The Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) is the center for Latin America policy development and research at Columbia University. The Institute is housed in the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), which provides students and faculty with access to the resources of one of the major policy institutions in the world. The Institute also benefits from its associations with the financial, diplomatic and corporate centers of New York City and recognition as a National Resource Center for Latin American Studies. ILAS is part of the New York City Consortium on Latin America along with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University (CLACS). With financial assistance from the Tinker Foundation and The Leitner Family Foundation, ILAS is able to award various fellowships and grants to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to further their research and enrich the academic community.

For more than 40 years, ILAS has supported scholarship and professional achievement in the field of Latin American Studies. Founded in 1962 in response to the government's need for knowledge of what was then a relatively understudied region, ILAS has become known within the Columbia University community as the best resource for both contextually-grounded information and institutional contacts in Latin America. For example, ILAS and Columbia University welcome two renown Latin American specialists in History and Anthropology to our ever growing and thriving faculty. Dr. John Coatsworth is visiting Columbia for a year from Harvard University where he is the Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs and the Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Dr. Claudio Lomnitz is the new director of The Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.

One of the most dynamic aspects of ILAS is the variety of public events offered each academic year, featuring distinguished speakers, seminars, conferences and a lunchtime lecture series. We assist graduate students in the social sciences wishing to focus on Latin American issues within their home disciplines and to develop a program of study from the wide range of courses available throughout the university. ILAS also offers a Certificate in Latin American Studies to master and doctoral students.

MISSION:

  • To serve as the clearinghouse for all activities related to Latin America, from policy development to scholarly and professional training, at Columbia University.
  • To play a key advisory and teaching role for all students interested in Latin America, university-wide
  • To be the central hub for Columbia’s relations with Latin America, including activities occurring beyond campus borders.
  • Securing resources to strengthen the core mission of research, teaching and faculty development in the field of Latin American Studies at Columbia and beyond.

ACTIVITIES:

  • Teaching, research and advising
  • Providing grants and fellowships to students and faculty
  • Fundraising
  • Public programming and publications
  • Generating new courses, updating curriculum
  • Recruiting, attracting, and retaining preeminent faculty
  • K-12 teacher and student outreach
  • Developing exchange programs with Latin American academic institutions
  • Hosting visiting scholars

ANNUAL BUDGET:

  • Approximately $400,000 covering staff salaries, staff travel, program costs, program assistant and work study stipends, fellowships and a year-long visiting professorship.
  • Funding sources currently include:
    • The Tinker Foundation
    • National Resource Center
    • Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)
    • SIPA General Income
    • The Leitner Family Foundation
    • Individuals, including Columbia alumni, who share the ideals and goals of ILAS
    • Other private and corporate entities