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About CLACS
The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) serves students, faculty and scholars from across the University of Illinois campus, along with communities across Illinois and the Midwest, by promoting innovative research, specialist teaching, and public awareness of the Latin American and Caribbean region. CLACS is a designated National Resource Center for the 2022-2026 period, supported by the Department of Education under Title VI funding.
CLACS Faculty Highlights
Congratulations to Professor Gisela Sin!
We would like to congratulate Gisela Sin, Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, CLACS Director, and current Acting Director of the Illinois Global Institute, on receiving the Jewell-Loewenberg Prize from the American Political Science Association’s Legislative Studies Section, along with Valeria Palanza (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile), and Evangeline Reynolds (University of Denver).
Their article, “Line-item Vetoes as a Coordination Mechanism,” was recognized as the Best Article in Comparative Politics published in Legislative Studies Quarterly in 2025.
We are proud to celebrate Gisela and this important achievement. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!
Professor Marc Hertzman Named 2026–2027 University Scholar
Congratulations to Marc Hertzman, Professor of History at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, on being named a 2026–2027 University Scholar! The program honors outstanding faculty and grants each recipient $15,000 per year for three years to support their research and academic careers.
History professor Marc Hertzman specializes in the history of Brazil and Latin America, with special interests in race, the African diaspora, culture, slavery and its legacies, labor, and gender. His current scholarship explores the colonial era of Brazil, particularly the afterlives and inheritances of Palmares and its iconic leader, Zumbi.
His 2024 book, After Palmares: Diaspora, Inheritance, and the Afterlives of Zumbi, won the American Historical Association’s 2025 James A. Rawley Prize in Atlantic History and the Brazilian Studies Association’s 2026 Roberto Reis Book Award.
Congratulations to Professor Hertzman on this remarkable achievement!
Professor Ramón Soto-Crespo Receives the James M. Benson Professorship
Congratulations to Prof. Ramón Soto-Crespo on being named the James M. Benson Professor in English! This named professorship recognizes his distinguished research and prominence in his fields of expertise.
Professor Soto-Crespo is a professor in the Department of English and an affiliate of the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies (CLACS), as well as the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese, Latina/Latino Studies, and Comparative & World Literature, and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory.
He is the author of several books, including Mainland Passage: The Cultural Anomaly of Puerto Rico (2009), The White Trash Menace and Hemispheric Fiction (2020), and Neobugarrón: Heteroflexibility, Neoliberalism, and Latin/o American Sexual Practice (2023). He also serves as co-editor of the Journal of Modern Literature.
Please join us in congratulating Professor Soto-Crespo on this distinguished honor!
Upcoming Events
COME LEARN QUECHUA! HAMUYCHIK RUNASIMI YACHARIKUQ!
Quechua is the most widely spoken Indigenous language in the Americas, with 8–9 million speakers across six Andean countries. Learning Quechua offers valuable insight into Indigenous heritage, Andean worldviews, and linguistic structure. It’s especially useful for researchers, educators, and professionals working in the region.
LEARN Q'ANJOB'AL WITH US! TITAN HAKUY Q'ANJOB'AL JETOQ!
Q’anjob’al is a living Maya language spoken in Guatemala and growing communities in the U.S. Studying it opens the door to understanding Mesoamerican Indigenous heritage, Maya worldviews, and cultural practices. It’s especially valuable for educators, researchers, and professionals working with Maya communities.
Q'anjob'al Language and the Community (Spring Last 395)
This course is an introduction to the Mayan language and community of Guatemala known as Q’anjob’al. It is designed to provide students with an overview of the Q’anjob’al speakers and their complex everyday sociocultural interactions.
Beginning Q'anjob'al II (LAST 445)
This course continues the development of basic speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, with an emphasis on everyday communication and cultural context within Q’anjob’al–speaking communities.
Beginner Quechua II (QUEC 411)
Continuation of intensive course for beginner level Quechua. Expansion on developing basic listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in Quechua. Emphasis on production and comprehension skills. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours
Que Pasa in Latin America? (LAST 170)
Introduction to Latin America offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the ways of life of Latin American peoples, their origins, historical legacies, and current cultural expressions.
Life in the Andes (LAST 210, CRN 72623)
An overview of contemporary Andean culture, as practiced by the people in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
Archaeology Field School in Peru (LAST 395)
This course is an archaeological field school where students will have the opportunity to engage in innovative original research at the archaeological site of Cerro Blanco, a Chancay Administrative Center located in central Peru.
Spatial theories from/with the Caribbean (ARCH 403)
THE CARIBBEAN has long been rendered peripheral in architectural history and theory. This seminar instead approaches it as an affective ground for rethinking space altogether.
Multilingual Miami (SPAN 199 CHP)
The course provides an experiential introduction to sociolinguistics, focusing on the relationship between language, power, and multilingualism in Miami's diverse cultural and linguistic environment.