Santiago Courses – 2025 Summer Session I
Studying abroad can be a more meaningful and invigorating learning experience than at home—both inside and outside of the classroom. You may be more curious and alert than you usually are so use this heightened energy to enhance your studies as well as your cultural and geographical explorations. You may also encounter different teaching styles and course processes; be prepared to adapt and to learn.
Courses
You may take three to seven credits in each session. At least one 3-credit course is required each session you are enrolled. Course availability is contingent upon student enrollment and is subject to change.
Click the course title to view course details, description, and availability.
Spanish Language and Literature Studies
Summer language courses are intensive, with three to four credits of Spanish taught in each four-week session. Language courses have a maximum enrollment of 15 students each. Spanish Conversation and Oral Skills is highly recommended to complement Intermediate Spanish I through Advanced Spanish I.
Session I
- Summer Session ISpanish 200-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
This course is designed to help learners of Spanish to develop basic communicative competence and critical thinking skills. It offers an intensive study and practice of the productive and receptive language skills in the oral and written modes. The main emphasis of this track is on communication.
Prerequisite: two semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
- Summer Session ISpanish 300-level 3 credits Taught in SpanishSummer Session IISpanish 300-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
The focus of this course is to improve learners´ written abilities through the analysis and the production of different types of texts. In addition, several grammatical topics will be reviewed in order to enhance and refine the learners´ grammatical competence.
Prerequisite: four semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
- Summer Session ISpanish 400-level 3 credits Taught in SpanishSummer Session IISpanish 400-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
This course is designed for students who may manage daily tasks and interactions, but still need to improve their control over different oral and written registers. In addition, this course will offer students the opportunity to enhance their vocabulary in specific and technical areas, and to improve grammatical accuracy in their oral and written expression.
Prerequisite: six semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
- Summer Session ISpanish World Languages and Literatures 100-level 1 credit Taught in English/SpanishSummer Session IISpanish World Languages and Literatures 100-level 1 credit Taught in English/Spanish
This course is designed to provide students who have not previously studied Spanish with basic lexical, grammatical, and functional resources to manage daily situations while studying abroad.
- Summer Session ISpanish 300-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
A panoramic vision of Latin American literature, from its beginnings to the 20th century. The course will study the evolution of different genre, fundamentally the novel, poetry and theater, through their more important movements, as well as representative key works.
Prerequisite: five semesters of college-level Spanish; students who have completed second-year Spanish with strong grades may be considered with home university approval
Session II
- Summer Session IISpanish 200-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
This course is designed to help learners of Spanish to develop basic communicative competence and critical thinking skills. It offers an intensive study and practice of the productive and receptive language skills in the oral and written modes. The main emphasis of this track is on communication.
Prerequisite: three semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
- Summer Session ISpanish 300-level 3 credits Taught in SpanishSummer Session IISpanish 300-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
The focus of this course is to improve learners´ written abilities through the analysis and the production of different types of texts. In addition, several grammatical topics will be reviewed in order to enhance and refine the learners´ grammatical competence.
Prerequisite: four semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
- Summer Session ISpanish 400-level 3 credits Taught in SpanishSummer Session IISpanish 400-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
This course is designed for students who may manage daily tasks and interactions, but still need to improve their control over different oral and written registers. In addition, this course will offer students the opportunity to enhance their vocabulary in specific and technical areas, and to improve grammatical accuracy in their oral and written expression.
Prerequisite: six semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
- Summer Session ISpanish World Languages and Literatures 100-level 1 credit Taught in English/SpanishSummer Session IISpanish World Languages and Literatures 100-level 1 credit Taught in English/Spanish
This course is designed to provide students who have not previously studied Spanish with basic lexical, grammatical, and functional resources to manage daily situations while studying abroad.
- Summer Session IISpanish 400-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
Presents a clear and thorough study of Latin American poetry from the period of the Vanguards (20's) until the present, taking into account its diversity and experimentation. Students will study the texts within the historical context in which they were written. A variety of authors from Central and South America will be discussed.
Prerequisite: six semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
Latin American Cultures and Cultural Studies
The following courses focus largely on the history and cultures of the Andes region and the country, and provide a multi-disciplinary perspective to your studies.
Session I
- Summer Session IDance 100-level 1 credit Taught in SpanishSummer Session IIDance 100-level 1 credit Taught in Spanish
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to a variety of dances of Latin America. Students will learn the essential steps of a selection of four dances typical of the region. The course is designed to encourage students to acquire a greater understanding and interest in Latin American culture.
This course is taught once a week for four months. Each session lasts two hours and will cover one Latin American rhythm. The rhythms to be covered include Merengue, Salsa, Chachacha, Bachata, and Tango.
This course has an additional fee
- Summer Session IJournalism 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course will focus on best practices in foreign reporting, planning for reporting trips in culturally diverse communities, analyzing international media within global and historical contexts and learning to create publishable cross-cultural news content, as well as provide comparative analyses between the cultural context of Mexico and Central American countries, and the Southern Cone (Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay). Also, comparisons among the international political arena of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Ecuador would be part of the analysis. This course is designed to prepare students to work as multimedia journalists in a foreign country such as Latin American countries as well as report on diaspora and immigrant communities within the United States. The concept of cross-cultural reporting also extends to working in distinct communities.
