Chicano and Latin American Studies
Classes Offered by CLAS
Below is a list of courses offered by the Department of Chicano and Latin American Studies that students can take towards a Bachelor of Arts in Chicano Studies or a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies.
For a list of lower-division courses click here.
For a list of upper-division courses click here.
Lower Division Courses
CLAS 3. Introduction to Chicano/Latino Studies
Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation A2. Introduction to the historical and contemporary experiences of Chicanos and other Latinos in American society. Their contributions to the United States and their current economic, political, and social status are discussed. G.E. Breadth F.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: F
CLAS 5. Chicano Culture
Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. A historical examination of Chicano culture from the pre-Columbian period to the present. The customs, values, belief-systems, and their symbols are analyzed; important events and changes occurring through time are emphasized. G.E. Breadth F.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: F
CLAS 9. Chicano Artistic Expression
Introduction to Chicano artistic expression, with special attention to cultural continuity and change; the interrelationships between popular music, dance, drama, literature, and the graphic arts are analyzed. G.E. Breadth C1.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: C1
CLAS 30. Critical Thinking in Chicano and Latin American Studies
Distinguishes belief vs. knowledge and fact vs. opinion; examines relationship between language/logic in structuring around arguments; uses deductive/inductive reasoning; distinguishes and evaluates unsupported beliefs. Critical thinking skills are applied to topics concerning questions of race, ethnicity, gender, culture and class with a focus on Chicanos and Latin America. G.E. Foundation A3.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: A3
CLAS 42B. Introduction to Chicano-Latino Research Methods
Prerequisite: CLAS 42A or permission of instructor. Introduces students to basic research methodologies and theories pertaining to Chicano/Latino communities. Focuses on identifying specific areas in need of further research; locating and formulating problems; basic techniques including methods of observation, gathering, and analysis of data; interpretation of data; access database programs; preparation of research paper. (Formerly CLS 180T section)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
CLAS 70. Introduction to Latin American Studies
A basic overview of Latin America; its nations, history, problems, and realities. Theoretical paradigms utilized to analyze Latin American issues are discussed.
Units: 3
Upper Division Courses
CLAS 100. Chicano Literature
An interpretive analysis of written Chicano literature: poetry, drama, short story, novel, and essay. The relationship between literature and a changing Chicano sociocultural environment is explored.
Units: 3
CLAS 102W. Contemporary Chicana/Latina Writing and Culture
Prerequisite: GE Foundation A2 with a C grade or better. Critical, written analysis of Chicana and Latina writing and culture with emphasis on gender, race, sexuality, and social class. Course satisfies the CSU Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).
Units: 3
CLAS 106. Folkloric Dance
History and performance of Mexican folk music and dance; Indian, African, Spanish, and European influences; contemporary relationships to Chicano culture.
Units: 3
CLAS 107. Latino Dance
Examination of origins, composition, and performance of various types of Chicano/Latino music and dance: boleros, huapangos, cumbias, chachas, salsa; emphasis on contemporary and cross-cultural influences in Chicano/Latino music-and-dance. CR/NC grading only.
Units: 2, Repeatable up to 4 units
CLAS 108. Chicano Theatre
(CLAS 108 same as DRAMA 108) Production of Chicano Theatre for major performances. Comedia del Arte, Passion Plays, Theatre of the Absurd, Socially Popular Theatre: Teatro Compesino.
Units: 1-3, Repeatable up to 12 units
CLAS 112. Pre-Hispanic Civilizations
Historical examination of the origins of the Maya-Aztec civilizations in Mesoamerica until 1521. The values, social organization, religion and their daily lives, technological and scientific achievements will be examined.
Units: 3
CLAS 114. Mexico and the Southwest 1810-1910
Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation, Breadth D and PLSI 2. Examines the development of the Mexican nation from the Independence period to the Mexican Revolution (1810-1910). Special attention is given to the nineteenth-century Mexican-American and Chicano experience in the Southwest United States before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). G.E. Integration ID.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
GE Area: ID
CLAS 115. Mexico-U.S. Relations Since 1910
Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation, Breadth D and PLSI 2. Historical perspective of the changing relationship between Mexico and the United States during the 20th century. Analysis of the Mexican Revolution, the Great Depression, World War II, immigration, and their impact on Mexico-U.S. relations. Special emphasis on the status of Mexicanos/Chicanos in the United States.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall
GE Area: ID
CLAS 120. Latina/o Cultural Changes
Prerequisite: CLAS 5 for CLAS majors. The course examines the diversity of the Latina/o population in the U.S. It analyzes cultural, political, social, and economic complexities facing Latinas/os. G.E. Breadth F.
Units: 3
GE Area: F
CLAS 128. Contemporary Political Issues
Political philosophies, goals, and strategies of Chicanos and Latinos as reflected in their attempts to gain political power. G.E. Breadth F.
Units: 3
GE Area: F
CLAS 130. Latina/o Culture and Media Studies
Evaluates roles of mass media institutions in cultural/social development of Latina/o communities and vice versa. Media and Latina/o community socila/cultural impacts are observed in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, and social class constructs, and ideological agendas in national and international media.
