Latin American studies

Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, history, international relations, political science, geography, gender studies, and literature.

Definition

Latin American studies critically examines the history, culture, international relations, and politics, of Latin America. It is not to be confused with Latino Studies, an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Latin American ancestry in the United States.

Latin Americanists consider a variety of perspectives and employ diverse research tools in their work. The interdisciplinary disciplines of study varies, depending on the school, association, and academic program. For example, the Latin American Centre of the School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies (SIAS) at the University of Oxford heavily focuses on the social sciences, such as the economics, politics, and development of the region. Th
Center for Latin American Studies
at the University of Arizona also focuses on social sciences with faculty from Anthropology, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, and History an places emphasis on issues related to anti-racism, human rights, security, environment and health. On the other hand, schools like Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) at The University of Texas at Austin, focus on the humanities; with the language, culture, and history of Latin America as a central component. Others include the study of environment and ecology of the region.

Latin American studies is usually quite open and often includes or is closely associated with, for instance, Development studies, Geography, Anthropology, Caribbean studies, and Transatlantic studies.

History

Latin America has been studied in one way or another ever since Columbus's voyage of 1492. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, scientist explorers such as Alexander von Humboldt published extensively about the region. Towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the turn of the twentieth, within the region itself writers such as José Martí and José Enrique Rodó encouraged a consciousness of regional identity.

In 1875, the International Congress of Americanists held its first meeting in Nancy, France, and has met regularly ever since, alternating between venues in Europe and in the Western hemisphere. However, unlike the scholarly organizations of the twentieth century, the ICA does not have an ongoing organization, nor is there a journal of the ICA. The creation of formal and ongoing scholarly organizations focusing on Latin America is a product of the twentieth century.

In the US, historians with an interest in Latin American history within the American Historical Association created a group focusing on Latin America. In 1918, they founded ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'', which has published quarterly since that time and has built a reputation as one of the premier scholarly journals. The Latin Americanists within the AHA created the Conference on Latin American History in 1926, which is now separately incorporated (since 1964), but continues to coordinate its annual meetings with the American Historical Association. In 1936, US Latin Americanists also founded the ''Handbook of Latin American Studies,'' with editorial offices in the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress. In a pre-digital era, the compilation of annotated bibliographic references in the humanities and social science organized by subject and country was a vital tool for scholars in the field. In 1954 was founded in Paris the Institute of Latin American Studies (IHEAL), by the geographer Pierre Monbeig.

With the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the US government began seriously focusing on Latin America as Cuba and the hemisphere was seen to be an integral element of Cold War politics. The Latin American historian who wrote the early history of the founding of the Latin American Studies Association wryly suggested in 1966 that at some future date Latin Americanists should erect a statue to Fidel Castro, the "remote godfather" of the field, who instigated a renewed US interest in the region.

Interest in Latin American studies increased starting in the 1950s. In the US, Latin American studies (like other area studies) was boosted by the passing of Title VI of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958, which provided resources for Centers of Area and International Studie

In the UK, the 1965 "Parry Report" provided similar impetus for the establishment of Institutes and Centres of Latin American Studies at Oxford, London, Cambridge, and Liverpool. In Canada, York University in Toronto established the first Latin American center, "in part thanks to the inflow of exiled intellectuals from South America." Germany's Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut in Berlin had been founded in 1930, but not until the 1970s did it experience expansion.

Associations

* Brazilian Studies Association
* Conference on Latin American History (CLAH)
* Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (founded 1969)

Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP)
* Latin American Studies Association (US, founded 1966)
* Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies (US, founded 1979)
* Pacific Coast Council of Latin American Studies (PCCLAS) (US)
* Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies (RMCLAS) (US, founded 1954)
* Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), established 1967
* Society for Irish Latin American Studies (Ireland, founded 2003)
* Society for Latin American Studies (UK), established 1964
* Southeast Council of Latin American Studies (US, founded 1953)

Bibliographic resources

* ''Handbook of Latin American Studies'', established 1936
* Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)

Reference works

*''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture''

Journals

*''The Americas'', established 1944
* ''Bulletin of Latin American Research'', established 1981
* ''Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies'', established 1976
* ''Colonial Latin American Historical Review'', established 1992
* ''Colonial Latin American Review'', established 1992
* ''European Review of Latin American & Caribbean Studies''
* ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'', established 1918, published by Conference on Latin American History
* '' Historia Mexicana'', established 1951
* ''Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs''
* ''Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies'', established 1996
* ''Journal of Latin American Studies'' established 1969
* ''Journal of Politics in Latin America''
* ''Latin American Perspectives'', established in 1974
* '' Latin American Politics and Society'', established 1959
* ''Latin American Research Review'' (published by the Latin American Studies Association)
* ''The Latin Americanist," published by Wiley-Blackwell and the Southeast Council of Latin American Studies
* '' Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos'', established 1985
* ''NACLA Report on the Americas''
* '' Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology'', established 1963
* ''Problems of Latin America''
*
Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales/Mexican Journal of Political and Social Sciences
', established in 1955

Programs

Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS)
at Stanford University
* Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Center for Latin American Studies
* The University of Texas at Austin
Teresa LozMeano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS)
Austin, Texas


New York University

The Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS)
Columbia University

Centre of Latin American Studies
University of Cambridge

Centre of Latin American Studies
University of Oxford

David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS)
at Harvard University

America and Caribbean Studies, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
University of Washington

Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) at Indiana University
* Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh

Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona
* The University of Michigan Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
* Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos, Mexico
* Latin America, Caribbean and US Latino Studies, University at Albany - State University of New York, Albany, New York

Institute of Latin American Studies (IHEAL)
University of Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3.
* Ibero-American Institute, Berlin
* Institute of Latin American Studies, London
* University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies
* University of California, Los Angeles Latin American Center

Center for Latin American Studies
University of Chicago
* University of California, Santa Barbara Latin American and Iberian Studies program

University of New Mexico, Latin American & Iberian Institute
* Latin American Studies Division, CCUS&LAS, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Indi

* Centre for Latin American Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Goa University, Panaji, Goa, Indi


Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies
at Tulane University

Research Libraries and Archives outside Latin America

* Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
* Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Library, Austin, Texas
* Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris
*John Carter Brown Library, Providence, Rhode Island
* Center for Research Libraries
*Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.
*Hispanic Society of America, New York City
*Huntington Library, San Marino, California
*Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
* Newberry Library, Chicago
* Oliveira Lima Library, Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
*Tulane University Library, New Orleans, Louisiana
*University of Florida Library, Gainesville, Florida
* Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library, Santa Barbara CA
* British libraries.Roger Macdonald, "Library Resources for Latin American Studies in the United Kingdom 25 Years after the Parry Report." ''Bulletin of Latin American Research'' 9.2 (1990): 265-269
in JSTOR
/ref>

Some notable Latin Americanists

See also :Latin Americanists

* Jeremy Adelman, historian
* Ida Altman, historian
* Nettie Lee Benson, historian
* Carmen Bernand, historian and anthropologist
* Leslie Bethell

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