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 may be awarded to those Tulane University graduate students in Latin American Studies, Humanities, Social Sciences, or professional school programs whose program of study requires Portuguese or Haitian Creole. 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 and who are applying to programs other than the Latin American Studies graduate program must request from the relevant school or program to which they are applying that their admissions application packet/materials be copied and forwarded to the Stone Center for Latin American Studies for FLAS fellowship consideration. The deadline for submitting these materials is Feb. 1 for fellowship consideration for the subsequent academic year. All prospective FLAS fellowship applicants should indicate in their graduate application statement of purpose the nature of their interest in and need for the study of either Portuguese or Haitian Creole and how the study of these languages will serve their future post-graduate career objectives.

Summer FLAS fellowships are administered separately from the academic year FLAS program and follow the guidelines and application process outlined below. Please consult the section on Summer FLAS fellowships below for more information.

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 specialized workshops, working groups, symposia, 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. NOTE: Given the limited funding we have available for this program, and given that there are other sources of conference travel funding available on campus, students must apply to other sources of funding on campus first before applying to the Stone Center, and should indicate application to these other sources of funding on their application to the Stone Center. To apply for funding through this Stone Center program, please complete the Conference Travel Support Application Form managed through the Stone Center’s University-based OrgSync platform. Applicants can choose only one funding category between the following three options: (1) 1/2 the cost of airfare; (2) a 2-day per diem rate as calculated by the U.S. Government; or (3) conference registration.
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 18, 2019

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 2019. Funding is provided partly through the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and partly through 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.
For a successful grant proposal in the Social Sciences, click here.

The Stone Center staff held an on-line information session on Wednesday, January 30, 2019. Click the links below to access the presentation materials and view a video of the session.
Summer Field Research Presentation Materials PDF
Summer Field Research Information Session Video, Audio, and Transcript

SUMMER FIELD RESEARCH APPLICATION MATERIALS for 2019 All materials are PDF files, forms are in fillable PDF format.

Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) 2018 Summer Field Course Grant Program: The Stone Center sponsors only one graduate student each summer to participate in an OTS Summer Field Course in Costa Rica. Information on available OTS Summer Field Courses can be obtained at the OTS Graduate Programs website. Only OTS programs offered over the Summer (May-August) are eligible for funding consideration. This opportunity is open to any Tulane graduate student.

OTS SUMMER FIELD COURSE APPLICATION MATERIALS for 2019 All materials are PDF files, forms are in fillable PDF format.

The submission deadline for the OTS Summer Field Course Grant Application is March 18, 2019.

FLAS Summer Fellowships
Application Deadline: February 15, 2019

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 that meet the FLAS guidelines will be considered. 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 for Graduate Students 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.

The Stone Center staff held an on-line information session on Wednesday, January 16, 2019. Click the links below to access the presentation materials and view a video of the session.
FLAS Webinar Presentation Materials PDF
FLAS Information Session Video, Audio, and Transcript

FLAS SUMMER APPLICATION MATERIALS for 2019 All materials are PDF files, forms are in fillable PDF format.

All application materials, including the faculty recommendation form, proposal narrative, and financial need statement or FAFSA EFC, should be submitted electronically by email according to the application guidelines. Please review these guidelines carefully.

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

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Latin American Writers Series 2019

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Latin American Writer Series
Spring 2019

The Latin American Writers Series will showcase the most representative writings of the continent. The acclaimed Ecuadorian writer and Tulane’s Greenleaf Scholar-in-Residence, Gabriela Alemán will conduct in-depth interviews with a dozen authors, that treat a territory defined by massive migrations, multiple forms of violence, economic precariousness and environmental struggles. These writers whose texts circulate in a territory defined by mass migrations, multiple forms of violence, economic precariousness and environmental struggles. These authors – from different generations, countries and traditions – will describe their lives, influences and the mechanisms that tie their interests and concerns with their writing. The interviews will serve to feed an archive that will reflect the way writing and publishing takes place in Latin America today.

El Latin American Writers Series reunirá a lo más representativos de la escritura continental. La reconocida escritora ecuatoriana y “Greenleaf Scholar-in-Residence” de Tulane, Gabriela Alemán realizará entrevistas en profundidad con una docena de autores que se mueven en un territorio definido por migraciones masivas, múltiples violencias, precariedad económica y luchas medioambientales. Los autores, de generaciones, países y tradiciones distintas hablarán sobre sus vidas, influencias y los mecanismos que unen sus intereses y preocupaciones con su escritura. Las entrevistas servirán para alimentar un archivo que reflejará la manera en que se escribe y publica en América Latina hoy en día.

