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, cultural studies, 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. The emergence of a Latin American scholarly focus departed to a degree from Spain-centric views of regions that had been part of the Spanish Empire. As Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera describes in Decolonizing American Spanish, the rise of Latin American Studies decentralized the Eurocentric nature of scholarship across several fields: "At once a radical and democratizing thrust, the move localized a hemispheric shift in intellectual focus and had profound influences on the central tenets of the disciplines, on the institutions involved (departments, universities, publications, professional associations, and so on), on the structural presumptions that organize knowledge-production, and on the latitude of subjectivities that may be conceptualized and institutionalized. While many of the pre–Latin American studies methodologies remain (including the centrality of literature, foregrounding the national/transnational as a meaningful container of culture, and periodization exigencies), the move toward Latin America localized the themes and subjects that appeared in US classrooms, deconstructing some of the Eurocentric supremacy of the traditional model."^[1]

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.^[2] The 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.^[3] 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. Toward 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 United States, 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.^[4] 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, Latin Americanists in the United States 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.^[5]^[6] In 1954 was founded in Paris the Institute for Advanced Latin American Studies (IHEAL), by the geographer Pierre Monbeig.^[7]

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.^[8]

Interest in Latin American studies increased starting in the 1950s. In the United States, 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 Studies.International Education Programs Service - The History of Title VI and Fulbright-Hays: An Impressive International Timeline In the UK, the 1965 "Parry Report"^{[citation needed]} provided similar impetus for the establishment of Institutes and Centres of Latin American Studies at Oxford, London, Cambridge, and Liverpool.^[9] In Canada, York University in Toronto established the first Latin American center, "in part thanks to the inflow of exiled intellectuals from South America."^[10] Germany's Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut in Berlin had been founded in 1930, but not until the 1970s did it experience expansion.^[11]

Associations

Brazilian Studies Association
Conference on Latin American History (CLAH)^[12]
Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (founded 1969)^[13]
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)^[14]
Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies (RMCLAS) (US, founded 1954)^[15]
Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM), established 1967^[16]
Society for Irish Latin American Studies (Ireland, founded 2003)
Society for Latin American Studies (UK), established 1964^[17]
Southeast Council of Latin American Studies (US, founded 1953)

Bibliographic resources

Handbook of Latin American Studies, established 1936
Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)
Latin American, Caribbean, U.S. Latinx, and Iberian Online Free E-Resources (LACLI).

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^[18]
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^[19]
Historia Mexicana [es], 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^[20]
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 [fr]
Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales/Mexican Journal of Political and Social Sciences, established in 1955

Programs

Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACS) at the University of Illinois
Center for Latin American Studies (CLACS) at Stanford University
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Center for Latin American Studies
The University of Texas at Austin - Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS), Austin, Texas
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), 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
Latin American 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 Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of Michigan
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
Latin American Institute, University of California, Los Angeles
Center for Latin American Studies, University of Chicago
University of California, Santa Barbara Latin American and Iberian Studies program^[21]
University of New Mexico, Latin American & Iberian Institute
Latin American Studies Division, CCUS&LAS, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India [1]
Centre for Latin American Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Goa University, Panaji, Goa, India.[2]
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^[22]
Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris
John Carter Brown Library, Providence, Rhode Island
Center for Research Libraries^[23]
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.^[24]

