The Stone Center for Latin American Studies invites all Tulane University undergraduate students engaged in the study of Latin America or the Caribbean to apply for funding for one of four possible grant categories: (1) Independent Research; (2) Summer Internship; (3) Intensive Summer Language Study; and (4) Academic Conference Attendance/Presentation. Brief descriptions of each of these programs appear below.
The Stone Center’s Conference Presentation/Attendance Grants program will fund travel expenses for undergraduate students who present papers at undergraduate research conferences or professional academic meetings. Applications Due: ROLLING DEADLINE
1. Download the Proposal Guidelines.
2. Download the Sample Application.
3. Complete the online application form.
The Stone Center provides grants to undergraduate students in the pursuit of independent research projects that align with the Stone Center’s mission of expanding understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean. These grants encourage the collaboration of undergraduate students and faculty in the production of new knowledge through individual and/or group research. Research may require exploring archives or libraries in other cities or countries, conducting an interview with an expert or practitioner, or engaging in fieldwork to collect data for subsequent analysis. Students may request up to $2,000 to offset the cost of travel and/or subsistence. Subsistence allowances follow the domestic per diem rates provided by the U.S. General Services Administration and foreign per diem rates provided by the U.S. Department of State. Applications Due: MARCH 01, 2024
The Stone Center’s Summer Internship Grants program provides support for students who are pursuing unpaid or minimally-paid internships that have a significant focus on Latin America or the Latin American diaspora in the US or elsewhere. Students may request up to $2000 to assist with summer living expenses, internship travel, or other associated expenses. Students must address how their internship contributes to the Stone Center’s mission of expanding understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean. Applications Due: MARCH 01, 2024
Intensive Summer Language Study funding supports undergraduate students who participate in the Stone Center-sponsored Summer in Brazil program (Brazilian Portuguese) or the Summer Mayan Language Institute (Kaqchikel Maya or K’iche’ Maya). This funding program acts as a scholarship covering the cost of program fees and is issued directly to the program administrators. The award does not provide a cash disbursement to awardees. Exceptional participants may be referred for FLAS funding from our partner institution Vanderbilt. If you would like to be considered for FLAS funding, you must apply by the February 1 priority deadline. Applications Due: MARCH 01, 2024 (Priority deadline for FLAS funding consideration: February 1, 2024)
1. Download the application guidelines.
2. Prepare required materials.
3. If applying for Independent Research or Intensive Summer language study, locate a faculty sponsor to recommend you.
4. Complete the online application.
For more information click here to check out a recording of our Undergraduate Summer Funding Information Session
The Stone Center offers guidance and mentoring for applying for a wide variety of University fellowships to further pursue research, participate in conferences and to conduct national and/or international internships. Fellowships are available through various campus sources for independent research and internships. https://grantfunding.tulane.edu/ Latin American Studies strongly encourages students to seek our fellowships and pursue such activities as they represent valuable pedagogical and pre-professional experience.
For year and semester programs, the Newcomb-Tulane College Dean’s Office offers the Corasaniti Study Abroad Grant, providing $2500 toward the cost of a Newcomb-Tulane Study Abroad Program for a student majoring in political science, economics, political economy, or a modern foreign language. Grants are awarded on the basis of both merit and financial need. See the website for more information. For more information on study abroad funding check with the Center for Global Education.
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies has competitions annually for the best academic paper in the Social Sciences (The M. Karen Bracken Award) and in the Humanities (The Alberto Vázquez Award) by an undergraduate major or minor. The competition is decided in late spring by a standing committee which judges submissions forwarded by the faculty. The Prize Committee considers work produced in either semester of an academic year. A full listing of all Stone Center Academic Awards, including links to most of the prize winning papers, can be accessed on our Stone Center Awards and Prizes Webpage.
The Stone Center’s annual TUSCLA conference is an interdisciplinary student symposium in which seniors from the Latin American Studies undergraduate core seminar, first-year graduate students in the graduate Latin American Studies core seminar and undergraduates in Newcomb-Tulane College conducting original research on Latin America present their individual research projects. TUSCLA was formally launched as TUCLA in Fall of 2003 as a means to provide Latin American Studies undergraduates with an opportunity to present papers in the style and atmosphere of an academic conference. In 2006 it was transformed into a public, all-day event with faculty discussants and in 2017 expanded into the current TUSCLA conference, to include graduate students and the wider undergraduate community. The conference is designed to enlist all Tulane undergraduates, graduate students and faculty interested in the region in a shared discussion of the region, its society and its cultures.
View Past TUSCLA Programs
The Latin American and Caribbean Studies program at Rollins College organizes the Latin American Latinx Studies Symposium. Undergraduate students will share their research on domestic and foreign issues concerning Latin America and the Latinx population.
The Stone Center’s Director of Undergraduate Affairs is available to assist any student interested in Latin American Studies with decisions regarding coursework, independent studies, internships, study abroad programs, career counseling, grants and fellowships and extra-curricular opportunities. While it is not compulsory to seek advising, it is an integral part of the Latin American Studies degree program and all majors and minors in Latin American Studies are encouraged to meet with the Stone Center’s Director of Undergraduate Affairs each semester to evaluate their course of study. In the weeks before any registration period, course information listing Latin American offerings in cooperating departments is compiled and made available in the Stone Center offices and on the Center’s website. After considering the list, students should make an appointment to discuss the offerings and learn the recommendations of the department. The Stone Center’s Director of Undergraduate Affairs is your first stop for information on the Latin American Studies program.
Students must maintain a 2.0 average in the major program to satisfy the degree requirements of Latin American Studies. The grade-point average is determined by dividing the total number of quality points by the total number of quality hours (see Undergraduate Catalogue for more information on quality points).
Federal law prohibits the release of grades or other confidential information to third parties, including parents and guardians, unless the student provides written authorization for release of such information to the associate dean. Such as request may be made by the student at any time.
When students have a complaint to register about a particular class, professor or grade, they should make an appointment with the Assistant Undergraduate Advisor.
In most cases grievances grow out of courses. It is important to understand that grievances attach to the department in which a course is offered. Thus, if a student in the Latin American Studies interdisciplinary program seeks to resolve a problem arising from a Sociology course, it must be pursued through the Sociology Department. Courses which originate in the Center for Latin American Studies will be handled by the appropriate Center administrators. In every case disputes are handled at the lowest level first (discuss the problem with the professor) and then move up the Center and, finally, college level.
The university grievance policy is available either in the Center or in the college division office. It is a lengthy document which describes procedures to be followed when the Center procedures have not worked to satisfy all parties.
The Center for Latin American Studies policy is as follows:
A student expecting to receive a degree in May must register as a candidate for graduation in the associate dean’s office during the fall semester. A student expecting to receive a degree at any other time should consult the associate dean’s office for appropriate information. Commencement ceremonies are held only in May; August and December graduates may, however, participate in ceremonies held the following May. All May graduates are expected to attend commencement unless the awarding of the degree in absentia has been approved by the associate dean.
In the final semester of your senior year the Stone Center is contacted by your dean’s office to certify that you have completed all of the requirements to graduate with the Latin American Studies major. Therefore, the advising appointment that you have with the Undergraduate Advisor before your final registration also includes a review and audit of your transcript to make sure that everything will be in order when graduation occurs.
