Overview

Founded in 1930, the Center for Latin American Studies aims to advance knowledge about Latin America and the Caribbean and to enhance the scope and quality of Latin American studies at the University of Florida.

To this end, the center offers interdisciplinary academic programs in Latin American studies; conducts outreach activities that enrich the intellectual and cultural lives of UF students, faculty and staff, and the local community (e.g., Annual Conference, Colloquium, Latino Film Series, LatinAmericanist newsletter, educational K-12 outreach services); and cooperates with other university units in overseas research and training programs. Most of these programs are open to undergraduates.

The center also sponsors study abroad programs in language, culture and business. Since 1992, the center has hosted distinguished scholars and artists through the Bacardi Family Eminent Chair in Latin American Studies. The first Bacardi Scholar was Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The 2004-05 Bacardi Scholar is Alberto Alfonso, one of the most distinguished ballet personalities in the world and co-founder of the National Ballet of Cuba.

The center has a director and 20 core faculty members with expertise in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. In addition, the center draws on the expertise of more than 160 distinguished faculty affiliates from colleges and professional schools across campus, who teach more than 260 undergraduate and graduate courses available to undergraduates in Latin American and Caribbean studies.

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Academic Programs

The Center for Latin American Studies offers a minor and a certificate program for undergraduates who are interested in Latin America and/or the Caribbean and who intend to pursue graduate studies or a career in Latin American or Caribbean-related business, government service or teaching.

The minor requires 15 credit hours of courses outside the student's department major's courses, and it will apppear on the student's transcript. The certificate in LAS is awarded by the center to acknowledge a Latin American or Caribbean-area concentration within the student's major and general course of study. All course work on Latin America and related fields, including courses in the student's major and/or minor may count toward the certificate, and a student can receive both a minor and a certifcate in Latin American Studies.

For more information, refer to Center for Latin American Studies, Grinter Hall, Room 319, 352-392-0375, ext. 807. Students interested in the minor, certificate or major should first consult their department's undergraduate adviser, then the center's undergraduate adviser, Richmond Brown, at rfbrown@latam.ufl.edu.

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Study in Latin America

Candidates for both the minor and the certificate are encouraged to spend a summer, a semester or an academic year living in a Latin American country.

The Center for Latin American Studies supports a number of overseas language, culture, environment and business-related programs: in Brazil, Mexico and Miami/Haiti. The UF programs and other SUS (State University System) programs are usually the best possible value in overseas study and are catered to area-studies students. The Brazil and Mexico programs feature immersion through home stay housing with local families, and all programs provide language training customized to a student’s needs and contextualized within a concurrent study of the culture. Intermediate-level language study may count as elective credits and advanced level as core credits toward the minor or certificate in Latin American Studies. Guaranteed loans may be used for these programs.

Credits obtained from similar programs offered by other institutions and transferred to UF may be applied to the minor or certificate with prior approval from the UF International Center, the student’s major department and the undergraduate adviser at the Center for Latin American Studies.

Rio de Janeiro - Portuguese: This summer program in Brazilian Portuguese and Brazilian culture, established in 1978, is co-sponsored by Florida International University and held in Rio at the Instituto Brasil-Estados Unidos. The six-week program yields six credit hours. To participate, students must have completed one semester of Portuguese (intensive Portuguese POR 3010 is offered Summer A) or two semesters of Spanish.

Mérida (Yucatán), Mexico: Since 1985, the center has sponsored a summer and semester or academic-year program at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Summer-program students receive nine credit hours, five in Spanish conversation (intermediate or advanced level) and four in either ecology or anthropology. Students in the semester or academic-year program, which is designed for students with advanced Spanish-language proficiency, take regular courses at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. Two university semesters of Spanish are required for the summer program and four semesters for the academic semester or year programs.

Miami and Haiti: This summer program for the study of Haitian Créole language and Haitian culture is co-sponsored by Florida International University (FIU). It is held in Miami and includes a fieldtrip to Haiti. Participants are housed on the FIU campus.

For related study-abroad options, please refer to Study Abroad Services or contact the study abroad adviser at overseas@ufic.ufl.edu.

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