The Center for Latin American Studies (sometimes abbreviated to CLAS) is an academic institute within the
School of Foreign Service
The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at both ...
of
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
in
Washington, DC
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
dedicated to education about and research of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. The Center was founded in 1959 by Dr.
William Manger, the former Assistant Secretary General of the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
, as the Georgetown University Latin American Studies Program. Due to its inter-disciplinary orientation, it was one of the first programs of its kind in the United States.
In 1990, the program was placed under the School of Foreign Service and given its current name. Dr.
Arturo Valenzuela
Arturo A. Valenzuela (born 23 January 1944) is a Chilean-American academic who was the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs from November 5, 2009, until August 2011. His confirmation had been blocked by Senat ...
, as director, oversaw the transition of the Latin American Studies Program into the Center for Latin American Studies. The current director is Dr. Marc Chernick. A major project of CLAS is the
Political Database of the Americas
The Political Database of the Americas (PDBA) is a non-governmental organization based at the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), an academic center of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, Washington, D. ...
, which centralizes information about the constitutions, governments, and political processes of countries within Latin America.
Academic programs
The Center for Latin American Studies offers a
master of arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree in Latin American studies in addition to graduate and undergraduate
certificates. It also offers
joint degrees
A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...
with the
Georgetown Law Center
The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...
and
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Department of Government as well as other universities. An accelerated
BA/MA or
BS/MA is also available.
The Center offers summer study abroad and travel programs in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina. It also sponsors grants for internships, travel research, and humanitarian programs throughout Latin America.
See also
*
School of Foreign Service
The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at both ...
*
Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is a graduate school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., United States. Its offices are in the historic Car Barn building on the edge of campus.
History
The graduate program was first founded in ...
*
Political Database of the Americas
The Political Database of the Americas (PDBA) is a non-governmental organization based at the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), an academic center of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, Washington, D. ...
References
External links
Center for Latin American Studies(official website)
Political Database of the Americas a CLAS project
Georgetown University programs
Academic organizations based in the United States
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