LLS Fall 2025 Course Offerings

FALL 2025 Course Offerings

 

Department of Latin American and Latinx Studies

FALL 2025 COURSES

LLS 124

Section 01

Tuesday/Thursday – 2nd Period 9:25am 10:40am

Professor Nitza Escalera In Person


 

 

Section 02

Monday/Wednesday 3rd Period 10:50am 12:05pm

Professor Brian Montes In Person


 

 

Latinx Communities in the United States

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of Latin American and Latinx Studies focusing on the establishment and development of the diverse Latinx communities in the United States through the processes of migration, colonization, racialization, and integration. Students will explore the intersections of race, class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality through such topics as identity formation, language rights, economic and political participation, transnationalism, law and civil rights and social justice movements.

Section 97

Mondays – 1st Period 8:00am 9:15am

Professor Sugenny Santiago Mixed Synchronous


 

 

 

Section 99

Online; No Scheduled Meetings

Professor Erika Marte Asynchronous

 

LLS 130

Section 01

Monday/Wednesday 2nd Period 9:25am 10:40am

Professor Rafael Acevedo-Cruz In Person


 

 

Introduction to Latin American History

This is a survey course spanning Latin America’s history from the pre-Columbian period to the recent past. Focus is on the origins and development of Latin American social, political and economic systems, Amerindian and African peoples, the legacies of colonialism and slavery, the pursuit of nationhood and identity, the persistence of inequality, and the role of the United States in shaping the destiny of the region.

Section 02 Monday/Wednesday 3rd Period 10:50am 12:05pm

Professor John Gutierrez In Person


 

 

 

Section 03

Mondays – 4th Period 12:15pm 1:30pm

Professor Rafael Acevedo-Cruz Hybrid


 

 

 

Section 04

Monday/Wednesday 5th period 3:05pm 4:20pm

Professor TBD In Person


 

 

 

Section 05

Tuesdays – 7th Period 5:55pm – 7:10pm Professor Justin Rodriguez Hybrid


 

 

 

Section 06

Tuesdays – 5th Period 3:05pm – 4:20pm Professor Justin Rodriguez

Hybrid

 

Section 07

Tuesday/Thursday – 2nd Period 9:25am 10:40am

Professor Lisandro Perez In Person


 

 

Section 08

Tuesday/Thursday – 4th Period 12:15pm 1:30pm

Professor Lisandro Perez In Person


 

 

Section 09

Tuesday/Thursday – 6th Period 4:30pm 5:45pm

Professor TDB

In Person

 

LLS 143

Section 01

Mondays – 5th Period 3:05pm – 4:20pm Professor Eva Lopez In Person

Introduction to Latinx Literature

Latinx authors have been publishing literature in the U.S. since the 1820s and are a critical part of American literature. This class will survey this literature and analyze how Latinx authors depict the historical and ongoing processes of colonialism and imperialism that impact Latinx communities and how they reimagine justice. Students will examine how gender, race, sexuality, class,

citizenship, bilingualism, and able-bodieness shape Latinx identities and experiences in the U.S.

LLS 147

Tuesday/Thursday – 6th Period 4:30pm 5:45pm

Professor Richard Perez In Person

Criminal Justice in Latinx Literature

This course focuses on the different dimensions of criminal justice as portrayed in Latinx literature. In this course, students will learn how Latinx authors approach, describe, experience and depict the criminal justice system from individual and social points of view. Through these

experiences, the individual in Latinx narratives confront the disproportionate role race, gender and

class play in the criminal justice system to reimagine a concept of justice in restorative, rather than punitive, terms.

LLS 217

Section 01

Monday/Wednesday 4th Period 12:15pm 1:30pm

Professor Eva Lopez In Person

LLS 217 Theater of Americas since 1960

This course is an introduction to theatre, performance art, and cultural politics in the Americas since 1960. The course focuses on U.S. Latinx, Chicax and Latin American theatre as aesthetic and sociocultural practices. We will discuss how identity is performed in the everyday sense and how historical identities, selves, and others have been performed. Topics may include political theatre relations to European theatre traditions, experimentation and absurdist theatre, revolution, dictatorship, terror and violence, censorship and self-censorship, trauma and memory, queerness

and gender, borders and latinidad.

LLS 220

Section 01

Tuesday/Thursday – 2nd Period 9:25am 10:40am

Professor José Luis Morín Online Synchronous

Human Rights and Law in Latin America

A comparative study of human rights policies, procedures, legislation and practices in Latin American countries. The impact of international and national conventions, bills and laws on the present observance of these rights. Inquiry into morality, social justice, social and professional ethics.

*This course can be taken to satisfy requirements for the International Criminal Justice major.

LLS 242

Section 01

Tuesday/Thursday – 3rd Period 10:50am 12:05pm

Professor G. Caminha

In Person

U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America

(Same course as GOV 242 and POL 242 and HIS 242)

U.S. economic and political relations with Latin American countries during the 19th and 20th centuries. U.S. reactions to reform and revolutionary movements. The ideological framework of

U.S. foreign policy.

LLS 245

Section 99

Tuesdays 7th Period 5:55pm 7:45pm

Professor Sugenny Santiago Mixed Synchronous

Dominican Society and Identity

This course explores the development of Dominican national identity, culture, and society in the context the historical, racial, gender, sexual, social, and political dynamics of the Dominican Republic and Dominicans in the diaspora. Anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and colorism as well as the Dominican Republic’s relations with Haiti and the impact of U.S. policies, military interventions, and neocolonialism are examined. Dominicans’ transnational identities, their migration, settlement, adaptation patterns, and social justice activism in the United States will also be studied.