Join us for the following interviews in Spanish in the Greenleaf Conference Room, 100 Jones Hall at 5:30 PM.

April 12, 2019
ACHY OBEJAS
Achy Obejas was born in Havana, in 1956. She is a poet, novelist, journalist, translator, and teacher. When she was six years old, she and her family immigrated to the United States during the Cuban Revolution. Her published books of poetry, short fiction and novels include: We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress like This? (1994), Memory Mambo (1996), Days of Awe (2001), Ruins (2009), Aguas y otros cuentos (2009), This is What Happened in Our Other Life (2009) and The Tower of the Antilles & Other Stories (2017). Memory Mambo and Days of Awe won Lambda Awards. Obejas is also an accomplished journalist; she worked at the Chicago Tribune for more than ten years, and her articles have been featured in a variety of publications, including the Village Voice, Vogue, and the Nation. She has translated more than twenty books, amongst them: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz, 2007) into Spanish and the works of Wendy Guerra and Rita Indiana, amongst many others, into English. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and is the former Sor Juana Visiting Writer at DePaul University. She currently lives in Oakland, where she is the Distinguished Visiting Writer at Mills College.

April 23, 2019
CLAUDIA HERNANDEZ
Claudia Hernández González was born in San Salvador, in 1975. She has a degree in Communications from the Technological University of El Salvador, and has also studied law. Hernández has published six collections of short stories and two novels: Otras ciudades (2001), Mediodía de frontera (2002), Olvida uno (2005), De fronteras (2007), La canción del mar (2007), Causas Naturales (2013), Roza, tumba, quema (2017) and El verbo J (2018). Her stories have been published in several anthologies, including: The Central Americans (2002), Papayas und Bananen. Erotische und andere ErzÃ¤hlungen aus Zentralamerika (2002), PequeÃ±as resistencias 2. Antología del cuento centroamericano contemporáneo (2003). Sangría Publishing House, based in Brooklyn, published her bilingual book They Have Fired Her Again in 2016. She has been anthologized in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the United States. The translation of Roza, tumba, quema will appear in English in 2019. She won the prestigious Anna Seghers award in Germany in 2004.

April 30, 2019
YURI HERRERA
Yuri Herrera was born in Actopan, Mexico, in 1970. He studied Politics in Mexico, Creative Writing in El Paso and took his PhD in literature at Berkeley. He has written four novels, three of them translated into several languages: Trabajos del reino (Kingdom Cons, And Other Stories, 2017) SeÃ±ales que precederán al fin del mundo (Signs Preceding the End of the World, And Other Stories, 2015) and La transmigración de los cuerpos (The Transmigration of Bodies, And Other Stories, 2016) and El incendio de la mina El bordo (Periférica, 2018). He has published short stories, articles, non-fiction and essays in magazines and newspapers in the US, Latin America and Spain. He was editor and founder of the literary magazine el perro. His first novel to appear in English, Signs Preceding the End of the World, was published to great critical acclaim in 2015 and included in many Best-of-Year lists, including The Guardian’s Best Fiction and NBC News’s Ten Great Latino Books, going on to win the 2016 Best Translated Book Award. He is currently teaching at Tulane University.

Publishing in Puerto Rico After Hurricane María

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Join us in welcoming Mayda Colón and Zayra Taranto, founders of Trabalis Editores, who will speak about their singular approach to publishing in Puerto Rico (they own their own printing press and use the royalties ceded by their world renown authors to publish new writers) on Wednesday April 24, at 5:30 PM. In the aftermath of Hurricane María they organized several readings and published a series of books of historical importance (Bitácora de una transmisión radial, transcripciones de una histórica transmisión radial durante el Huracán María desde Wapa radio, Sandra Rodríguez Cotto; Huracanada, Mayra Santos-Febres, amongst others).

Trabalis Editores started publishing in 2014. Their collections include poetry, fiction, essays, children’s, young adult and art books. Their catalog is composed of eighty titles of international (Claudia Hernández, Rafael Courtoisie, Ana Lidia Vega-Serova, José Cozer) and Puerto Rican writers (Ángel Lozada, Alejandro Álvarez Nieves, Mónica Lladó).

Mayda Colón was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her poetry books are Dosis (2006), Prosac (2010), Recuentos y Volteretas (2016) and La casa del vacío (2018); her poems have been included in several anthologies. She is currently the editor of the poetry collection of Trabalis Editores.

Zayra Taranto was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. She is a writer, editor, photographer, graphic artist and videographer. She is currently the Executive Director of Trabalis Editores.

