Dear CLAS community,
Welcome/Bem-vindos/Bienvenidos to the Fall 2025 semester! As always, we are grateful for your engagement with our programs and your commitment to advancing research, teaching, learning and public understanding of Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas.
This year, we are excited to bring new initiatives and opportunities for faculty, students, visiting scholars and the wider community across the Americas. In partnership with the
Ford Institute for Human Security, we are proud to launch the new program
Building Bridges for Empowerment: The Krista Reitz Network for Women’s Education and Advocacy in Latin America. A new award, developed in collaboration with the
Universidade Federal do Pará, will support the creation of programs in partnership with universities and research institutions across the nine countries of the Amazon basin, deepening regional cooperation and academic exchange. And as part of our Afro-Latin American Program, we are collaborating with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Brown University, Museu Histórico Nacional, and the National Archives in Brazil to launch the international exhibit
In Slavery's Wake and a series of related activities in Rio de Janeiro about slavery, memory, justice, and reparation.
In the Spring, advanced graduate students will have the opportunity to discuss their research at the newly designed Latin American Social and Public Policy (LASPP) conference, now entitled LASPP Dissertation Workshop. We will also host the next edition of the Border to Border Series, continuing to foster transnational dialogues. And of course, we will all gather for the CLAS Latin American and Caribbean Festival!
We have several funding and programmatic opportunities available this year. Please check out our website to learn more about them.
We hope to see everyone on selected Thursdays for lunch at the CLAS Speaker Series (full program soon to be announced). This year, our speakers include members of our affiliated faculty, Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (for Portuguese and Quechua), Billie Lozano Visiting Scholars, LASPP Visiting Scholar, the Fulbright-CLAS/Pitt Distinguished Chair, and other visiting scholars (including the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow).
Wishing everyone a good start of the semester, and very much hoping to see everyone soon,
Abrazos/abraços
Keila
