LAC 101 compared to other classes
Latin American Culture 101 is course that I chose to take because I was interested in Latin America as a whole. I have never taken any class like this because I took Latin instead Spanish in high school and my history classes covered very little of Latin American history. So this class, and the material covered, was all very new to me, which allowed me to learn a lot throughout the semester.
This class is about Latin American culture but in order to understand that in depth, the class incorporates history and politics. The history aspect is important to understand so that you have an idea of where these people came from and what happened along the way to get them in the situation they’re in now. The politics shapes the history as we see through the many political changes that have occurred throughout Latin America. I think that history and politics are the two main components of this class that overlap in many different ways allowing for a deep understanding of the diverse culture in Latin America.
The one thing that I am missing from my understanding of Latin American culture is the language. Both Spanish and Portuguese are spoken throughout Latin America as well as some indigenous languages. I plan on taking Spanish 101 next semester so that I can start to speak and understand it. When I visit Latin America again, I hope to be able to absorb the culture using my education from Davidson.