For more information contact us at rtsclas@tulane.edu or by phone at 504.865.5164. Tickets are not required.

Sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

Bate Papo! Practice you Portuguese during the spring semester

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Every Friday during the Spring 2019 semester, practice your Portuguese in an informal setting where students can enjoy some delicious homemade Brazilian treats and conversation! Admission is free. All levels welcome. For more information, please contact Megwen at portuguese@tulane.edu. These events are sponsored by TULASO and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

25 de janeiro, 11hrs / January 25, 11 AM
LBC “Pocket Park”
We’re getting back into the groove. Join us for peanut-flavored brigadeiro, called cajuzinho. We’ll be in Pocket Park or inside the LBC near the water features in case it‘s too cold outside.

1 de fevereiro, 14hrs / February 1, 2 PM
LBC “Pocket Park”
Special edition bate-papo! Join Tulane, Loyola and Xavier students and faculty from Africana Studies, Spanish and Portuguese and Latin American Studies as we celebrate Black History Month. We will be doing a bilingual poetry reading of O Navio Negreiro followed by bate-papo. We will eat cocada, a reference to the millions of lives destroyed on the sugar cane plantations of the northeast of Brazil. This event is sponsored by Africana Studies, TULASO and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

8 de fevereiro, 16:30hrs / February 8, 4:30 PM
4th floor Howard Tilton Library
Special edition bate-papo! Join us on the 4th floor of the Howard Tilton library for an Amazon-themed bate-papo before the Amazônia Ocupada event in the Latin American library. We’ll dine on açaí-infused brigadeiros to get you ready for the visceral photographic exhibit.

14 de fevereiro, 19hrs / February 14, 7 PM
Warren Residence Hall
Special edition bate-papo! We’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day with a recent LGBT film Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho. Also, free beijinhos. And by that we mean coconut-flavored brigadeiros, not kisses.

22 de fevereiro, 12hrs / February 22, 12 PM
PJs Coffee on Willow
Join us as we put PJs coffee to shame with our very own brigadeiro cappuccino. We’ll meet at PJs on Willow at noon to add some zip to your day.

1 de março, 14hrs / March 1, 2 PM
Sharp Residence Hall
Special edition bate-papo! Up late last night? This will get you out of bed! Join us in the lobby of Sharp Hall for a professional dessert chef’s particularly decadent take on our cuisine theme: bolo de brigadeiro. That basically translates to a brigadeiro lava cake; not to miss.

15 de março, 10hrs / March 15, 10 AM
LBC Mezzanine
Welcome back, everyone! Join us this week for brigadeiro de leite ninho in the LBC Mezzanine. See you at 10 AM!

22 de março, 13:30hrs / March 22, 1:30 PM
Labyrinth Café on 7102 Freret St.
Special edition bate-papo! Join us for a bate-papo alongside a special film showing of Alapini. Instead of popcorn, we’ll have brigadeiro de biscoito maria as a snack.

29 de março, 15hrs / March 29, 3 PM
Greenbaum House
Special edition bate-papo! We’ll be learning the art of brigadeiro in the Greenbaum House. Join us to learn how to make a brigadeiro de Nutella. Don’t worry: we’ll be sure to sample as we go.

5 de abril, 12hrs / April 5, 12 PM
LBC Mezzanine
This week we‘re bringing two great chocolate traditions together: brigadeiro and oreo cookies. Join us for a taste in the LBC Mezzanine at noon.

12 de abril, 11hrs / April 12, 11 AM
LBC “Pocket Park”
Special edition bate-papo! This week we celebrate gaúcho culture. We’ll be drinking chimarrão alongside our brigadeiro de tapioca and someone will leave with a mate gourd. Find us at 11 AM in Pocket Park.

26 de abril, 14hrs / April 26, 2 PM
O “Boot”
We made it! Celebrate the end of classes with some strawberry sweet: brigadeiro bicho de pé. Meet you outside the Boot at 2 PM.

The 2019 Afro-Brazilian Film Series at Tulane University

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This spring, join the Africana Studies Program, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, Departments of Spanish & Portuguese, the Latin American Library, the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane University in collaboration with The Labyrinth-NOLA Wesley for the 2019 Afro-Brazilian Film Series. The films are free and open to the public.

