BORICUA COLLEGE | BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE

Inter-American Studies Program

(HEGIS: 0399)
Minimum Required Credits: 124

Goal: Demonstrate the scholarly and professional ability to examine the inter-relationships of the peoples and nations of North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean with specific focus on history, culture and migration.

Objectives:

  1. Demonstrate self-awareness and mastery of generic intellectual and affective skills necessary for life-long learning and further professional development.

  2. Demonstrate competencies in the research methodology and subject matter knowledge required to examine the human condition of the peoples of the Americas.

  3. Demonstrate the ability to integrate the intellectual, affective and psychomotor skills with the knowledge of the Americas for into scholarly and creative work presentations and professional practice.

  4. Demonstrate basic competency in the application of instrumental and interpretive knowledge in the study of culture, history, literature and politics in inter-American relations. 

NOTE: This degree requires completion of minimum of 124 credits, 60 credits in the Generic Studies-Liberal Arts and Sciences program and 60 credits in a program of study designed for a specific student and approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs composed of courses from the Five Ways of Learning Model of the College.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of contemporary economic issues in North and South American relations. Topics include: the rise of automation in American industry; perfect competition in a capitalistic economy; the state and the socialist economy; capital accumulation and investment; the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank and the South American developing economies.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of international economic issues and their impact on the Americas, topics include: the government’s role in the economy; population problems in Third World Countries; technological problems and economic growth; and the role of economic planning in developing nations.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of issues and problems of Inter-American political relations. Topics include: geographic, demographic and economic factors in international relations; nationalism, international organizations and the concept of independence in world affairs; U.S. foreign policy in Latin American affairs.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the impact of international organizations in Latin America. Topics include national and multinational corporations and organizations; economic and military organizations; the role of the super powers; East-West conflict in Latin America and Latin American policies and U.S. foreign policy.

Colloquium

Small group colloquia are designed to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their self-awareness and Mastery of the Affective Skills of receiving (listening and reading), responding (speaking and writing) and expressing their values, feelings and emotions in understanding the generic principles of the liberal arts and sciences.

Experiential Studies

These courses concentrate on the “psychomotor” dimension of learning and  compliments the cognitive and affective skills developed in individualized instruction and colloquium.  These sequences of courses evolve from perceptual enrichment through sensory awareness and physical development to instrumental and complex skills where the cognitive and affective dimensions integrate with the psychomotor.

  • Students increase their perceptual skills through observation, recording and analysis of original documents and reports about Latin America and its relationship with North America.

  • Students will be able to acquire research skills and theoretical knowledge of the issues and problems of Inter-American relations. A final project and written presentation is required.

  • Students are placed in on-the-job-training where they perform research in the area of Inter-American Studies: 90 hours of faculty supervised internship is required per term.

  • Students are placed in on-the-job-training where they perform research in the area of Inter-American Studies: 90 hours of faculty supervised internship is required.

Theoretical Studies (Electives)

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the basic statistical principles. Topics include variables and graphs, frequency distributions; mean, median, mode and other measures of central tendencies; standard deviation and other measures of dispersion; elementary probability theory; tests of hypothesis and significance; small sampling theory; chi square tests, curve fitting and the method of least squares.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the philosophy, processes and problems of the democratic system in the United States. Topics include: the structure and powers of federal, state and city governments; separation of powers through checks and balances; political parties; the election process; interest groups and civil rights.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the fundamental principles of Economics. Among the topics covered are laws of supply and demand and the principle of scarcity. In addition, students will explore issues of unemployment, inflation and interest rates; measures of economic performance, such as gross national product and national income. The course ends with a review of monetary and fiscal policies and their impact on economic growth.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the basic principles of accounting. Topics include the recording of transactions; the accounting term; assets and liabilities; preparation of financial statements; analysis of financial data as applied-to-sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations.

Cultural Studies (Electives)

The College believes that affirmation of students’ culture is essential to their learning process; Cultural Studies courses supplement as context for the learning processes of the previous four types of courses.

  • At the end of this course students will be able to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of the economic, political, social, and cultural developments that created early civilizations. The course presents world history through an analysis of five (5) topics, including: 1) Human Origins and Human Cultures; 2) Settling Down: Rise of the Village Community and the City-State; 3) Empire and Imperialism; 4) Rise of World Religions; 5) Movement of Goods (Trade) and People (Migration).

  • At the end of this course students will be able to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of the economic, political, social, and cultural developments that created contemporary civilizations. The course presents world history through an analysis of the following seven topics: 1) Nature of the Global Economy and Geopolitics in the 16th Century; 2) Economic Growth, Religion and Migration; 3) Industrial, Social and Political Revolutions in Europe and throughout the Americas; 4) Technological Innovations: Mass Production and Destruction; 5) the World at War (WWI and WWII) and the Rise of New Nations; 6) The Cold War and the Emergence of New Nations and the Third World; 7) Political, Religious, Economic and Cultural issues in the 21st Century.

    NOTE: Although World History I is not a prerequisite to taking World History II, it is advisable that students take World History I prior to taking World History II.

  • This is a survey course on the social, cultural, and political development of Western Civilization. Topics include: the ancient Near East; the civilization of the Greeks and Romans; European Civilization in the middle ages; the Age of Renaissance; the Age of Reformation; concept of the Nation-State and the search for order in the seventeenth century; the scientific revolution and the emergence of modern science.

  • An exploration of the history of art, beginning with prehistoric art and covering major periods and styles.

  • This course is a survey of English and American literature featuring both the classics and contemporary American writings in English, including by African American and Latino writers. The course will deal with English and American literary traditions such as the “gilded age”, African-American Renaissance, the American novel, Immigrant novel, magic reality, cultural identifications, celebrations and rituals, the role of the oral traditions and their transmission and transformation in written works, stylistic innovations in the use of language of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Maya Angelou and Julia de Burgos, writers as individuals and as a members of a cultural community.

Independent Studies

  • (TBA)

Individualized Instruction

The Individualized Instruction courses in the Generic Studies Core Curriculum program require students to demonstrate self-awareness and mastery in the use of critical, intellectual skills necessary for understanding the generic principles of the liberal arts and sciences. At Boricua College, the study of these mental processes is referred to as Cognitive Science.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of advanced economic concepts required for the study of Inter American relations. Through detailed study of macro and micro economic theories, the course discusses U.S. economic relations with South America regarding such issues as free enterprise, foreign aid and transfer of technology, and other critical issues.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of contemporary economic issues in Latin America. Topics include: economic history of Latin America; the nature and foundation of contemporary Latin American economies, U.S. economy and Latin America; alternate strategies for economic integration in Latin America; socialist and mixed economies in Latin America.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate competency with the basic concepts of comparative politics. Beginning with political histories of such countries as Britain, France, Germany and the Soviet Union, the course goes on to examine the history and formation of North and South American countries. Other topics include: legal aspects of international relations; concepts of self-determination; theories of sovereignty in Latin American countries, and comparisons with U.S. political history.

  • Students will be able to demonstrate the historical foundations and conceptualization that led to the development of contemporary international politics especially in the modern period. Topics include: nature of foreign policy; diplomacy after World War I and II; economic issues in Western and Third World Countries; power patterns in Latin America; Communism and the Domino Theory; international law and multinational corporations; constitutional framework and foreign policy—the U.S. and Latin America; military dictatorships and liberation movements.