Latin American Studies

Undergraduate minor: Latin American studies

Undergraduate certificate: Latin American studies

Faculty: https://latinamericanstudies.uiowa.edu/people

Website: https://latinamericanstudies.uiowa.edu/

The Latin American Studies Program (LASP) is an interdisciplinary curriculum that introduces students to the cultures, arts, languages, histories, and social practices from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, and provides students with frameworks for making sense of the social, political, and economic challenges faced in those regions.

Faculty members from across the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences participate in the Latin American Studies Program as affiliated faculty members. Other University of Iowa faculty members occasionally offer courses and participate in the program's research, study, and interdisciplinary activities.

In addition to its instructional activity, LASP sponsors a wide variety of activities, brings scholars of Latin America to campus, and fosters institutional linkages.

Latin American Studies is one of the academic units in the Division of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

Student sitting on colorful mosaic steps in Brazil.

Study Abroad

The Latin American Studies Program highly recommends, but does not require, that students have an in-depth Latin American cultural experience, usually through study abroad, before completing their undergraduate requirements.

In cooperation with International Programs Study Abroad, LASP faculty members facilitate student participation in programs in many Latin American countries. University of Iowa students may enroll in programs in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, and Uruguay. Programs range from intensive language study to group programs with a special focus. The University of Iowa cosponsors these programs through various consortiums.

Study abroad courses may be counted toward requirements for the certificate and the minor with prior approval from a LASP director.

Financial Support

Students are encouraged to apply for a Stanley Undergraduate Award for International Research through University of Iowa International Programs. The awards are given to outstanding University of Iowa undergraduates who, in close consultation with a faculty member, propose well-conceived, small-scale research or fieldwork projects that require travel abroad. Students may conduct projects while participating in a study abroad program and may combine the award with other awards and financial assistance. For information regarding other scholarships, contact LASP advisors, International Programs staff, and the LASP director.

Activities

In addition to its instructional activity, LASP organizes a range of public programming activities each semester, including film series, photography and art exhibits, conferences, round-table discussions, and lectures.

Dr. Evaristo poster about her presentation in May 2021 on Black Female Authorship Seeding Black Female Characters.

Recent events include an exhibit of mixed media Colombian contemporary art and public lectures on Brazilian black feminist theory, Afro-Brazilian female authorship, and cosmopolitanism in Mexican cinema as part of the annual Charles A. Hale Lectures in Latin American Studies.