CLACS is pleased to welcome a new cohort of Summer Graduate Research and Global South Language Fellows in the new academic year. We are able to offer Summer Graduate Research Fellowships thanks to the generous support of the Tinker Foundation, Norman Whitten, Joseph Love, and the family of Werner Baer.  These fellowships support graduate student research in Latin America.  Due to the...

Three current and former Latin American History Ph.D. students are making waves with important publications in Hispanic American Historical Review, the flagship journal for Latin American History in the US.   Nancy van Deusen's (Ph.D.1993) work, entitled "Indigenous Slavery's Archive in Seventeenth-Century Chile" will be featured in issue 101:1 (Feb. 2021),...

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign stands in solidarity with our colleagues, friends, and family in Peru as they fight to protect democracy in the aftermath of the controversial impeachment of President Martin Vizcarra on November 10th, carried out by political parties in the Peruvian Congress. These actions played a direct role in...

The Illinois Maya Initiative, an interdisciplinary projected housed in CLACS is in the news!  The core research/engagement team, Ryan Shosted (Linguistics), Margarita Teran-Garcia (Human Development and Family Studies), Andrew Orta (Anthropology), Julia Albarracin (Political Science, Western Illinois University), Alejandra Seufferheld (Outreach Coordinator, CLACS), and Kasia Szremski (...

Atmospheric Sciences Professor (and CLACS Affiliate), Stephen Nesbitt, was recently featured in the New York Times for his research storm chasing with the RELAMPAGO project in Argentina.  Click here to read the full article.

In Solidarity We share the anguish of our families, our coworkers, and our community as George Floyd’s killing is added to so many others.  We urge all to listen to communities who experience the many forms of violence that have shaped our history and cloud our future.   We express our gratitude to people around the world who have shared their pain and indignation,...

Julie L. Williams   Julie L. Williams is a friend of CLACS and UIUC alumna who received her Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology.  She is also a former FLAS fellow.  Currently, she serves as the vice-dean of the College of Social Sciences and the Humanities at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, where she is also a professor of anthropology.   Just a few weeks ago...

CLACS extends heartfelt congratulations to affiliate Dr. Kora Maldonado (Anthropology/American Indian Studies) for her recent receipt of the J. Fedrick Miller Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service from the University YMCA for her work with the local Maya community.  Click to learn more about Dr. Maldonado's work and her award.

  Dear Colleagues, As this difficult semester winds down, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies is thrilled to share three items of good news from the past few months. First, CLACS has been selected as an inaugural member of the...

by Joe Coyle   Joe Coyle is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology who has recently returned from Brazil after the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted his dissertation fieldwork.  Joe's research focuses on "igrejas inclusivas" or LGBTQ-inclusive evangelical churches in Brazil.   As Brazil began reporting its first local transmissions of coronavirus in early March of...

By Ian Middleton   Ian Middleton (Ph.D. 2018, Musicology) is a UI grad and longtime friend of CLACS, having both TA'ed and taught LAST 170: Introduction to Latin American Studies.  He now is an assistant professor of musicology at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. haz click aqui para leer en...

By Kelsey O'Berry This piece was originally published on Recognizing Excellence a website affiliated the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Update:  Olimpismo: The Olympic Movement in the Making of Latin and the Caribbean was recently written up in the Olympic Review, which is the official publication of the International...

by Claire Branigan (Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology)   Claire Branigan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology who has spent the last year living in Argentina while conducting field research for her dissertation on the Ni Una Menos movement   Argentina has taken perhaps one of the most aggressive stances against the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. With...

Dear Colleagues, As you know, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies has suspended public programming for the remainder of the spring semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and instructions from the University of Illinois administrators and state and local public health officials. Our staff is all working remotely, and their health and safety, along with that of their...

 University of Illinois political science professor and Venezuelan native Damarys Canache speaks with  News Bureau social sciences editor Craig Chamberlain about Venezuela's political climate.   ...