The Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX) is a research center at Vanderbilt University, created in Fall 2021 to bring together the former Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) and Program in Latino and Latina Studies (LATS). Our project is to stimulate research and teaching that examine the borders and intersections between Latinx, Latin American, and Caribbean Studies, enriching all through comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. We are intent on building meaningful partnerships with the Latinx community in Nashville, as part of our broader goal of bridging scholarly and public-facing discussions; and as part of our efforts to highlight Latinx Studies in the South. CLACX is a designated a National Resource Center on Latin America by the US Department of Education. Alongside providing Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grants for the study of Brazilian Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and K'iche' Mayan, NRC funding supports professional development workshops, summer institutes, and cultural arts events to engage K-16 educators and community stakeholders.
Faculty and courses come from the Departments of Anthropology, Economics, History, History of Art, Political Science, Sociology, and Spanish and Portuguese as well as from Vanderbilt's education, engineering, law, management, medical, music, and nursing schools. The center fosters a lively research community on campus by sponsoring colloquia, conferences, films, and a speaker series that brings distinguished scholars, government and business leaders, and social activists to campus.
Students work toward an M.A. in Latin American studies, a master's or doctoral degree in one of the related programs with an emphasis on Latin American, Caribbean, or Latinx studies, or a certificate in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx studies.
