Carly lives in Missouri, USA and is in the Class of 2016, majoring in Global Development and minoring in Spanish and Latin American Studies. She also plays on the Varsity Lacrosse team. Carly decided to switch to SLAS minor in her upper year, once she discovered how useful this Plan is for her future career:
"Latin America, its history and its culture have been something that has really interested me since I first studied it in high school. I decided to pursue Spanish Latin American Studies (SLAS) here at Queen’s because it allowed me continue to study something that I am really passionate about, and has also brought me into a great community of educators who share the same passion for this field of study. I also found that SLAS complimented well with my Global Development (DEVS) major and has allowed me to understand and interpret what I learn in DEVS with an enhanced regional focus.
Because of its relationship with many different departments, students are able to enhance their study in an area that may interest them, but it also encourages students to branch out and challenge themselves to study Latin America through a lens they may have never used before; for example, I took a course on Cuba in my second year, which used a lot of media, film and music in order to teach about the historic, as well as current culture of the country and its people. I had never taken a course on media or film before, let alone in relation to Latin America, but it challenged me to see Latin America in a different way and ultimately, has helped me to understand the region in a way I never thought I would.
SLAS is also a program that is extremely compatible with many majors and departments, but personally gives a great regional focus to my studies. As a DEVS major, SLAS really complements well with what I learn in DEVS; DEVS focuses more on overarching themes and trends, while SLAS has really helped me see these central ideas in the part of the world that I am most interested in. I have found that studying both together really helps to enrich my knowledge in both areas.
SLAS has connected me with some amazing professors from many different departments, who all share a fantastic passion for Latin America and everything it has to offer. The professors involved in SLAS are very active in their personal fields of study and have really encouraged me as a student in this program. Because SLAS has a smaller community than other programs, the professors really bring a lot to it and have shown me that they are truly concerned and interested in their students and what we bring to the program. The Languages, Literatures and Cultures Department is another great resource that students involved in SLAS have access to; although LLCU covers much more than just SLAS, it really gives the program and its students access to many different opportunities through courses on the culture, media, history of particular regions of the world, as well as other language courses.
Once I graduate, I’m hoping to focus my DEVS and SLAS degree on aid and development in urban centers in Latin America, concentrating on access to specialized medical care.
SLAS requires the study and completion of an intermediate understanding of Spanish and this has really helped me when applying for internship positions and jobs. Especially regarding positions within Latin America itself, I have found that an application with an understanding of both Spanish and English stands out to organizations and employers. After being able to study at the University of Havana in Cuba, and work in both San Juan, Puerto Rico and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I have been able to see firsthand how SLAS, its courses, and its professors prepare its students for the complexities that exist in Latin America through its history, as well as in its present."