Some notable Latin Americanists

References

^ Herlihy-Mera, Jeffrey (2022). Decolonizing American Spanish. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 1. ISBN 9780822988984.
^ "MSc Latin American Studies (MSc LAS)". Latin American Centre. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^ "LLILAS Graduate Program". UT College of Liberal Arts. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^ see homepage
^ Howard F. Cline, "The Latin American Studies Association: A Summary Survey with Appendix," Latin American Research Review, Vol 2 No. 1, (Autumn, 1966) pp. 57-79.
^ Panel 11-The Hispanic Division and the Handbook of Latin American Studies: highlighting Luso-Hispanic Collections in the Library of Congress Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 August 2016.
^ About IHEAL, accessed 15 November 2019.
^ Howard F. Cline, "The Latin American Studies Association: A Summary Survey with Appendix," Latin American Research Review, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Autumn 1966), p. 64.
^ José C. Moya, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History, New York: Oxford University Press 2011, p. viii.
^ Moya, The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History, p. viii
^ Moya, The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History, p. viii.
^ "CLAH". clah.h-net.org. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies website
^ "Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies". 31 July 2014.
^ "Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies". Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ "Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials".
^ "ABOUT".
^ "The Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies". 5 March 2018.
^ "HAHR – Hispanic American Historical Review Online". Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ "Journal of Politics in Latin America: Sage Journals". Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ "UCSB Latin American and Iberian Studies Program – Latin American and Iberian Studies Program, UC Santa Barbara". Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ Donald L. Gibbs, "The development of the literary holdings of the Benson Latin American Collection" Library Chronicle (1992) 22#3 pp 10-21
^ Mary Wilke, Patricia J. Finney, and James Simon. "Colonial Latin American Resources at the Center for Research Libraries." Colonial Latin American Review 11.2 (2002): 317-323.
^ 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

External links

Library Guides for Latin American Studies

"Latin American Studies". Research Guides. Los Angeles: University of California.
"Latin American & Caribbean Studies". LibGuides. US: Duke University.
"Latin American Studies". Library Guides. US: Johns Hopkins University.
"Latin American and Caribbean Studies". Research Guides. Coral Gables Florida: University of Miami. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012.
"Latin American & Caribbean Studies". Research Guides. US: University of Michigan.
"Latin American Studies". Research Guides. US: New York University.
"Latin American Studies". LibGuides. Evanston, Illinois, US: Northwestern University Library.
"Latin American Studies". Oxford LibGuides. Oxford, UK: University of Oxford, Bodleian Libraries.
"Latin America, Spain and Portugal". Princeton LibGuides. US: Princeton University Library.
University Libraries. "Latin American Studies". Research Guides. New Jersey, US: Rutgers University.

[1] Herlihy-Mera, Jeffrey (2022). Decolonizing American Spanish. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 1. ISBN 9780822988984.

[2] "MSc Latin American Studies (MSc LAS)". Latin American Centre. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.

[3] "LLILAS Graduate Program". UT College of Liberal Arts. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2018.

[4] see homepage

[5] Howard F. Cline, "The Latin American Studies Association: A Summary Survey with Appendix," Latin American Research Review, Vol 2 No. 1, (Autumn, 1966) pp. 57-79.

[6] Panel 11-The Hispanic Division and the Handbook of Latin American Studies: highlighting Luso-Hispanic Collections in the Library of Congress Archived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 August 2016.

[7] About IHEAL, accessed 15 November 2019.

[8] Howard F. Cline, "The Latin American Studies Association: A Summary Survey with Appendix," Latin American Research Review, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Autumn 1966), p. 64.

[9] José C. Moya, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History, New York: Oxford University Press 2011, p. viii.

[10] Moya, The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History, p. viii

[11] Moya, The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History, p. viii.

[12] "CLAH". clah.h-net.org. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[13] Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies website

[14] "Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies". 31 July 2014.

[15] "Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies". Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[16] "Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials".

[17] "ABOUT".

[18] "The Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies". 5 March 2018.

[19] "HAHR – Hispanic American Historical Review Online". Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[20] "Journal of Politics in Latin America: Sage Journals". Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[21] "UCSB Latin American and Iberian Studies Program – Latin American and Iberian Studies Program, UC Santa Barbara". Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[22] Donald L. Gibbs, "The development of the literary holdings of the Benson Latin American Collection" Library Chronicle (1992) 22#3 pp 10-21

[23] Mary Wilke, Patricia J. Finney, and James Simon. "Colonial Latin American Resources at the Center for Research Libraries." Colonial Latin American Review 11.2 (2002): 317-323.

[24] 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

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