Throughout its history in the College of Arts & Sciences, Latin American Studies (LAS) has played a major role at the University in forging initiatives to enhance cross-regional perspectives on global challenges and issues of concern to all of us in the Americas and worldwide. A related objective we have is to forge new initiatives that continue to unite the University community in promotion of diverse, inclusive, interdisciplinary Caribbean, Latin American, and Latinx studies. This involves, in the classroom and through promotion of scholarly and public programs, an agenda of scholarly and cultural events, faculty-led lectures and symposia, and other activities intended to create a sense of community among faculty, students, and other stakeholders. Courses and programming continue to have their interdisciplinary focus on the cultural, economic, political, and social concerns of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean and their diasporic communities.
LAS works in tandem with the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Studies of the Americas in pursuit of interdisciplinary scholarship, forging partnerships with academic colleagues based at liberal arts and research institutions throughout the Western hemisphere. These partnerships realize the indisputable role of the arts, the humanities, and the health and social sciences, in increasing global awareness and understanding of the concerns of peoples throughout the hemisphere in pursuit of our mission.
Our undergraduate and graduate programs offer unparalleled access to beyond-the-classroom experiences in Miami, the Caribbean, and Latin America, through internships and other forms of service aimed at stimulating students’ creativity, critical thinking, and sense of community belongingness and leadership. We also partner with the University’s Office of Study Abroad to develop and offer semester-long and condensed experiences with partner academic institutions through the Caribbean and Latin America.
In summary, the overall objective of today’s LAS program is to promote awareness of concerns and issues facing the broad world region of Latin America and the Caribbean as viewed from Miami, Florida, a diverse global city which is often considered to be the crossroads of the Western Hemisphere; this objective is to be achieved through teaching, research, and service.
