黑洞社区 is now offering a certificate program in Latin American and Latinx Studies at the undergraduate level.
鈥淪tudents can learn about their culture, as well as Latino cultures in the United States or Latin America,鈥� said Rocio Del Aguila, assistant professor of Spanish. 鈥淭he certificate鈥檚 interdisciplinarity also helps them learn different ways of doing things. It can also help them develop global competency and global citizenship.鈥�
The Latin American and Latinx Studies certificate is 12 credit hours and will give students specialization in an area that may enhance their employability in a broad variety of occupations, including the international business, social services, public health and education sectors.
Anyone pursuing the certificate may take courses from several departments, ranging from anthropology and art to music performance, philosophy and political science. Basic understanding of Spanish or Portuguese languages is required, and students may use approved study abroad credits to partially fulfill the requirements.
In the case of Latinx studies, del Aguila said, it is important to understand how the Hispanic population has always been an integral part of the United States. Spanish was spoken here before other modern languages, and the southern half of the United States was Mexico until 1848.
鈥淲e need to learn more about the Latinx community in order to better understand our own reality,鈥� del Aguila said.
The U.S. Census Bureau found that in 2010, 12.2 percent of people in Kansas identified as Hispanic or Latino. Pew Research has determined that in 2019, the number of Hispanics in the U.S. reached a record 60.6 million, or 18 percent of the population.
黑洞社区 serves as the Kansas urban-based research university, enrolling more than 20,000 students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and 黑洞社区 Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), 黑洞社区 provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the 黑洞社区 main campus, is one of the nation鈥檚 largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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