Contacts
Office: Bolívar House, 582 Alvarado Row
Mail Code: 94305-8545
Phone: (650) 725-0383
Email: latinamerica@stanford.edu
Web Site: http://clas.stanford.edu
Courses offered by the Interdisciplinary Program in Latin American Studies are listed under the subject code LATINAM on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses web site.
The Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) supports research and teaching in all fields of study as they relate to Latin America. Academic programs encourage interdisciplinary approaches and draw on the expertise of nearly seventy active affiliated faculty members representing Stanford's various schools and departments. Stanford University Libraries' substantial Latin American collections are valuable resources for students, faculty, and visiting researchers alike. Each year, CLAS hosts a number of visiting scholars. The Tinker Visiting Professors are highly distinguished Latin American and Iberian scholars who come to Stanford to teach in their field of specialization. CLAS maintains a highly active public events calendar and provides funding to students and faculty for a variety of research, teaching, internship, and conference activities.
As a Latin America National Resource Center (NRC), supported by the U.S. Department of Education under the auspices of Title VI, Section 602(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, CLAS serves to strengthen access to and training in the major languages of Latin America, and to broaden Latin-America area studies training across all disciplines.
CLAS is part of Stanford Global Studies in the School of Humanities and Sciences. The program offers two academic programs in Latin American Studies: an undergraduate minor and a master of arts degree.
Undergraduate Programs in Latin American Studies
Stanford Global Studies offers a minor with a Latin American Studies specialization. Although there is no undergraduate major in Latin American Studies, students may concentrate on Latin America through other departmental and interdisciplinary degree programs, such as Anthropology, History, Political Science, Iberian and Latin American Cultures, or International Relations. Interested students should consult the relevant departmental web sites and sections of this bulletin for further information.
Undergraduates can obtain a coterminal M.A. degree in Latin American Studies while concurrently working on their undergraduate major by applying during the regular admissions cycle no later than their senior year.
Financial Aid
Each summer, CLAS awards grants to a small number of undergraduates to complete internships in Latin America. Applications include a proposal, academic transcript, and letters of recommendation. Students from any department are eligible to apply. See Funding section in the Center for Latin American Studies website.
Students in undergraduate programs who enroll in Portuguese, Quechua, Nahuatl, or Haitian Creole language during the academic year may be eligible for Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships. Recipients of FLAS fellowships must be American citizens or permanent residents. For detailed program information and eligibility, see the Center for Latin American Studies website.
Graduate Programs in Latin American Studies
The one-year master's program in Latin American Studies is designed for students who have experience working, living, or studying in Latin America or Iberia and little prior course work on Latin America.
Stanford University does not offer a Ph.D. program in Latin American Studies; however, doctoral candidates may concentrate on Latin America through other departmental programs, such as Anthropology, History, Political Science or Iberian and Latin American Cultures. Interested applicants should consult the relevant departmental web sites and sections of this bulletin for admissions information and further details.
Admission
The application deadline for the 2023-24 academic year is December 1, 2022. Applicants submit an online application, including a 500-word double-spaced statement of purpose, resumé or CV, 2,500 - 3,750 words double-spaced academic writing sample in English, and three letters of recommendation. In addition, all applicants must submit official transcripts. The GRE general test scores are optional, and no longer a requirement. TOEFL scores are required of applicants whose first language is not English or who did not earn a degree from an undergraduate institution where English is the primary language of instruction. For information on University graduate admissions and to access the online application, visit the Office of Graduate Admissions website.
Applicants must meet the University admission requirements, have a working knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, or an indigenous language of Latin America (e.g., Quechua or Nahuatl) at the university third-year level or higher, and have experience working, living, or studying in Latin America or Iberia prior to admission.
CLAS takes a broad approach to evaluating applications for admission. As important as grades are the applicant's essay, letters of recommendation, academic writing sample, and the experiences and goals conveyed through the personal statement and resume/CV.
Students interested in pursuing the joint degree program in Latin American Studies and Law (J.D.) or a dual degree in Latin American Studies and Business (M.B.A.) or Medicine (M.D.) must apply to each program separately and be accepted by both.
Coterminal Master's Degrees in Latin American Studies
Undergraduates at Stanford may apply for admission to the coterminal master's program in Latin American Studies when they have earned a minimum of 120 units toward graduation, including advanced placement and transfer credit, and no later than the quarter prior to the expected completion of their undergraduate degree.
The application deadline for the 2023-24 academic year is December 1, 2022. Prospective students who are applying to the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program must apply to the scholars program by October12, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
Coterminal applicants must submit:
a 500-word double-spaced statement of purpose
a resumé or CV
a 2,500 - 3,7500-word double-spaced academic writing sample in English
three letters of recommendation
a Stanford transcript
GRE general test scores (optional)
Coterminal applicants must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 and a working knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese at a university third-year level or higher.
Financial Aid
The Center for Latin American Studies provides several graduate fellowships as well as limited course assistantships with the Tinker Visiting Professors each quarter. US and international M.A. applicants who wish to be considered for financial aid during the admissions review process can simply indicate this when prompted on the online application.
M.A. in Latin American Studies applicants who plan to enroll in Portuguese, Quechua, Nahuatl, or Haitian Creole language and area or international studies courses may be eligible for Academic Year and Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships, sponsored by the US Department of Education. Recipients of FLAS fellowships must be American citizens or permanent residents. Applicants to the M.A. program who can demonstrate financial need have priority in the FLAS fellowship competition; in recent years CLAS has also awarded FLAS fellowships to students enrolled in the Professional Schools. For detailed program information and eligibility, see the FLAS Fellowship section in the Center for Latin American Studies website.
CLAS awards Working Group grants to graduate students across the University who wish to organize events such as lectures, speaker series, symposia, exchange of working papers, and collaborative research efforts. For detailed program information and eligibility, see the Working Group Grants section in the Center for Latin American Studies website.
CLAS has a limited number of travel awards for graduate students to conduct field research work in Latin America or to present their Latin American related research in a conference. Please see the Graduate Funding section in the Center for Latin American Studies website
The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program awards full funding to pursue a graduate education at Stanford to students from all disciplines, with additional opportunities for leadership training and collaboration across fields.
Apply to Knight Hennessy by October 12, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time, and to the Latin American Studies MA Program by December 1, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.
Joint Degree Program in Latin American Studies and Law
The joint degree program in Latin American Studies and Law allows students to pursue the M.A. degree in Latin American Studies concurrently with the Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) degree, with a significant number of courses that may apply to both degrees. It is designed to train students interested in a career in teaching, research, or the practice of law related to Latin American legal affairs. Students must apply separately to the Latin American Studies M.A. program and to the Stanford School of Law and be accepted by both. Completing this combined course of study requires approximately four academic years, depending on the student's background and level of language training. For more information, see the "Joint Degree Programs" section of this bulletin and consult with the program offices for the two programs.
Dual Master's Degree with Medicine or Business
Stanford offers dual degree programs that grant an M.A. degree in Latin American Studies and a Master of Business Administration degree or a Medical Doctor degree. Students must apply separately to and be accepted by both the Latin American Studies M.A. program and the Graduate School of Business or School of Medicine.
For further information, contact a CLAS adviser at latinamerica@stanford.edu
Faculty
Director of the Center: Alberto Díaz-Cayeros
Associate Director: Elizabeth Sáenz-Ackermann
Director of Graduate Studies: Alberto Díaz-Cayeros
Affiliated Faculty and Staff:
Anthropology: George Collier (emeritus), Lisa Curran, William Durham (emeritus), Angela Garcia, Thomas Hansen, John Rick (emeritus),
Art and Art History: Enrique Chagoya, Rose Salseda
Biology: Gretchen Daily, Rodolfo Dirzo, Judith Frydman, Harold Mooney (emeritus), Peter Vitousek, Virginia Walbot
BOSP Santiago: Ivan Jaksic
Business, Graduate School of: Saumitra Jha, Ken Shotts
Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity: Carolyn Duffey
Comparative Literature: Roland Greene, Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, José David Saldívar
Earth Sciences, School of: Rob Dunbar, Pamela Matson
Economics: Frank Wolak
Education, Graduate School of: Nicole Ardoin, Martin Carnoy, Amado Padilla, Jonathan Rosa, Guadalupe Valdés
Engineering, School of: Jenna Davis
English: Roland Greene, Paula Moya, Ramón Saldívar
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies: Francis Fukuyama, Rosamond Naylor
History: Ana Raquel Minian Andjel, Zephyr Frank, Mikael Wolfe
Hoover Institute: Herbert Klein
Human Biology: Anne Firth Murray
Iberian and Latin American Cultures: Vincent Barletta, Ximena Briceno, Héctor Hoyos, Nicole Hughes, Joan Ramon Resina, Jorge Ruffinelli (emeritus), Lisa Surwillo
Language Center: Vivian Brates, Alice Miano, Marisol Necochea, Ana Sierra, Agripino Silveira, Lyris Wiedemann
Law, School of: Thomas Heller (emeritus), Diego A. Zambrano
Linguistics: John Rickford (emeritus)
Medicine, School of: Jason Andrews, Gabriel Garcia (emeritus), Grant Miller, Sara Singer, Paul Wise
Political Science: Bruce Cain, Alberto Díaz-Cayeros, Stephen Haber, Terry Karl (emerita), Beatriz Magaloni, Michael Tomz
Religious Studies: Thomas Sheehan
SLAC: Helen Quinn (emerita)
Sociology: Asad L. Asad, David Grusky, Tomás Jiménez, Michael Rosenfeld, Florencia Torché
Stanford University Libraries: Adán Griego, Sergio Stone, Robert Trujillo