Southwest Borderlands Studies (SWBS)

History, economics, sociology, demography, folklore, education, art and literature of Mexican Americans.

Development of American Indian cultures of Central and South America to time of Spanish Conquest. Maya, Inca, Aztec and related cultural traditions. Optional field trip when possible. Prerequisite: 3 semester hours of Anthropology or Southwest Borderlands Studies. (Credit may not be obtained in both SWBS 3301 and ANTH 3301.)

A study of bicultural groups with salient ethnic characteristics, i.e., Blacks, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, Italians and Native Americans. Prerequisite: 3 semester hours of Southwest Borderlands Studies or 12 semester hours of social science.

An examination of the folk medical system of Mexican Americans from an anthropological perspective. Includes an exploration of household remedies (including herbal remedies), folk illness syndromes, various folk healers (including parteras, or midwives, and sobadores, or massagers), curanderismo (folk healing) and brujeria (witchcraft) in present-day Mexican American culture in South Texas and the Southwest. Prerequisite: 3 semester hours of Southwest Borderlands Studies or Anthropology. (Credit may not be obtain in both SWBS 4303 and ANTH 4303.)

Origin and development of contemporary cultural forms in Latin America. Industrialization, socioeconomic and demographic change are examined from several theoretical perspectives. Prerequisite: 6 semester hours of Anthropology or Sociology. (Credit may not be obtain in both SWBS 4308 and ANTH 4308.)