Latin American Studies Professor

Since the time of Columbus, people have wanted to know more about the Latin American people. What do they value? How are the Latin American countries similar or different? How do their economies work? As a Latin American Studies Professor, you attempt to answer these questions through research, and you teach students how to study the culture for themselves.

You may be just one Latin American Studies Professor out of many in the Latin American studies department. You go to board meetings, hash out how the concepts will be discussed, and choose courses to teach. The more experienced you are, the fewer classes you’ll have to teach when you’re a Latin American Studies Professor.

You develop a lesson plan for your students based on what you want them to know when the course is over. You also choose books for them to buy, and you listen to them complain if you choose expensive books. You may ask them to express their displeasure in Spanish for quicker results.

You put together lectures for your students, picking out the deeper concepts from the books you’ve chosen. You may sprinkle tidbits from your own research into your lectures.

Sometimes, you ask the students to discuss items in class. Other times, you give them quizzes and tests to determine if they’ve truly been paying attention. When the course is complete, you give each student a grade.

When you’re not in the classroom, you do your own research on Latin American studies. You may travel to Spain or Mexico as part of your research, trying to schedule these trips when it’s cold at home so you can show off your tan when you return. To prove that you’ve indeed been doing your research (not just getting a tan), you publish your studies in books, newspapers, and scientific journals.