A Latin American, Caribbean, & Latinx Studies (LACX) advising breakfast drop-in was organized Oct. 23 to allow students to learn about the new major and to meet faculty and faculty advisors from the Greene Center.
The breakfast was organized in response to a new Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (LACX) being approved by the faculty council two years after the student petition.
The original petition, filed in October 2022 by Elvis Vasquez ’23 was endorsed by 12 student groups and coordinator of the Latin American Studies Minor Molly Ball.
This led to the Student’s Association (SA) passing a resolution issuing a statement of support for the creation of the major.
The major was originally presented to the College Curriculum Committee in September 2023 but stayed in limbo for over a year before being accepted earlier this month.
Ball explained, “The process, I think, could have been quicker, but it was important to have administrative support, and not just to add a major on the books.”
While no information is currently available on University websites, the major proposal explained, “LACX is an interdisciplinary major whose coursework draws primarily from the humanities and social sciences. In requiring students to take courses across disciplines, LACX recognizes that complicated challenges and diverse societies require complex solutions and a holistic, rather than singular, approach.”
Ball stated, “We connect with the Humanities Center so that we create kind of a community of faculty as well. So that anyone across the disciplines can participate in it that kind of connects to that. And that’s for graduate students as well. So, it kind of creates the idea of not just having a major, but also a community.”
Depending on the combination of courses taken, the major will count as a humanities or social science major. The major is composed of 10 courses, a language requirement, and a capstone project.
The major also hopes to emphasize direct partnerships with local organizations.
“We also want to expand to thinking about connecting community engagement. To really get those immersive experiences. We have a community in Rochester which is 25% Latinx, or identifies as such. And then you have in the greater area, right, pretty large migrant population, different components,” Ball explained.
As of now, the major does not offer an honors program. The department plans on having two LACX-related clusters available for Spring ’25, one in the humanities and one in the social sciences. The major is waiting for approval from the state.
