Tulane University

• Opportunities for Undergraduate Students
  • Summer Funding
• Opportunities for Graduate Students
  • Academic Year and Summer Funding
• Opportunities for Faculty & Staff
• Guest Lecturer or Performer
• Business Meal
• Special Project Support

Academic Year

Students accepted into the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Latin American Studies are eligible for two types of aid: Tulane School of Liberal Arts University Fellowships and U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Study (FLAS) Fellowships. Although the amount of financial aid and the general policies and procedures for students holding these fellowships are the similar, there are fundamental differences.

Graduate School Fellowships

School of Liberal Arts University Fellowships provide a fellowship stipend and a tuition waiver. As a condition of this funding, each fellow must provide either service or teaching for the Stone Center. M.A. Students must serve for 6 hours per week as a Research and Project Associate and Ph.D. Candidates must either serve as a Teaching Assistant or as a Research and Project Associate.

FLAS Fellowships

With funding for the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI program, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies is able to offer a special fellowship program to a select group of students. The goals of the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program include: assisting in the development of knowledge, resources, and trained personnel for modern foreign language and area/international studies; stimulating the attainment of foreign language acquisition and fluency; and developing a pool of international experts to meet national needs. FLAS fellowships are available to those graduate students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and are in need of attaining language proficiency in Portuguese, Haitian Creole, or an indigenous Latin American language. There are awards available for both the academic year and for summer intensive language study.

Academic year FLAS fellowships are awarded to those graduate students in Latin American Studies, Humanities, Social Sciences, or professional school programs whose program of study requires Portuguese or for those in programs outside of humanities or social sciences, advanced Spanish. Although limited and rare, FLAS funding is available for students proposing to conduct dissertation research abroad using a Less Commonly Taught Language. Benefits of an academic year FLAS fellowship include: a service-free fellowship stipend and a tuition waiver provided by the School of Liberal Arts. Only students enrolling in a graduate program within the School of Liberal Arts are eligible for the tuition waiver. Those students receiving a FLAS fellowship during the academic year must register for their required language course (most often Portuguese) over and above the normal course load of nine hours. Priority for funding of academic year FLAS fellowships goes to those students who demonstrate a need for proficiency in Portuguese or Haitian Creole. However the regular graduate application serves also as the FLAS application. There is no separate form or application for consideration of an academic year FLAS fellowship. Prospective graduate students interested in an academic year FLAS fellowship should indicate in their statement of purpose the nature of their interest in the study of either Portuguese or Haitian Creole and how the study of these languages will serve their future post-graduate career objectives.

Latin American Studies Graduate Student Conference Paper Presentation Travel Support
This program is exclusively for Latin American Studies graduate students at Tulane University. This program requires the actual presentation of a research paper at a recognized professional academic conference. It is intended to help offset some of the costs of travel to present at such a conference. It does not support simple conference attendance, nor does it support conference participation in any other capacity, nor does it support participation in workshops or seminars. Requests for funding must be made at least one month prior to the conference. Students are limited to no more than two conference travel grants per Academic Year. Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis for as long as funds are available. To apply for funding, please complete the Conference Travel Support Application Form. Applicants can choose a funding category of 1/2 the cost of airfare or a 2-day per diem rate as calculated by the U.S. Government.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON PER DIEM AWARDS: Per diem rates are usually a combination of separate rates for lodging and meals/incidentals, with a fixed amount allocated for lodging and another for meals/incidentals. The lodging portion of per diem rates will only be reimbursed up to, but not exceeding, either the actual costs of the lodging, or the per diem rate, whichever is lower. Please keep in mind that you will not be reimbursed the full per diem rate if the actual expense for your lodging is below the per diem rate for lodging. Likewise, the per diem amount for meals/incidentals is also fixed and may be used only for expenses related to the individual applicant. Reimbursement for meals/incidental expenses for other individuals is not permitted. All receipts for meals/incidental expenses must be submitted when the reimbursement request is made. The meals/incidentals portion of per diem rates will only be reimbursed up to, but not exceeding, either the actual costs of meals/incidental expenses, or the per diem rate, whichever is lower. Please keep in mind that you will not be reimbursed the full per diem rate if your actual meals/incidentals expenses are lower than the corresponding per diem rate. Meals are reimbursable, alcoholic drinks are not. Incidental expenses are non-meal expenses related directly to the costs of travel such as ground transport fares, tolls, etc. Conference registration is not an incidental expense related to the costs of travel and cannot be applied against the meals/incidental per diem award. Finally, the per diem award is not a guaranteed fixed amount that can be used to cover expenses beyond two days. The allocation is restricted to eligible expenses for two days. For instance, if your two-day per diem award is for $400 ($200 per day), and your actual eligible per diem expenses are $100 per day, then you are only eligible to receive $200 of the $400 award, even if your travel extends over a 4 day period. You cannot apply the $200 difference to cover expenses for the 3rd and 4th days. Please consult with us if you are driving, staying with a friend, or if there are any other special circumstances.

Summer Funding

Stone Center and Tinker Foundation Summer Field Research Grants
Application Deadline: March 24, 2014

Read Graduate Student Summer Field Research Reports, 2007
Read Graduate Student Summer Field Research Reports, 2008
Read Graduate Student Summer Field Research Reports, 2009
Read Graduate Student Summer Field Research Reports, 2010
Read Graduate Student Summer Field Research Reports, 2011

The Stone Center for Latin American Studies invites all Tulane University graduate students engaged in the study of Latin America or the Caribbean to apply for funding to conduct field research outside of the United States during the summer of 2014. Funding is provided through the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Tinker Foundation. These field research grants are not to be used for dissertation research, but rather to provide graduate students who have little to no field research experience with an opportunity to explore the feasibility of a particular field research project and to gain experience in conducting preliminary hands-on field research abroad.

For a successful grant proposal in the field of Public Health, click here.
For a successful grant proposal in the Natural/Biological Sciences, click here.
For a successful grant proposal in the Humanities, click here.

A complete application packet must include three documents:

• Summer Field Research Grant Application Form
• Official transcript of graduate work
• Summer Field Research Grant Faculty Sponsor Recommendation Form

Before applying, please read the program eligibility and application guidelines carefully.

FLAS Summer Fellowships
Application Deadline: February 21, 2014

The Stone Center for Latin American Studies receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI program for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships. Part of the FLAS fellowships administered by the Stone Center are available to graduate students for the intensive study over the summer of Kaqchikel Maya, Portuguese, or another less-commonly taught Latin American language. Graduate students wishing to engage in intensive study of such a language are encouraged to apply for one of these fellowships. Only U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply; and only intensive summer language programs approved by the U.S. Department of Education are eligible under this program. A listing of some of the approved programs is prepared by CLASP and available on-line. Program information and application packets for Tulane sponsored summer language programs can be found here. Our Summer FLAS FAQ attempts to answer questions about the FLAS Summer Fellowships for graduate students. The guidelines of this program are very specific, please read them carefully before applying.

A complete application packet must include three documents:

• Summer FLAS Fellowship Proposal Application Form
• Official transcript of graduate work
• Summer FLAS Fellowship Faculty Sponsor Recommendation Form

Submit all application materials to:
Stone Center for Latin American Studies
Attn: FLAS Fellowship
100 Jones Hall
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA 70118

For questions regarding the FLAS Fellowship, please contact Dr. Jimmy Huck by email at jhuck@tulane.edu