Units: 3
GE Area: IC
CLAS 140. Politics of Latina Health and Size
(CLAS 140 same as WGSS 140) Introduction to the politics of Latina health and size, focusing on reproduction, fitness and fatness, and illness through the study of first person narratives, popular media, and health campaigns.
Units: 3
CLAS 141. The Chicano Family
(CLAS 141 same as WGSS 141) Traditional and changing relationships in the family structure of the Chicano; interaction with wider instituitional social system. (CLAS 141 formerly CLAS 152).
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
CLAS 143. Bilingual/Bicultural Education
Prerequisite: CLAS 120 for CLAS majors ; CLAS 120 and recommended for CLAD/BCLAD students. Investigation into what it means to be bilingual and bicultural; review of programs scaled toward a more meaningful education for the Chicano child. (Bilingual Education majors see department chair for further prerequisites.)
Units: 3
CLAS 145S. Service Learning in Chicna@/Latin@ Settings
Prerequisite: CLAS 3 or permission of instructor. Supervised placement in community and educational settings. Provides a variety of learning experiences in community agencies, organizations, or educational institutions.
Units: 3, Repeatable up to 6 units
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CLAS 150. Research Methods
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to research design and methods. The course culminates with a research proposal/project to give students the opportunity to think about the application of observation, gathering, and analyzing data in a research project. (Formerly CLAS 142).
Units: 3
CLAS 160. Sex, Race, and Class in American Society
Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation and Breadth D. From an interdisciplinary perspective, focuses on ethnic identity and gender and their interrelationship with socioeconomic class structure in American society. Special attention is given to analyzing how inequities in race, gender, and class structures influence and shape social, economic, and political relations in society. Multicultural/International MI.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Fulfills Multicultural/International MI University graduation requirement.
CLAS 162. Chicana Women in a Changing Society
(CLAS 162 same as WGSS 139)Focuses on current issues relevant to Chicana women in the workforce, the family, the health care system, and the educational system. The intersection of race, class, and gender will be the analytical context for examining both their historical and contemporary roles.
Units: 3
CLAS 163. Latinx in Education
Prerequisite: GE Foundation A2 for students in English college-readiness Category III and IV. A historical examination of Chicano culture from the pre-Columbian period to the present. The customs, values, belief-systems, and their symbols are analyzed; important events and changes occurring through time are emphasized. G.E. Breadth F.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: F
CLAS 170. Latin American Studies
Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation and Breadth D. Overview of the dynamic changes in the nations of Latin America. Uses an interdisciplinary approach that integrates a cultural, political, social, and economic perspective to the study of Latin American countries. Helps students develop a better understanding of the historical roots and circumstances that are shaping the current realities of each nation. Multicultural International MI.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Fulfills Multicultural/International MI University graduation requirement.
CLAS 171. Multicultural Brazil
(CLAS 171 same as HIST 161)This course analyzes Brazil's social, economic, and political relations from a historical perspective. It emphasizes topics such as the contradictory legacy of slavery and its consequences, including inequality and multiculturalism. It also examines Brazil's international relations, its roles as a regional power, and its potential as a global power.
Units: 3
CLAS 172S. Migration in the Americas
This course will examine Latin American migration from the late nineteenth century to the present. The central question we will cover is: Why do people migrate? This course has a service learning component.
Units: 3
Typically Offered: Spring
CLAS 173. Latin American Politics
(CLAS 173 same as PLSI 148) Discusses the role of the military and violence in Latin American politics, the role of civilian groups with emphasis on democratization, and the influence of other nations - especially the United States - on Latin American politics.
Units: 3
Typically Offered: Spring
CLAS 177. Arts of Colonial Mexico
(CLAS 177 same as ARTH 127) A comprehensive survey of the major artistic and architectural manifestations of colonial Mexico and other territories of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (ca. 1519-1820s). (Formerly ARTH 109T)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall
CLAS 178. Arts of the Colonial Andes
(CLAS 178 same as ARTH 128) A comprehensive survey of the major artistic and architectural manifestations of the colonial Andean region and other territories of the Viceroyalties of Peru (ca. 1532-1820s). (Formerly ARTH 109T)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
CLAS 180T. Topics of Chicano Society
Culture, art forms, economy, and societal organization. Certain CLS 180T classes are CR/NC grading only. See department for further information.
Units: 1-3
CLAS 180T. Latin American Politics
Discuss the role of the military and violence in Latin American politics, the role of civilian groups with emphasis on democratization, and the influences of other nations -- especially the United States -- on Latin American politics.
Units: 3
CLAS 180T. Politics of Latina Health and Size
Introduction to the politics of Latina health and size, focusing on reproduction, fitness and fatness, and illness through the study of first person narratives, popular media, and health campaigns.
Units: 3
CLAS 190. Independent Study
See Academic Placement -- Independent Study. Approved for RP grading.
Units: 1-3, Repeatable up to 6 units
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CLAS 195. Diversity in the United States: Race and Gender Issues
(Same as A I S 195, AF AM 195, ASAM 195, W S 195.) This interdisciplinary course introduces students to theoretical perspectives concerning the historical development of class, race, and gender within the United States and the impact of these issues on co
Units: 3