Southwestern Studies Minor | Courses
The CSSW Southwestern Studies Minors requires 18 credit hours. In addition to the two required courses, the remaining 12 hours can be taken from certain classes offered by the following departments: Anthropology, Art History, Biology, Business Law, Curriculum and Instruction, English, Geography, History, Spanish, Political Science, Sociology, and Social Work.
View the listings below for available courses to complete the minor.
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Anthropology
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Art History
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English
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Geography
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History
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Honors
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Political Science
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Social Work
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Sociology
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Spanish
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Can Be Taken For Core Curriculum
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Spring 2024
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Anthropology 3315 | Archaeology of the Southwest
An examination of the prehistory and early cultures of the Greater Southwest from the first arrival of humans as early as 20,000 years ago to the coming of the Spaniards in the 16th century. The course covers several mammoth kill sites at the end of the Pleistocene; the emergence of Archaic hunters and gatherers and the appearance of agriculture about two thousand years ago, leading to the three major cultures in the southwest-the Mogollon, the Hohokam and the Anasazi, the last in multistoried pueblos and cliff dwellings.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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Anthropology 3318 | Texas Archaeology
This course will present our current understanding of Texas archaeology. The environmental and social contexts of prehistoric, protohistoric, and historic records of Native American and Spanish occupations in Texas are discussed.
Prerequisites: Anthropology 2415 with a grade of "D" or better.
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Anthropology 3324 | Mexican American Culture
An examination of the history and culture of Mexican Americans with an emphasis on the analytical concepts of culture, race, class, and gender. Lectures, films, and selected readings (including chapters from anthropological and literary books and journals) will be used to portray the diversity of Mexican American experiences in this country. Topics include religion, politics, economy, identity politics, popular culture, sexuality, marriage and the family.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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Art History 4300 | History of American Art
This course provides an introduction to American art and visual culture from ancient times to the 1950s.
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Art History 4310 | Race and Representation
This course explores the variegated ways that race, and, by implication, identity and difference, is figured and represented in a range of cultural productions, including art, film and visual culture.
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English 3309 | The Southwest in Film
A survey of films of the Southwest, emphasizing the history and cultural diversity of the region as represented on screen.
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English 3344 | Chicano/a Narrative and Social History
This course examines narratives by people of Mexican descent living in the United States.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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English 3345 | Southwestern Studies I: Defining the Region
The first of two courses in a broad interdisciplinary survey of geophysical, cultural, social, literary, and political history of the Southwest that emphasizes regional and ethnic expressions of culture in architecture, art, economics, law, literature, philosophy and politics.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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English 3346 | Southwestern Studies II: Consequences of Region
The second of a two-course sequence in a broad interdisciplinary survey of geophysical, cultural, social, literary, and political history of the Southwest, emphasizing regional and ethnic expressions of culture in architecture, art, economics, law, literature, philosophy, politics, popular culture, religion, social science, and technology.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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English 4325 | Literature of the Southwest
The literature of Texas and the surrounding territory; various types of non-fiction prose, fiction, and poetry.
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Geography 3308 | Latin America
A regional survey of the physical and cultural geography of Latin America.
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Geography 3308 | Latin America
A regional survey of the physical and cultural geography of Latin America.
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Geography 3329 | Geography of Texas
A physical and cultural geography of Texas with special emphasis on human resources and economic activities.
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Geography 4306 | Geography of the Southwest
Though primarily defined by aridity, the southwestern United States is extremely diverse in its environments and its people. This course explores how people have related to this land. This course also examines current issues and future trends in natural resources and cultural processes in the region.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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Geography 4310 | Regional Field Studies (Big Bend)
Observation, description, and analysis of a geographical environment based upon offcampus study in that environment. May be repeated once, provided the second study is in a different region, for a total of 6 semester hours.