LLS 263

Section 02

Mondays 6th Period 4:30pm – 5:45pm Professor Ed Morales Hybrid

The Black Experience in Latin America: Racism and Resistance

This course utilizes a critical lens to examine the historical and contemporary contours of anti- Blackness in Latin America and the ways in which Afro-descendant communities have resisted white supremacy. Against the backdrop of European and U.S. colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, and slavery in Latin America, we focus Afro-Latin Americans’ socio-cultural identity, their struggles for liberation, their transnational political activism; their contributions to national societies; and the repercussions of anti-Blackness in the U.S. Latinx experience.

LLS 273

Section 01

Monday/Wednesday 5th Period 3:05pm 4:20pm

Professor Belinda Rincon In Person

Latinx Film and Media

This course examines the ideological power of mainstream film and media and how they produce and reflect stereotypes about Latinx communities (the greaser, the Latin lover, the spitfire, the gangster, the Mexican maid) that have negative sociopolitical consequences. By studying the formal structures, content, and social context of visual media, students will explore how Latinx film and media makers produce affirming depictions of Latinx histories, experiences, and creativity that

reflect the diversity of the nation.

LLS 280

Monday/Wednesday 4th Period 12:15pm 1:30pm

Professor John Gutierrez In Person

Selected Topics in Latin American and Latinx Studies

Topic: Power, Parties and Potential: Latino Politics in the United States

This course offers an overview of the development of Latino political organization and mobilization from the 19 century to the present. It examines the interactions between Latino communities in the United States and political actors including elected officials, parties, and advocacy organizations. The class will examine political histories from across the United States and include guest speakers with expertise in Latino politics.

LLS 322

Section 01

Monday/Wednesday 4th Period 12:15pm 1:30pm

Professor Brian Montes In Person

*Permission Required/Transfer Section*


 

 

Section 96

Wednesdays - 7th Period 5:55pm – 7:10pm Professor Aristy

Mixed Synchronous

Latinx Struggles for Civil Rights and Social Justice

This course provides an interdisciplinary overview of the experiences of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and other Latinx during the Civil Rights period. It focuses on the Latinx social movements during the 1960s and their consequences today for the struggles for civil rights and social justice of Latinx and other racial minorities in the U.S. Topics include access to education and employment; immigrant rights; detention and deportation; race and crime; Latinx and African American alliance building; Latino/a citizenship and the military, and gender values and sexuality.

LLS 325

Section 01

Tuesday/Thursday – 3rd Period 10:50am 12:05pm

Professor Nitza Escalera In Person


 

 

Section 02

Tuesaday/Thursday – 4th Period 12:15pm 1:30pm

Professor Nitza Escalera In Person

*Permission Required/Transfer Section*


 

 

Section 03

Monday 4th Period 12:15pm – 1:30pm

Professor TBD Mixed Synchronous


 

 

The Latinx Experience of Criminal Justice

This course analyzes the criminal justice system and its impact on the lives and communities of Latinx and other groups in the United States. Particular emphasis is placed on Latinx human and civil rights and the role that race, ethnicity, gender and class play in the criminal justice system. Interdisciplinary readings and class discussions center on issues such as the over-representation of Latinx and racial minorities in the criminal justice system; law and police community relations; racial profiling; stop and frisk policies; immigration status; detentions and deportations; Latinx youth; media representations; gangs; and access to education and employment and the school-to- prison-pipeline.


 

Section 99

Monday 8th Period 7:20pm 8:35pm

Professor A. Bordoni Mixed Synchronous

 

LLS 341

Section 01

Tuesday/Thursday – 5th Period 3:05pm 4:20pm

Professor Amada Santiago In Person


 

 

Section 02

Tuesdays – 6th Period 4:30pm – 5:45pm Professor Justin Rodriguez Hybrid

*Permission Required/Transfer

Section*

Immigrant Rights in the Americas

Globalization has increased the fear of foreigners, leading to debates on immigrant rights in all parts of the world and raising the question of who gets to belong to a given society. We begin by exploring the reception of foreigners in different nations, including immigrants in the Americas. We then assess the factors that lead Latin Americans to leave their homelands, and examine the ways that immigrants' national origins, race, class, and gender shape and differentiate their experiences in U.S. society. Finally, we focus on the changing relationship between legal status and access to rights in the United States. This course aims to provide students with the conceptual and empirical arguments necessary to assess and debate the issue of immigrant rights in the Americas today.

LLS 364

Tuesday/Thursday – 7th Period 5:55pm 7:10pm

Professor Richard Perez In Person

Ethical Strains in U.S. Latinx Literature

This course will use Latinx literature to examine the beliefs that instruct individuals' moral judgments and actions. Through a range of literary texts students will discuss the social and political issues that confront Latinx communities: the psychological consequences of colonialism; the moral dilemmas surrounding immigration; the epistemological violence of racism and sexism; and the cultural norms that inform or constrain personal conduct. Specific topics will vary based on the instructor's specialization and will cover a range of theoretical approaches to the study of

moral inquiry in Latinx literature.

For additional information on the course offerings please contact LLS Administrative Coordinator, José Bernal at jbernal@jjay.cuny.edu