Latin American Studies Personal Statement

Central America Central America, just south of Mexico and North of Panama, consists of just six countries; Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Of those six, all share a distinct common history except for Belize. Belize for one is incredibly small, and while Spanish is the official language of other Central American countries, in Belize English is spoken. So throughout this paper as I carelessly say 'Central American' I am not including Belize whose history and development was far different than the others. Although Central America is located close to the United States in relation to the Eastern Hemisphere, our ways of life are indescribably different.

My Hispanic identity and heritage is an important part of my identity because it has shaped my journey as student and guided me in discovering my passion in life. I strongly believe being the daughter of immigrant parents has pushed me to work harder as a student and has motivated me to search for ways to help my Hispanic community. Since my parents and the majority of my family are immigrants from Mexico, this unique position has exposed me to the reality of thousands of people who come to the country looking for the American Dream, but also the difficult obstacles they face in their daily lives. As a child, I witnessed how my Hispanic community lived in the shadows and were afraid to speak up when injustices occurred because of the inability to speak English and the lack of knowledge

Without a doubt, being Latina has had the most positive effect on my life. I had always felt a little disconnected because of small things like not being able to speak Spanish as well or having lighter skin. I grew up in a home where family always came first and learned to always ensure that everyone around you has everything that they need. I feel lucky that I was able to grow up with such strong morals because of my culture. Last year, I became very proud of being part of such a beautiful community through the current political climate and the Latino Student Union. I realized how passionate I was about equality and rights. I recognized how unfair things are for minorities. Being Latina has helped me realize the potential I have.

Today’s society sees college as a very fundamental step to obtaining success. Carmen Lugo-Lugo argues that instead of being focused on education, college is beginning to convert into a marketplace and a business. She states that colleges are now more interested in making a profit from their students than the actual education they are there for. Due to this mindset, the flow of the classroom environment and how students treat professors is affected. She also makes it known how prevalent systematic racism and racial profiling exist and tells the readers by her first hand accounts. In her essay “A Prostitute, A Servant, And A Customer-Service Representative: A Latina in Academia”, Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies, Carmen Lugo-Lugo uses emotion and language to communicate her claim. Throughout her writing she demonstrates strong emotion-evoking words, and hyperboles.

In Latin American countries, they have a very unique culture. With their holidays, music, celebrations, and art, the countries in Latin America never cease to bring joy in people’s lives. Latin American culture is vastly different than other cultures in many ways. In Latin America, the languages of Spanish and Portuguese are dominant and most people speak them. However there are people who speak other languages as well. Latin America includes nineteen countries and several territories. There are a variety of different ethnicities in Latin America including Mexicans, Europeans, and Asians. Education inside the Latin American culture still struggles. Only a little more than half of kids ages 13-17 advance into secondary school. Because of this, the crime and violence rates in Latin America are at an all time high. These countries have been rated as one of the most dangerous regions in the world because of how high the rates of crime and violence are.

The progress of Latin America economically has made differences for the better or worse for several countries. In Central and South America, there are resources, industries, and agriculture that has been made gradually through the years. However, before the economic Latin America many know today, other civilizations lived first. In Central America, the Maya, Aztec, and Olmec lived there. (Document 1) The Mayans were known to live in the Yucatan Peninsula, while the Aztec lived in Tenochtitlan, and the Olmec in present day Veracruz and Tabasco. (Document 1) In South America, lived the Inca. The Inca lived in Peru, Chile. (Document 1) Aside from earlier civilizations, there are also four zones of climate. (Document 3) These types of climates are Tierra Helada (Frozen Land), Tierra Fria (Cold Land), Tierra Templada (Temperate Land), Tierra Caliente (Hot Land). All of these have different livestock and crops depending on the climate.

“Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” (Kramarae 1). As a citizen of America that is Hispanic the idea that men belong in superior roles in workplaces and homes while women do the “simpler” jobs was taught and should be addressed by politicians. For generations, men have been seen as superior to women, to the point where women lose their basic human rights. Women are seen as weak and incapable of doing anything for themselves. However, women have the ability to be independent. While some American and Hispanic people believe women are treated equally and feminism is an excuse for women to “rebel” because they have not experienced discrimination based on their gender, there are some American and Hispanic people, mostly

Latin America represents 1/10 of the world's population, and geographically can be located from the land extensions of Mexico, until the Patagonia at Argentina. Some of the most relevant elements of today's culture in Latin America are; Religion, Values, Attitudes, Social structure, Social stratification, Language and Gift-giving hospitality. The predominant religion throughout history in Latin America has been Catholicism. From big cities to small villages, churches, basilicas, and cathedrals are found. Catholicism left its mark, from customs and values to architecture and art. During many years in many countries the Catholic Church had power over all civil institutions, education, and law. Nowadays religion

When the Europeans first arrived in Latin America, they didn’t realize the immensity of their actions. As history has proven, the Europeans have imposed many things on the Latin American territory have had a long, devastating effect on the indigenous people. In the centuries after 1492, Europeans would control much of South America and impose a foreign culture upon the already established civilizations that existed before their arrival. These imposed ideas left the continent weak and resulted in the loss of culture, the dependence on European countries, and a long standing ethnic tension between natives and settlers which is evident even to this day. The indigenous people of South America, which

From where I come from in the Dominican Republic, music plays a big role in the lives of the people. The cultures of music in the country have grown and redefined its African and European roots from into modern eras with more social, and cultural celebrations that vary throughout the different cities and small towns of the island. I grew up in a household made out of three artists that express and display their artistic skills through music and carnaval costumes and masks that they wear every year during the month of February. Before the month comes my uncles will start getting ready drawing their new designs for their costumes for the upcoming carnaval parades, at the same time, they are making music, creating unique sounds with just three instruments. The instruments they love to make their music with are güira, tambora and conga.

American attitudes towards Latin America can be summed up as an extension of larger global directives, and the exclusion of foreign powers in the region. This was highlighted especially during the Cold War as US involvement was essentially in competition with the USSR. Latin America was therefore a mere pawn in the larger context of US-Soviet competition for global dominance. The actions and methods used are also characterized by the lack of an international authority, or an atmosphere of inter-state anarchy, which shaped their calculations in the endeavor to increase their influence over Latin America. When one analyzes the situation, it seems only rational that the United States treated its southern neighbors so, due to the geographical

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States was the most dominant power in the Western Hemisphere. European nations conceded to the United States their right of any intervention in the Western Hemisphere and allowed the United States to do whatever they wanted. The United States took this newly bestowed power and abused it. The United States intervened in many Latin American countries and imposed their policies on to these countries against their will. A perfect example of this aggression is what occurred in the Dominican Republic in 1904. The United States intervened in this sovereign nation and took control of their economy and custom houses. A memorandum from Francis B. Loomis, the United States Assistant

Because the Indians and Spanish lived in different areas in Latin America, the Indian culture and society did not change significantly. Or did there society change?

History of the region from the pre-Columbian period and including colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese beginning in the 15th century, the 19th-century wars of independence, and developments to the end of World War II.Latin America is generally understood to consist of the entire continent of South America in addition to Mexico, Central America, and the islands of the Caribbean whose inhabitants speak a Romance language. The peoples of this large area shared the experience of conquest and colonization by the Spaniards and Portuguese from the late 15th through the 18th centuries as well as movements of independence from Spain and Portugal in the early 19th century. Even since independence, many of the various

For the record, it is not easy to learn how to samba. And it's especially hard when teenage boys are easily distracted and schedules are busy and it takes most of the fall semester just to pick a song to dance to. My junior year, I was part of the Pan American Student Forum, an after-school club which showcased different aspects of Latin American culture: dance, folklore, current events. I was in the dance group, and though I may not have been the group leader, I still had it pretty bad.