Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies, MA

专业介绍

The Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies (LACIS) Program offers three graduate programs: Master of Arts, a Doctoral Minor, and a Dual Degree in Law and Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies.

The mission of the graduate program is to provide an interdisciplinary foundation for the study of Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. The University of Wisconsin–Madison is nationally recognized for excellence in research and teaching on these regions. The LACIS program includes a core faculty of over 100 members and course offerings in close to 40 disciplines and professional schools, including anthropology, business, community and environmental sociology, comparative literature, environmental studies, gender and women’s studies, geography, history, law, music, political science, sociology, and population health. Languages offered include Spanish, and Portuguese. Quechua and Yucatec Maya are also offered on a periodic basis.

Many faculty members have received extensive national and international recognition. Detailed faculty research interests and publications can be accessed through Mapping LACIS Research. UW–Madison also publishes the journal Luso-Brazilian Review and holds an annual graduate student conference, Kaleidoscope.

While the majority of candidates in the program are from the United States, a significant number are from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Iberia. Funding assistance for candidates specializing in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Iberia includes: Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships, the Helen Firstbrook Franklin Fellowship, Advanced Opportunity Fellowship (AOF), teaching assistantships (Intro to Latin American Studies), and the Tinker-Nave Field Grant Program, commonly used for summer research travel. Please contact the program office for more information on funding opportunities.

Originally established in the 1930s, the program has a long history of university and federal support. Since 1961, LACIS has been recognized as a National Resource Center (NRC) by the US Department of Education, which provides Title VI support for program activities and for FLAS fellowships. The program has a faculty of extraordinary diversity and across-the-board strength. These strengths encompass not only the classic social science and humanities fields, but also the natural and ecological sciences and the agricultural and professional schools. Not many other universities can compete with the overall range of UW–Madison’s faculty expertise in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian studies. UW–Madison’s general excellence is reflected by its consistent ranking among the top ten graduate universities in the United States.