Center Profiles & Contacts
Institute for the Study of the Americas
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a long and distinguished tradition of scholarly interest in Latin America. Courses in the region's languages, history, politics, geography, and social life were offered by the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1915 they were coordinated in a special curriculum. As a result of continued growth of interest in Latin America among faculty and students, the Institute of Latin American Studies (formerly known as the Institute for Latin American Studies) was created in 1940 to coordinate campus activities. ISA is thus one of the first educational centers in the United States specifically dedicated to the study of Latin America.
Over the ensuing decades, ISA has developed into a major center of scholarship and teaching on subjects related to Latin America. Today ISA's major functions are:
- To encourage and stimulate study and research on Latin America at UNC-Chapel Hill;
- To serve as a campus hub for interdisciplinary communication on Latin America, including the sponsorship of a wide variety of activities that bring together interested faculty and students from a large number of academic disciplines; and
- To promote the exchange of scholars and students, and to encourage close collaborative relationships between the University and institutions of higher learning in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula.
After more than a half century of informal cooperation, in 1989 UNC-Chapel Hill joined with nearby Duke University to create the Duke-University of North Carolina Program in Latin American Studies (now renamed the Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University, or "the Carolina and Duke Consortium"). The Carolina and Duke Consortium enables the two universities to offer an exceptionally broad range of courses and provide supplementary educational opportunities that neither institution could offer separately.
In 1990 the Carolina and Duke Consortium received a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for additional cooperation, which has funded a variety of activities including research and training working groups. The working groups meet throughout the academic year, bringing students and faculty from both campuses together.
Since 1991, the Carolina and Duke Consortium has been designated a National Resource Center under Title VI of the Higher Education Act. As one of nineteen such centers nationwide, the Consortium receives resources that significantly enrich the curriculum. In addition to encouraging research and teaching of Latin American subjects, Title VI funds permit the Consortium to sponsor unique activities such as our highly regarded summer intensive language program in Yucatec Maya. Outreach is also an important part of Title VI, which includes an annual public school teacher workshop and film festival. The Outreach Program also houses a video library and other resource materials available to all.