Latin American and Latino Studies

From its beginning, Fordham has been a favored university__and a home-within-a-home__for Latin Americans and for Latinos in New York City, whose diverse Spanish-speaking communities are among the largest in the world. As a Latin American and Latino studies major at Fordham, you'll join an intellectually and culturally engaged community exploring the Latin American and the U.S. Latino experiences.

This unique interdisciplinary major is offered by Fordham's Latin American and Latino Studies Institute (LALSI), whose faculty is composed of scholars from nine academic departments. You'll work with them to develop a highly individualized course of study that includes the humanities, social sciences, history, and the arts.

Our program is rigorous, creative, socially-engaged and passionate, and so are our students. They conduct research and win fellowships, study in Latin America and Spain, and participate in community engaged learning around the city and the world. Join them.

As you learn about the Latin American and Latino experiences here, you'll also study philosophy, theology, economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, mathematics, language and literature, ethics, science, and the performing arts through Fordham's common core curriculum, the centerpiece of our liberal arts education.

We want you to excel in your field__and as a human being.

As a Latin American and Latino studies major, you take 10 required courses. It's an individualized, interdisciplinary major, so there's a lot of flexibility. You'll take:

• 2 Social Sciences
• 2 Humanities/Arts
• 3 Electives
• 2 Histories, including the introductory core course Understanding Historical Change: Latin America
• Capstone Seminar

Internships

We connect you with a remarkable array of internship opportunities in a city where 27 percent of the population is Latino. Whatever your interest__from the arts to IT__there's likely an internship for you where you can engage with the Latino community in New York. Some of the organizations you can work with:

• El Museo del Barrio
• Pachamama Peruvian Arts
• United Nations Children's Fund
• Americas Society and Council of the Americas
• Lawyers Without Borders
• Balleto Hispánico
• Center for International Policy
• International Center for Transitional Justice

Study Abroad

We highly encourage you to spend a summer, semester, or year abroad. Our students have enrolled in programs throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain.

We have two programs in Spain:

• Spanish Language and Culture in Granada: spend a summer exploring one of the most beautiful cities in the world. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Granada is the hometown of Federico Garcia Lorca__and a center of flamenco culture.
• Fordham in Granada: spend spring semester studying Spanish literature and culture at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas of the University of Granada, in the lovely 16th-century Santa Cruz palace. The student journal Por Granada publishes the students' final project of the course "Spain in Context" taught by Rafael Lamas, PhD, at Fordham in Granada.

We regularly offer short-term travel courses in Latin America where you can get an in-depth, on-site study of the history, arts and culture of the region as well as engage in service-learning projects. Past short-term travel courses have focused on conflict resolution in Bogota, Colombia, migration in Puebla, Mexico, and art and architecture in Havana, Cuba.

Find many other ways to immerse yourself in Latin American, Latino and Spanish culture around the world through Fordham's International and Study Abroad Program.

Chat with your classmates and increase your knowledge of Latino culture, education, and politics through events and lectures hosted by student clubs, Academia Hispania at Rose Hill and Sol at Lincoln Center.

The student journal Por Granada publishes the students' final project of the course “Spain in Context” taught by Rafael Lamas, PhD, at Fordham in Granada.

Chat with your classmates and increase your knowledge of Hispanic culture, education, and politics through events and lectures hosted by the student club Academia Hispania.

In addition to offering a major and minor, the Latin American and Latino Institute provides an intellectual home for students and faculty who are interested in Latin America and the Latino experience in the United States and sponsors:

• Conferences
• Lectures by distinguished scholars
• Film series
• Performances
• a newsletter, Boletín, which acts as a clearinghouse for information for faculty and students and documents the program's events and the research, educational and service activities of its faculty, students and alumni.

• Cultural History of Latin America
• Aztec Art
• Latin America and the United States
• Writing Violence: Peru, 1980-2000
• New York in Latino/a Literature and Film
• Latino/a Images in the Media
• Latino/as and Public Policy
• Latino/a Theology
• The Spanish Diaspora

Some of the fields our recent graduates work in:

• International relations
• Business and finance
• Social work
• Foreign service
• Teaching
• Media and communications
• Publishing

Among the institutions that have hired our recent graduates:

• Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund
• NYC Mayor's Office
• UBS
• NYC office of the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange
• Quaker
• United Nations
• Teach for America
• Peace Corps

They pursue graduate studies in many fields and specialized schools, including:

• Social work
• Medical school
• Law school
• Graduate school in fields such as history, language and literature, sociology, anthropology and political science

Recent LALS graduates are enrolled at:

• Fordham
• Yale
• NYU
• New School
• CUNY Law School

Our career services tap Fordham's ties with more than 3,500 companies. We offer:

• Post-graduation career search
• Resume development, Interviewing practice
• Networking skill development
• Hands-on case-study sessions with industry executives
• Field-specific advising/coaching

You also get access to our powerful (and Fordham-loyal) network of alumni, who want to see you succeed as they have.

• Common Application, including the essay and optional short answer response in the writing section, and the $70 application fee. 
• Letter of Recommendation
• Transcripts
• English Language Proficiency Test Results
  • International students whose first language is not English must demonstrate their proficiency through English Language Proficiency test results.
    • TOEFL iBT: 90+ (Fordham code: 2259)
    • TOEFL ITP Level 1 Test with Vericant Interview option (China only): 575+
    • IELTS & IELTS Indicator: 7.0+
    • Duolingo English Test (DET): 125+
    • Pearson Test of English (PTE): 65+
  • International students who are not submitting required TOEFL, IELTS, DET or PTE results must complete the English Language Proficiency Test Waiver Request Form linked within the online applicant portal after an application has been officially submitted.
  • Applicants who live in the New York City area can alternatively take Fordham’s ESL placement evaluation (FELT) at the Institute of American Language and Culture. Email [email protected] or call +1-212-636-6353 to make an appointment.
• Fordham University Statement of Funding or CSS Profile 
  
  • Fordham University has a need-aware admission process for first-year applicants who plan to attend Fordham for the Fall term on a non-immigrant visa.
  • Applicants who plan to fully fund their study at Fordham are required to complete the Fordham University Statement of Funding. This form will be available to eligible applicants upon submission of the application.
  • Applicants who plan to partially fund their study at Fordham and will apply for need-based financial aid are required to complete the CSS Profile and demonstrate an ability to pay (Expected Family Contribution) at least $30,000 USD per year.