of individuals and communities has a long history. This course explores the migratory movements of indigenous communities during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Students will identify the various motives and cultural consequences of the indigenous migration phenomenon in and from Latin America by analyzing stories, novels, and films. This course addresses issues related to racism, discrimination, territorial appropriation, gender inequality, colonial traces, and ecological deterioration, among others. This course meets the educational goals of Hamilton College, with particular emphasis on the following: intellectual curiosity and flexibility, analytic and aesthetic discernment, disciplinary practice, communication and expression, understanding of cultural diversity, and ethical, informed, and engaged citizenship.
Bioprospecting is the process of exploration of the nonhuman natural world for new resources that have social, medical, and commercial value. Today, pharmaceutical companies search for natural products with biochemical potency to discover unknown natural products and drugs. This impulse emerges from a long tradition in which imperial powers dispatched bioprospectors to make the natural wealth of so-called “New Worlds” have value. This course follows the entangled history of medicine and the exploitation of the natural world from early modernity to the present. Students will have the opportunity to take part in the Global Pharmacopeias research collaboration between Harvard University and Hamilton College. The course is writing intensive with a focus on research methods in history, the history of science, and interdisciplinary collaboration. It is suitable for students with a background in history, pre-med, chemistry, the life-sciences, and/or environmental studies.
Meet Our Faculty
Mackenzie Cooley
Associate Professor of History, Director of Latin American and Latine Studies
history of science; early modern world; Colonial Latin America; environmental history; intellectual history; digital humanities; history of gender and sexuality; animal studies; genetics and history
19th-21st century Latino literature and culture
musical theater, popular music, Latin American music, 20th- and 21st-century music, and popular-classical crossovers
Latin American literature, Mexican literature, and culture and gender studies
international economic development and labor economics
Andean indigenous cultures and literature, Latin American literature, Environmental Humanities, and Spanish as a second language
Comparative politics, Latin American politics, protest and social movements, political violence, and state capacity
Careers After Hamilton
Hamilton graduates who took Latin American studies courses are pursuing careers in a variety of fields, including:
- Audit Programs Manager, Elysian Energy
- Senior VP of Strategic Marketing, Bank of America
- Research Associate, George Washington University
- Vice President, Global Recruitment, Protis Executive Innovation
Explore Hamilton Stories
Politics in Latin America Class Takes on Wikipedia
Get an inside look into a Latin American studies class thanks to Anna Richardson ’26: "Our class’ largest assignment for the semester is to find and revise a Wikipedia article covering Latin America. Each group [of four] chooses a different topic and corresponding article to revise. Anything from the 1952 Cuban coup d’état to Brazil’s affirmative action policies to the history of feminism in Latin America is fair game."
Wellin Museum Presents René Treviño’s “Stab of Guilt”
The recent Wellin Museum of Art exhibition, "René Treviño: Stab of Guilt," highlights how the artist's multidisciplinary practice encompasses a range of mediums and reflects personal inspirations as well as Treviño’s research into Maya and Aztec history, Catholic symbolism, astronomy, pop culture, and queer theory to recast his heritage and identity in a new light.
Connecting the Dots: Latin America, Sociology, Media
Natasha Espinosa ’18 went into her first year at Hamilton with the goal of taking full advantage of the open curriculum. For Espinosa, this meant exploring her long-held interest in and personal connection to Latin America.
Contact
Department Name
Latin American and Latine Studies Program
Contact Name
Mackenzie Cooley, Program Director
Clinton, NY 13323
