Graduate Certificate

The University of Chicago is a premier institution for research, teaching, and graduate study in the histories, cultures, politics, economies, and languages of Latin America, the Caribbean, and their global diaspora. Our faculty’s research helps shape the disciplines of history, anthropology, literary criticism, political science, and art history, as well as interdisciplinary fields such as human rights, migration, and Latinx studies. More than 50 faculty members from throughout the graduate divisions and professional schools of the University focus their teaching and/or research on Latin America, the Caribbean, and their global diaspora, offering a wide range of disciplinary and regional coverage.

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) at the University of Chicago offers a certificate (or specialization, for students enrolled in MAPH) in Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS), open to all graduate students within the University. The LACS certificate/specialization provides proof of area studies specialization and will be noted on the transcript.

All students who are enrolled full time in a graduate degree program at the University of Chicago are eligible to apply for the LACS certificate/specialization. All courses may be double counted toward both degree requirements and the LACS certificate/specialization and must be taken for a quality grade, unless otherwise indicated by the student's graduate program.

Interested students should fill out the LACS Certificate/Specialization interest form and are encouraged to meet with LACS program adviser Diana Schwartz Francisco as soon as possible to discuss their plans of study.

MA applicants are strongly encouraged to meet early in their program with Prof. Schwartz Francisco to discuss their plan for completion of certificate requirements, cultivate their research interests, and work with her to identify a faculty adviser for the master’s thesis.

We ask students to submit their certificate/specialization application and presentation evaluation form no later than the end of the first week of, the intended quarter of graduation. Submit completed LACS Graduate Certificate/Specialization applications and attendant materials to LACS program adviser Diana Schwartz Francisco.