WOODLAND HILLS : Pierce to Launch Latin Study Program

Pierce College will begin a Latin American studies program next month to help students in Los Angeles prepare for a future that includes NAFTA and an increasingly Spanish-speaking population.

“We want to help students get some idea of the mind-set of different groups--how Mexicans do business differently from businessmen here, for instance,” said Thomas O’Dea, faculty adviser for the new program. “It’s much more important in Mexico to set up a relationship with someone before you do business with them. This type of thing is especially germane in light of the North American Free Trade Agreement.”

Pierce will be the only community college in the San Fernando Valley offering a degree in Latin American studies, O’Dea said. Los Angeles City College offers an associate of arts degree in the field.

O’Dea said the program, including three new classes, is also aimed at the 14% of the student body that is Latino.

“We have an increasing number of students from Latin American countries, many of whom were born here,” O’Dea said. “If we can help them get in touch with their roots and make them feel that it’s OK to be a Latin American, we will accomplish something.”

The coordination of existing Spanish language studies and three new classes within the modern languages department will make it possible for as many as 100 students at a time to earn associate degrees in the Latin American studies program.

The new classes are Latin American civilization, Spanish American short story in translation, and understanding Latin America through film.

The Latin American studies program is the first new curriculum started at Pierce in about 10 years, when the college launched several vocational studies, said William E. Norlund, vice president of academic affairs.

“For the past 10 years, we’ve been fighting severe financial problems,” Norlund said. “We still are, but this is a program we can do with our existing faculty without a significant increase in expenditures. It’s not as though we are starting the program from scratch.”

O’Dea, however, said he and others want to expand Latin American studies into an independent department, giving it more autonomy.

“Unfortunately, the college does not want us to separate and have one more department,” O’Dea said. “But we feel that with everything going on, Latin American studies deserves its own department. We will continue to follow this.”