2019 Spring Schedule

Friday, February 22
Black Orpheus

Friday, March 22
1:30 PM
Yemanjá: Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil + Bate Papo

Friday, April 26
2:00 PM
Ebony goddess: Queen of IleÌ’ AiyeÌ’

MARI Brown Bag Series to host Borizlava Simova for talk titled "Floors, Platforms, Earth Offerings? Excavations in the Actuncan E-Group Plaza"

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The Middle American Research Institute is proud to announce the next talk of the 2018-2019 Brown Bag talk series. Borizlava Simova, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology, will presents part of her dissertation research in a talk titled Floors, Platforms, Earth Offerings? Excavations in the Actuncan E-Group Plaza at 12:00 PM in Dinwiddie 305.

MARI’s Brown Bag talk series is meant to provide a venue for students and faculty focusing on topics related to Mesoamerica to discuss their latest research in an informal and friendly setting. If you are interested in presenting, please email Jessica Melancon for more information.

For the current speaker list of this talk series, visit the MARI Brown Bag website.

2019 Global Read Webinar Series: Diversity in children's literature for the classroom

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This spring, the World Area Book Awards (Américas Award, Africana Book Award, Middle East Book Award, South Asia Book Award, and the Freeman Book Award) will sponsor a free 60 minute webinar on a book recognized by one of the awards and facilitate a discussion with the author on how to incorporate the book into the classroom.

The 2019 Global Read Webinar Series will focus on the theme diversity in children’s literature. Each webinar will feature a presentation by an award-winning author with discussion on how to incorporate multicultural literature into the classroom. The books are appropriate for students in grades 7 – 12. Please read along with us this spring as we explore the world through these award-winning books. We encourage all readers to join in on the conversations each month and ask the author your own questions live.

Be sure to join the conversation with our webinar hashtag #2019ReadingAcrossCultures.

To register and learn more information about the Spring 2019 series, please visit:
internationalizingsocialstudies.blog

Webinar Schedule

January 22, 2019
Middle East Book Award
The first webinar of the series is co-sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University and the Middle East Outreach Council. The webinar will explore the book, The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Joukhadar, winner of the 2018 Middle East Book Award for Youth Literature. The Map of Salt and Stars is part cartography, part poetry, and part call to action. The gripping narrative interweaves the journeys of two strong and intelligent female protagonists: Nour, a Syrian-American girl escaping the violence of the civil war, and Rawiya, a 12th-century girl who dresses as a boy to become apprentice to the famous mapmaker al-Idrisi. Beautifully written descriptions of Nour’s synesthesia help us understand her experiences in new ways.

February 15, 2019
Africana Book Award
This month’s book award is sponsored by the Africana Book Award. Please join us in learning more about the book, When Morning Comes by Arushi Raina. This fictionalized account of a student uprising that began in Soweto, South Africa, on June 16, 1976, unfolds through the first-person narratives of four young adults from different backgrounds whose lives intersect. An African student, Zanele, secretly organizes the protest against the Afrikaans Medium Decree Act, which required the use of English and Afrikaans (“the language of the oppressors”) in schools. Her apolitical friend Thabo heads a local gang, extorting money from an Indian store owner, whose daughter Meena, is sympathetic to the students. Meanwhile, Jack, a white Afrikaner, meets, befriends, and comes to love Zanele.

March 20, 2019
Américas Book Award
We will explore the book, Lucky, Broken Girl by Ruth Behar a 2018 Honorable mention Américas Book and winner of the 2018 Pura Belpré award. In this unforgettable multicultural coming-of-age novel – based on the author’s childhood in the 1960s – a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl is adjusting to her new life in New York City when her American dream is suddenly derailed. Ruthie’s plight will intrigue readers and her powerful story of strength and resilience, full of color, light, and poignancy, will stay with them for a long time. Additional support generously provided by Florida International University, Tulane University, University of Florida, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Utah.

April
Freeman Book Award
Join the Freeman Award for an evening with author Alan Gratz and his book, Grenade. It’s 1945, and the world is in the grip of war. Hideki lives on Okinawa, an island near Japan. When he is drafted to fight for the Japanese army, he is handed a grenade and told: Don’t come back until you’ve killed an American soldier. Ray, a young American Marine, has just landed on Okinawa. This is Ray’s first-ever battle and all he knows is that the enemy is everywhere. Hideki and Ray each fight their way across the island, surviving heart-pounding clashes and dangerous attacks. But when the two of them collide in the middle of the battle, the choices they make in that single instant will change everything.

May 8, 2019
South Asia Book Award and picture books from all book awards
The South Asia Book Award highlights the work of Mitali Perkins with her work, You Bring the Distant Near. Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity.

All sessions are free and open to the public. All times listed refer to Eastern Standard Time (EST). Sponsored by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs, the South Asia National Outreach Consortium, the Middle East Outreach Council, and African Studies Outreach Council, and The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia.