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About CLACS

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) serves students, faculty and scholars from across the University of Illinois campus, along with communities across Illinois and the Midwest, by promoting innovative research, specialist teaching, and public awareness of the Latin American and Caribbean region. CLACS is a designated National Resource Center for the 2022-2026 period, supported by the Department of Education under Title VI funding.

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Prof. Andrew Suarez

Professor Andrew Suarez Receives 2025 Faculty Leadership Award

Congratulations to Professor Andrew Suarez! We’re excited to share that Professor Andrew Suarez, Acting Head and Professor in the Department of Entomology, has received the Executive Officer Distinguished Leadership Award as part of the 2025 Campus Awards for Excellence in Faculty Leadership. Professor Suarez has guided the department through key transitions with a collaborative and inclusive leadership style. He is known for fostering an environment where mentorship, teamwork, and academic growth thrive. This award...

Upcoming Events

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Explore our Courses

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LEARN Q'ANJOB'AL WITH US! TITAN HAKUY Q'ANJOBAL JETOQ!

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Q’anjob’al is a living Maya language spoken in Guatemala and growing communities in the U.S. Studying it opens the door to understanding Mesoamerican Indigenous heritage, Maya worldviews, and cultural practices. It’s especially valuable for educators, researchers, and professionals working with Maya communities.

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COME LEARN QUECHUA! HAMUYCHIK RUNASIMI YACHARIKUQ!

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Quechua is the most widely spoken Indigenous language in the Americas, with 8–9 million speakers across six Andean countries. Learning Quechua offers valuable insight into Indigenous heritage, Andean worldviews, and linguistic structure. It’s especially useful for researchers, educators, and professionals working in the region.

Topics in Q'anjob'al Language and the Community

Spring B Last 395: Topics in Q'anjob'al Language and the Community

This course is an introduction to the Mayan language and community of Guatemala known as Q’anjob’al. It is designed to provide students with an overview of the Q’anjob’al speakers and their complex everyday sociocultural interactions.

Course Description

Andes Mountains: Three Andean people bundled up from the cold.

QUEC 410, CRN 77348: Beginner Quechua 1

An introduction to the largest indigenous language family of the Americas. This course focuses on the Southern Quechua variety, spoken from southern Peru through Bolivia, up to northern Argentina.

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LAST 170: Que Pasa in Latin America?

LAST 170: Que Pasa in Latin America? Cultures, Histories and Politics South of the Rio Grande.

Introduction to Latin America offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the ways of life of Latin American peoples, their origins, historical legacies, and current cultural expressions.

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Woman from the Andes

LAST 210, CRN 78201: Life in the Andes

An overview of contemporary Andean culture, as practiced by the people in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

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Beginning Q'anjob'al I

LAST 445: Beginning Q'anjob'al I

This introductory course offers a foundation in Q’anjob’al, a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala and southern Mexico. Designed for beginners, the course emphasizes basic vocabulary, pronunciation, reading and conversational skills.

Course Description

Instructor and student at dig site in Peru

LAST 395: Archaeology Field School in Peru

This course is an archaeological field school where students will have the opportunity to engage in innovative original research at the archaeological site of Cerro Blanco, a Chancay Administrative Center located in central Peru.

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Amazon River, South America

NRES 598: Gender & Environment in the Amazon

Scholarship across environmental justice, political ecology, gender studies, and environmental politics is increasingly drawing attention to the problem of violence against land and environmental defenders. In addition to creating a theoretical foundation, this course will provide an opportunity for students to be involved in organizing and hosting a workshop with women defenders from Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil in May 2025

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Modern Judaism: Religion, Culture, Politics

REL 494, CRN 76930: Modern Judaism: Religion, Culture, Politics

What is the relation of Judaism and the individual Jew to the modern world? Is Judaism a religion, a nationality, an ethnicity, or a combination of these? This course explores various answers to these questions by examining various historical and cultural formations of Jewish identity in Europe, the Americas/Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.

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ARTH 342, LAST 342: ARTS OF COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA

ARTH 342, LAST 342: ARTS OF COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA

Embark on a journey through the history, stylistic evolutions, and thematic movements of Latin American visual cultures from the 16th to the early 19th centuries.The course brings into focus themes like pictorial constructions of race, indigenous workshops and traditions, the emergence of art academies, pictorial portrayals of gender, and the birth of creole nationalist identities.

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ARTH 495: Senior Seminar MEXICAN MURALISM

ARTH 495: Senior Seminar MEXICAN MURALISM

This seminar dives into the origins, forces, and creative boom of paintings that defined the Mexican Mural Renaissance of the early 20th century. While spotlighting the movement’s famed figures such as Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, we also explore the overlooked contributions of women muralists and the lasting impact on later artists and artistic collectives.

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     Context in International Interventions course flyer

ABE 232 (CRN 75460) / AFST 233 (CRN 75542): Context in International Interventions

Learn how the influences of culture, economy, education, politics, and mechanical proficiency can be incorporated into design decision-making to improve outcomes and adoption. The course uses a case study from rural Nigeria to examine the impact of societal context on technical design.

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