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History 2327 | History of Mexican America to 1865
This course is a survey of the economic, social, political, intellectual, and cultural history of Mexican Americans/Chicanx to 1865. Topics the course addresses include: conquest and mestizaje; the rise and fall of native and African slavery, colonial Mexico’s relationship to other global economies, the development of New Spain’s/Mexico’s northern frontier, how gender and power shaped the emergence of Mexican identities, independence movements, mission secularization, Texas independence, the U.S.–Mexico wars, and U.S. expansion and civil war.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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History 2328 | History of Mexican America from 1865
This course is a survey of the economic, social, political, intellectual, and cultural history of Mexican Americans/Chicanx since 1865. Topics the course addresses include: the making of borders and borderlands, the impact of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and uses gender to explain migration and citizenship and expulsion, nineteenth-century activism and displacement, industrialization and the making of a transnational Mexican working class, the Mexican Revolution, urbanization, WWII and organized advocacy, the Chicano Movement, changing identifications, globalization, and immigration restriction.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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History 3329 | Spanish Borderlands, 1521-1821
A survey of the history of the Spanish frontier in North America and its hinterlands from the earliest explorations to the end of Spanish rule in 1821.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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History 3352 | Western America
A general examination of the Trans-Mississippi West, its major cultural, economic, political, and social frontiers, and its development as a region and as a national component, from 1803 to the present.
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History 3353 | The U.S. - Mexico Border and its Communities: A History
A general examination of the region including Texas, California, and the states dominated geographically by the Great Basin, the Southern Rockies, and the Sonoran Desert, from the earliest European contacts to the present.
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History 3368L | History of Mexican American Music in the Southwest
This class will explore Mexican American Music in all of its forms as it has developed in the American Southwest. The course will begin with an historical review of the region. It will then explore, from Islamic Spain to the contemporary Southwest, the development of musical language, styles and fusions.
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History 3372 | Texas History: A Survey
A one-semester survey of Texas History which will emphasize political, economic and social development from prehistory to the twentieth century.
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History 4372 | Latina/o/x Histories
A survey of the political, economic, and social-cultural role of the Mexican-American in United States from the era of Spanish colonization to the present.
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History 4375A | Critical Issues in Texas History
Emphasis will be on significant critical issues in Texas history. Topics will include: Mexican independence, Texas and U.S. expansion, the Texas Revolution and the Mexican War, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Spindletop, the Depression and WWII, and the rise of urban, high-tech Texas.
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History 4375B | African-American Experience in Texas
People of African ancestry have played a role in Texas history since Estebanico accompanied Cabeza de Vaca in exploring the region in the 1530s. As slaves, soldiers, and cowboys, Afro-Texans have participated in the state’s development while being at the center of controversies regarding rights, racemixing and economic opportunity.
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History 4376 | The History of Texas Music
Examination of the evolution of music in Texas and the American Southwest, emphasizing how music reflects the richly diverse ethnic and cultural heritage of the region. It also considers the importance of ethnic identity and other social, political, and economic factors in shaping the Southwest, its people, and its music.
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Honors 2305B | Women and Texas Music
This course examines the lives and creative contributions of Texas women composers, performers, historians, and patrons, and their roles in the promotion and advancement of the arts, especially music, in Texas. This course will address topic-related issues of class, race, and identity formation.
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Political Science 4323 | Latina/o Politics
This course examines the participation of Latinos in US politics. Both formal political participation in electoral politics and involvement in grassroots and social movements are considered. While all Latino groups will be considered, the course has a special emphasis on the Mexican/Chicano experience in Texas and the Southwest.
Prerequisite: PS 3300 or PS 3301
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Social Work 4310 | Diversity and Social Justice in Social Work
This undergraduate course focuses on knowledge and skills necessary for effective, ethical, and just practice, exploring interpersonal and institutional dynamics of racism, sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, classism and other forms of oppression and their effects on providing social services to diverse populations.
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Sociology 3322 | Sociology of Latinos and Immigration
This class will examine the impact that immigration and migration have on the growth of the Latino population as well as current debates surrounding immigration and its future in the U.S.
Can be taken as part of core curriculum
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Spanish 4370 | Hispanic Literature of the Southwest
Students will study the Hispanic literature of the Southwest in order to have a better understanding of the cultural diversity of the region.
Prerequisite: SPAN 3309