Designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Resource Center for Latin America, Vanderbilt's Center for Latin American Studies draws on departmental strengths and faculty expertise from across campus. Integrating teaching, research, and service, the center maintains substantive collaborations with all of Vanderbilt's colleges and schools. The center has special strengths in Maya studies, Brazilian studies, Andean studies, and the Black Atlantic, as well as unique library collections of Colombiana. Programs of instruction provided by the center promote greater understanding of the region's history, culture, political economy, and social organization and cultivate the ability to think strategically about global issues.
Faculty and courses come from the Departments of Anthropology, Economics, History, History of Art and Architecture, 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, artists, and social activists to campus.
For undergraduates, the Program in Latin American Studies offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate major and a minor in Latin American studies, as well as a minor in Brazilian studies. The program also offers summer opportunities in Brazil and Guatemala, and facilitates study abroad and service learning opportunities in Latin American countries. An honors program is available.