Northwestern’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) has a dual purpose. One is to support a spirited and diverse community of faculty and graduate students whose research covers the culture, history, and politics of Latin America and the Caribbean.  This is a vast terrain both geographically and temporally.  Accordingly, we are a necessarily interdisciplinary intellectual community, with departmental affiliations that include African American Studies, Anthropology, Art History, History, Music, Spanish and Portuguese, Political Science, Religious Studies, and Sociology.

Our second and no less critical mission is the LACS minor.  This program of study has been designed for students with interests in Latin American and Caribbean language, politics, art, culture and religion. Courses are offered in subjects as diverse as the ancient cultures of the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca; colonial and modern history of Latin America; the Latino cultures of the United States; art of Latin America, and Latin American politics. Individual classes may focus on questions of gender, race, and the African Diaspora, or on specific issues such as immigration to the U.S. from Latin America, the cultural impact of Catholicism in Latin America, or critical events such as the Mexican revolution or recent elections.

Our website is located at: http://www.lacs.northwestern.edu