I absolutely LOVED Dr. Lamas and this class. She is one of the most engaging and dynamic professors I have ever had at UVA. I was a little hesitant to take this class because I wasn't familiar with a lot of the historical context of many Latin American countries (one of only a few students in this position), but the class was super informative and did not make me feel like I was behind in any way. Although she can come off as a hardo and claims she will be really harsh on papers, she wants you to do well and doesn't grade as harshly as she makes herself out to be - no one in our class got below a B on our midterm exam. Likewise, sometimes the workload can be a lot, since its a literary class with a lot of novels, but the material is really interesting. I cannot recommend this class enough.