Fonds F-106 - Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies fonds

The Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies was created in 1988 as a merger between the Spanish Language Program of the Department of Literature, Languages and Linguistics and the Latin American Studies Program of the Faculty of Arts. The department was abolished in 1996.

In February 1971 a Latin American Studies Program was proposed to Senate. This program was first under the jurisdiction of the Division of General Studies in 1972, and then placed in the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies upon the inception of that faculty at the end of 1972. It was the first area studies minor at SFU and served as a model for the creation of similar programs in Canadian and Africa-Middle East Studies, also administered the Dean of FIDS. By 1984, Latin American Studies had evolved from granting an area studies minor to granting joint major degrees in conjunction with six other arts disciplines (Archaeology, Geography, History, Political Science, Spanish, and Sociology and Anthropology). The field school, first held in Guatemala in 1976, generated additional interest in the program. The LAS Student Union organized film series and other events. With the dissolution of FIDS in 1985. the program became part of the Faculty of Arts until the creation of the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies in 1988.

Spanish language instruction at SFU took place first in the Department of Modern Languages, established in 1965, and later renamed the Department of Languages, Literature, and Linguistics in 1978 to reflect its broader scholarly focus. In 1988, the department was disbanded and instruction in Spanish language and literature was transferred to the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies.

Upon the dissolution of the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies, Spanish language instruction was transferred to the Language Training Institute in the Faculty of Arts. The Latin American Studies program was placed in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in the Faculty of Arts. For further information on the dissolution of the department, see the appendix (Simon Fraser News, June 20, 1996).