Latin American Studies Upcoming Course Offerings
SPAN 321
SPAN 321 is a language, literature, and culture course. It is recommended for students who are native Spanish speakers or recently returned from a Spanish-speaking mission with a high level of proficiency. Students are eligible to take the Challenge Exam and earn grades on their transcript for lower-level Spanish courses if this is their first Spanish class taken at BYU.
*Available during Spring and Summer terms
SPAN 322
SPAN 322 is a Spanish composition class where students develop their research skills and practice different writing styles, including narration, literary analysis, and argumentation. This class is collaborative and engaging and a great way to prepare for other upper-level Spanish classes.
*Available during Spring and Summer terms
SPAN 438—Hispanic Cinema (Dr. Weatherford)
This course, taught in Spanish, offers an introduction to the study of Hispanic film. Students will learn how to analyze various elements of film art (e.g., photography, sound, movement, mise en scène, editing, etc.) while discovering a variety of national films industries from the Spanish-speaking world (e.g., Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, etc.).
*Summer 2026 (MWF, 10:00–11:50am)
SPAN 459R-001/659R-002, PHIL 414R-001—Borges in/and/on Philosophy (Dr. David Laraway)
The Argentine author Jorge Luis Bordes is widely regarded as having created some of the most conceptually rich works of any twentieth-century writer. His short stories memorably illustrate an array of problems in such diverse fields as metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mind. In this course, we shall not study Borges’ oeuvre in its broader philosophical contexts but also the ways in which his short stories raise significant questions about the limitations and affordances of the different discursive mediums in which philosophical problems may be framed.
*Fall 2026 (TTH 2:00–3:15pm). Taught in English.
SPAN 459R/659R—Mexico at Mid-Century: Literature, History, Art, Film, and Photography, 1920-1968 (Dr. Weatherford)
Mexico at Mid-century explores issues related to Mexico’s search for identity during the middle decades of the twentieth century. These years (roughly 1920-1968), represent an important moment of transition for a post-revolutionary nation struggling to assess its past, to define its present, and to imagine its future. Although the course is an eclectic approach to this theme, it will concentrate on a few important figures of Mexican art, photography, film (especially Gabriel Figueroa), and literature (especially the works of Juan Rulfo and Rosario Castellanos). Additionally, this course offers an introduction to Mexican history of the twentieth century (including the 1910 Revolution), a period essential for understanding issues that color contemporary politics and society of our southern neighbor.
*Fall 2026 (MWF, 2:00–2:50pm)
PORT 437R-001/659R-002—Portuguese Women Writers: Editing and Expanding the Canon (Dr. Anna-Lisa Halling)
Discover the women who shaped Portuguese literature! Dive into powerful, groundbreaking works by Portuguese-speaking women authors whose voices transformed literature. In this hands-on course, you won’t study just their writing—you’ll help bring it back into the spotlight. Create real editorial content and become a published author on the international platform More Than Muses (morethanmuses.byu.edu). Develop your voice, amplify forgotten ones, and make a meaningful impact in the literary world. If you’re excited about storytelling, women’s voices, global perspectives, or publishing experience that looks amazing on a resume, this class is for you. Ready to help rewrite literary history?
*Fall 2026 (TTH 12:30–1:45pm)
SPAN 443/643—Rebels, Royalty, and Cross Dressers: The Brilliance of Early Modern Iberian Theater (Dr. Jonathan Wade)
In this course, we will explore—and experience—one of the most prolific and dynamic periods of theatrical production in world history, engaging works by Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Ana Caro, María de Zayas, and Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and other playwrights from the Iberian world. Students will read both full-length comedias and shorter entremeses, with the entremeses interwoven between major plays in a format that mirrors the theatrical practices of the early modern stage. Emphasizing performance as well as analysis, the course invites students to bring these works to life through monologues, dramatic readings, and staged scenes, gaining insight into how issues of honor, power, gender, faith, and empire unfolded before live audiences. By approaching the theater of early modern Iberia as both literature and embodied spectacle, students will discover why this period remains one of the most remarkable moments in the history of drama.
*Fall 2026 (MWF 1:00–1:50pm)
HIST 362—United States Immigration History (David-James Gonzales)
Romanticized views of the nation’s immigrant past hold a central place in American history, identity, and politics. Popular refrains like, “America is a nation of immigrants,” and “America is a melting-pot,” perpetuate a highly selective narrative of the United States as a benevolent and welcoming nation that has “assimilated” people from all over the world without respect to religion, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and nationality. Stepping away from myth and nostalgia, this course examines the key developments, questions, debates, and theories surrounding the study of U.S. immigration policy and traces the formation of our modern immigration bureaucracy. Paying close attention to the social, cultural, and economic forces animating political debates over immigration, students will gain an understanding of America’s conflicted relationship with its immigrant past, present, and future.
*Fall 2026 (MWF 2:00-2:50pm)
LAS 211: Intro to Latin American Studies
What and where is Latin America? What can I do with a degree in Latin American Studies? Discuss critical terms and topics in the region and gain valuable research and writing skills.
*Fall 2026 and Winter 2027 (TTH 4:00-5:15pm)
K’Iche’ 101—Beginning Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing Skills in K’Iche (Malcolm Miguel Botto)
*Fall 2026 (MW 5:00–6:50pm)