Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies MA

The Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies (LACIS) Program offers three graduate programs: master of arts, a doctoral minor, and a dual degree in law and Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies.

The mission of the graduate program is to provide an interdisciplinary foundation for the study of Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal. The University of WisconsinMadison is nationally recognized for excellence in research and teaching on these regions. The LACIS program includes a core faculty of over 100 members and course offerings in close to 40 disciplines and professional schools, including agricultural and applied economics, anthropology, business, community and environmental sociology, comparative literature, environmental studies, gender and women's studies, geography, history, law, music, political science, sociology, and population health. Languages taught include Quechua, Yucatec Maya, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Many faculty members have received extensive national and international recognition. Faculty research interests include development and labor economics; Andean ethnohistory and ethnology; African Diaspora art; conservation of the neotropics; cultural geography; social history of Latin America; democratic consolidation; Brazilian social stratification; comparative social movements; Luso-Brazilian literature and culture; colonial and modern Latin American literature, film, and culture; Spanish literature from the medieval to the modern period; and political economy. UWMadison also publishes the journal Luso-Brazilian Review.

While the majority of candidates in the program are from the United States, a significant number are from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Iberia. Funding assistance for candidates specializing in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Iberia includes Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships, Helen Firstbrook Franklin Fellowship, Advanced Opportunity Fellowship (if applicable), Latin America course (260) teaching assistantships, and the Tinker-Nave Field Grant Program. Please contact the program office for more information on funding opportunities.

Originally established in the 1930s, the program has a long history of university and federal support. Since 1961, LACIS has been recognized as a National Resource Center (NRC) by the US Department of Education, which provides Title VI support for program activities and for FLAS fellowships. The program has a faculty of extraordinary diversity and across-the-board strength. These strengths encompass not only the classic social science and humanities fields, but also the natural and ecological sciences and the agricultural and professional schools. It is unlikely that any one university exceeds the overall range of UWMadison's faculty expertise in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian studies. The UWMadison's general excellence is reflected by its consistent ranking among the top ten graduate universities in the United States.

Dual Degree Program

Candidates interested in earning a dual degree in law and Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies must apply to both programs and must meet the degree requirements for both programs. Applicants should follow normal procedures for admission to the Graduate School. They may, however, substitute LSAT scores for the GRE. The dual degree program can be completed in seven semesters. Typically, the student begins the LACIS portion of the program in the second year of law school. See the program office for more information on course work. More information can be found on the website.

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the principal historical, societal, scientific and humanist concerns that are rooted in the realities of the broader Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian regions. These include but are not limited to: knowledge of pre-colonial indigenous societal organizations; the experience of colonialism; the biodiversity of the region; and the regions tumultuous social, economic and political trajectory and the specific challenges these have posed for the peoples of the regions. In particular, students should demonstrate an understanding of the unique historical trajectory of these regions as the product of the global confluence of various cultural, social, political and economic influences beginning in the late 15th century. This includes not only the especially profound mutual impact of Iberian colonization of the Americas, but also the larger context of European imperial conflict in the Western Hemisphere, the central place of African slavery in the development of the Atlantic economy, and the significant and multifaceted role that the United States has played in shaping Latin America and the Caribbean. Students should recognize how these histories and contemporary realities impact more specific questions, contemporary or historical, and humanist, social scientific or scientific in nature.
2. Within students' more specific area of interest, they should be able to articulate key theoretical and empirical concerns and identify appropriate theoretical approaches to the problem of interest and identify empirical sources that can help to answer that question or problem.
3. Students should demonstrate proficiency, and preferably advanced language ability, in either Spanish or Portuguese. Additional indigenous language learning, such as Kichwa, Quechua, Quichua and Nahuatil, are also encouraged.
4. Demonstrate the ability to conduct interdisciplinary research that: includes a critical literature review; selects appropriate research methodologies; proposes an appropriate research design to collect, analyze, interpret, and present findings; successfully carries out this research plan.
5. Demonstrate the ability to articulate and elaborate their research findings.
6. Recognize and apply principles of ethical and professional conduct. This includes, in particular, an understanding of the ethics of research and professional activities in cross-cultural contexts.

A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or a comparable degree from an international institution is required. International applicants must have a degree comparable to a regionally accredited U.S. bachelor’s degree. You must have completed your undergraduate degree, or similar, before starting graduate school.

A minimum undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) of 3.00 on the equivalent of the last 60 semester hours (approximately two years of work) or a master’s degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 is required. Applicants from an international institution must demonstrate strong academic achievement comparable to a 3.00 for an undergraduate or master’s degree. The Graduate School will use your institution’s grading scale. Do not convert your grades to a 4.00 scale.

Every applicant whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not in English, must provide an English proficiency test score. TOEFL scores must be submitted electronically via ETS. IELTS scores can be submitted electronically or by paper.  Our office address is: UW-Madison Graduate School, Office of Admissions, 232 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706.  Your score will not be accepted if it is more than two years old from the start of your admission term. Country of citizenship does not exempt applicants from this requirement. Language of instruction at the college or university level and how recent the language instruction was taken are the determining factors in meeting this requirement.

Applicants are exempt if: