Faculty: Professors Scarano (LACIS director) (History), Allen (Plant Pathology), Albuquerque (Spanish and Portuguese), Apple (Curriculum and Instruction), Barham (Agricultural and Applied Economics), Bilbija (Spanish and Portuguese), Calderon (Music), Collins (Sociology), Corfis (Spanish and Portuguese), Drewal (Art History), Escalante (Art), Hildner (Spanish and Portuguese), Hill (English/American Indian Studies), Hutchinson (Spanish and Portuguese), Kloppenburg (Rural Sociology), Madureira (Spanish and Portuguese), Mallon (History), Marquez (Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies/Political Science), Medina (Spanish and Portuguese), Mello (Business), Naughton (Geography), Neinhuis (Horticulture), Olaniyan (African Languages and Literature), Palloni (Sociology), Patz (Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies), Pevehouse (Political Science), Podesta, (Spanish and Portuguese), Popkewitz (Education), Radano (Ethnomusicology), Strier (Anthropology), Sweet (History), Sytsma (Botany), Tochon (Curriculum and Instruction), Tripp (Political Science), Waller (Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies), Wattieux (Animal Science), Zamora (Spanish and Portuguese), Zepeda (Consumer Science); Associate Professors Beilin (Spanish and Portuguese), De Ferrari (Spanish and Portuguese), Egea (Spanish and Portuguese), Frantzen (Spanish and Portuguese), Loveman (Sociology), Medina (Spanish and Portuguese), Sanchez (Spanish and Portuguese; Assistant Professors Alix-Garcia (Agricultural and Applied Economics), Cabrera (Dairy Science), Clayton (Anthropology), Close (Spanish and Portuguese), Emshwiller (Botany), Ewig (Gender and Women's Studies), Gaus (Medicine), Hernandez (Spanish and Portuguese), Huneeus (Law), Kallenborn (Design Studies), Marin-Spiotta (Geography), Pellegrini (Spanish and Portuguese), Rojas (Journalism and Mass Communication), Schechter (Agricultural and Applied Economics), Stafford (Spanish and Portuguese), Stiles (Soil Science), Walker (Dance); Associate Faculty Barrett (Sociology), Cudlipp (Spanish and Portuguese), DiPrete Brown (Global Health), Egon (Spanish and Portuguese), Gemrich (Spanish and Portuguese), Kaaikiola Strohbusch (Spanish and Portuguese), Vargas, (LACIS associate director), Woodward (Botany); Lecturers Druc (Anthropology), Muniagurria (Economics), Muyolema (Anthropology)
The Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies (LACIS) Program offers three graduate degree options: master of arts, a Ph.D. 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 Wisconsin–Madison is nationally recognized for excellence in research and teaching on these regions. The LACIS program includes a core faculty of more than 50 members and course offerings in 36 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, Population Health, Quechua, sociology, and Spanish and Portuguese.
Core faculty 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. UW–Madison 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. Since 1994, 30 percent of the program's candidates have been Latino/Latin American/Caribbean. Seventy percent have been women. 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 Felowship, 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 U.S. 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 UW–Madison's faculty expertise in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian studies. The UW–Madison's general excellence is reflected by its consistent ranking among the top ten graduate universities in the United States.
Candidates in other graduate departments desiring a minor in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian studies must complete a minimum of 12 Latin American and Iberian studies course credits (including two seminars) in two fields outside the major discipline, and language certification in Spanish or Portuguese. A candidate who has an M.A. degree in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian studies may use that degree to satisfy the requirements of a Ph.D. minor, as long as the program otherwise meets the minor requirement. A student petitions the home department for Ph.D. minor forms. The director of the program must approve courses for the Ph.D. minor.
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.
Admission to the master's program is competitive and requires a strong undergraduate academic background, a clear demonstration of interdisciplinary interests, and a strong statement of purpose illustrating the applicant's goals. In addition to the online application, applicants must submit to the program: transcript(s) of all undergraduate work, three letters of recommendation, Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores, a statement of reasons for graduate study, and a current CV.
For more information: Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies, 209 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706; 608-262-2811; fax 608-265-5851; lacis@lacis.wisc.edu; www.lacis.wisc.edu.