- Summer Session IPolitical Science Spanish 400-level 3 credits Taught in Spanish
During its independent life, Latin America has been a live performer in the international scenery. Nevertheless, its behavior has been plenty of times only a reaction to external factors, ensuring its own interest and rules. Political treaties from Europe and United States towards this region are one of the many factors that Latin-American international relations have usually had to deal with.
This course covers international relations as from a Latin-American perspective and how, as from the early XXI century, these have projected themselves worldwide in several arenas such as the political, social and the cultural ones. Along with the formerly described, it is proposed to discuss the projection of international relations in terms of the interests that matter to this region in particular.
Prerequisite: four semesters of college-level Spanish, or equivalent
- Summer Session IAnthropology World Languages and Literatures 400-level 3 credits Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIAnthropology World Languages and Literatures 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course explores Chile’s native cultures and languages, encompassing diverse contexts from the north to the southern region. Students will analyze the current situation of native peoples as a reflection of a long history of resistance against colonization and foreign influences. The course will investigate aspects of native cultures, including history, religion, economy, and social organization. It will also analyze how these elements combine to form cultural identities and how these identities are conveyed through language and other ways of expression.
Prerequisite: introductory coursework in college-level anthropology
- Summer Session IPolitical Science 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
Coming Soon!
- Summer Session IGeneral Business 300-level 3 credits Taught in English
Businesses have, historically, concentrated on generating wealth, jobs, and contributing to economic development within their operational communities. This approach has enabled managers to prioritize profit maximization as their central objective and source of value. Recently, however, businesses are confronted with the challenge of not only reaching a constant financial growth but also fostering social and environmental shared value through their investments and operations, as a way to give back to the society and the geographical space they get so much from. New trends in business recognize these new social demands as an opportunity to enter the market as a socially responsible enterprise. This perspective encourages the development of novel business practices, products, and services that cater to society's growing preference for socially and environmentally responsible offerings. This course will explore these diverse approaches and highlight the emerging strategies companies employ to align the creation of business value with contemporary expectations of social and environmental sustainability.
Session II
- Summer Session IDance 100-level 1 credit Taught in SpanishSummer Session IIDance 100-level 1 credit Taught in Spanish
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to a variety of dances of Latin America. Students will learn the essential steps of a selection of four dances typical of the region. The course is designed to encourage students to acquire a greater understanding and interest in Latin American culture.
This course is taught once a week for four months. Each session lasts two hours and will cover one Latin American rhythm. The rhythms to be covered include Merengue, Salsa, Chachacha, Bachata, and Tango.
This course has an additional fee
- Summer Session IIPolitical Science Sociology 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course examines the challenges of promoting and protecting human rights in Latin America. Focusing on the most critical analytical and empirical debates since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, Students will discuss the most relevant theoretical frameworks in the historical context of the construction of international human rights regimes. The course will expose the challenges Latin American peoples have faced under authoritarian regimes as well as human rights abuses committed during the period of "state terrorism.” Students will also develop the framework to effectively analyze transitional justice policies in democratization processes.
Prerequisite: one semester of college level history or political science
- Summer Session IAnthropology World Languages and Literatures 400-level 3 credits Taught in EnglishSummer Session IIAnthropology World Languages and Literatures 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course explores Chile’s native cultures and languages, encompassing diverse contexts from the north to the southern region. Students will analyze the current situation of native peoples as a reflection of a long history of resistance against colonization and foreign influences. The course will investigate aspects of native cultures, including history, religion, economy, and social organization. It will also analyze how these elements combine to form cultural identities and how these identities are conveyed through language and other ways of expression.
Prerequisite: introductory coursework in college-level anthropology
- Summer Session IIJournalism 400-level 3 credits Taught in English
This course examines the intersections between the media and the social constructions and understanding of race and gender. Students will develop the ability to critically evaluate topics related to mediated representations of gender, sexuality, intersectionality, diversity in media industries, gendered labor markets, gendered audiences and fan cultures, gender, power, and identity in digital era communication. These topics will be explored and studied through literature from sociology, communication and media studies, cultural studies, feminist theory, and internet/new media studies.
Prerequisite: one semester of college-level journalism or communication
To request a course syllabus: syllabus@usac.edu
Summer Session I, 2025
Course: Peace, Conflict, and Democracy in Latin America
Prisca Gayles, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno
Dr. Prisca Gayles is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Gender, Race, and Identity at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research interests include Black Feminist Theory, Afro-Latin American feminisms, the sociology of race and ethnicity, social movements, migration and citizenship, and the African diaspora in Argentina. She teaches courses on intersectional analysis of identities, social movements, theories of oppression, and class, race, and gender.
Summer Session II, 2025
Course: International Human Rights
Doris Schartmueller, Ph.D., CSU, Chico
Dr. Doris Schartmueller is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice at California State University, Chico. Her research interests include life imprisonment, comparative criminal justice, and penology. She regularly teaches classes such as criminal justice ethics, corrections, and comparative criminal justice.