Karen Kampwirth
Professor of Political Science, Chair of Latin American Studies
2 East South Street
Galesburg, IL 61401-4999
309-341-7138
E-mail: kkampwir@knox.edu
Knox College offers a minor in Latin American studies through an interrelated array of courses about a group of nations that are our neighbors, whose economics are intertwined with our own, and whose people have immigrated to the United States in large numbers, ultimately making Spanish our de facto second language.
The program raises a multiplicity of questions -- about culture, power, ecology, history, literature, art, and language. Compared to a world-wide focus, engagement with these questions within a specific geographic area can lead to a deeper understanding of a region important to the United States and worthy of study in its own right.
The Program
The minor in Latin American Studies is designed to help students better understand, and act in, an increasingly interconnected world. Through courses and a final integrating project, students gain an appreciation of the culture, history, politics, economics, and literature of the region. Students explore the range of dilemmas that face all of Latin America, as well as the diversity of Latin American countries, whose linguistic, ethnic, cultural and political differences are sometimes as great as their similarities.
The minor is appropriate for students in a variety of majors. Scientists with an interest in environmental issues can benefit from an understanding of social issues that shape the debate over degradation of the region's rainforests. Social science majors can expand their understanding of political and cultural factors that shape economic development in countries whose economies are increasingly integrated with that of the United States. Educational studies students can gain knowledge that will assist in their teaching U.S. students from diverse backgrounds, increasing numbers of whom are immigrants from Latin America or of Latin American descent.
Resources
The Dorothy Johnson '39 and Richard Burkhardt '39 Language Center includes a projection equipped classroom space located in the heart of George Davis Hall. The Center contains an instructor station, 24 advanced Macintosh workstations, and professional photo-flatbed scanning capabilities. The Language Center also houses two workgroup rooms equipped with individual computer workstations for small group sessions or individual privacy. The viewing room is capable of seating up to 20 people accommodating large-screen computer output and video viewing.
A few weeks after completing an international assignment to take photos of newly arrived pandas in Scotland, Knox College instructor Michael Godsil is asked to document the delivery of two more pandas in France.
Longtime international correspondent Robin Wright will present a Stellyes Lecture, "Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World," at Knox College on February 28.
Andrew Civettini and students in his Voting and Elections class observed the Iowa caucuses -- the first step in the process of selecting the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.
The Green Oaks Field Station is a great place for me to do research, as well as an excellent place to go birding and to explore nature. I am D. James
Mountjoy, Associate Professor of Biology, and...
Meet More Knox People