The Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies and The University of Kansas provides graduate and PhD students with the opportunity to fund their schooling and research through a variety of different sources. The Stansifer Fund, the Oppenheimer Memorial Fund, and Tinker Field Research Grants are just a few of the awards offered, please read below for information and descriptions of the various LAS scholarship.
Please check out our external sources of funding page as well as the University's sites for graduate student funding:
Graduate Student Funding
New Graduate Student Funding
Current Graduate Student Funding
Graduate Studies Awards
The Office of Student Financial Aid
Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA)
Aside from scholarships, students may be selected as GTA's in Spanish & Portuguese. Graduate teaching assistantships typically involve leading discussion sections, advising, and designing and grading student papers and exams in exchange for free tuition and a stipend. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese regularly offers assistantships and teaching positions to Latin American & Caribbean Studies students to teach undergraduate Spanish language classes, you will need the Out of Field GTA Appointment form. Other university departments also occasionally offer assistantships for which Latin American & Caribbean Studies students may be competitive.
Latin Americanist Graduate Research Competition
Held during the Spring semester, the annual Latin Americanist Graduate Research Competition allows KU graduate students focusing on a Latin American topic the opportunity to present their work in front of their peers and a panel of faculty judges. A keynote faculty speaker is featured during the catered lunch. Certificates are awarded to the top presenters at both the MA and PhD level. Great resume booster!
Check out the previous year's winners of the Latin Americanist Graduate Research Competiton!
2013 Latin American Field Research Grant
The Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, with support from College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is offering short-term field research grants for graduate students who wish to do research in Latin America during the summer of 2012. Awards can be used to cover airfare, in-country transportation expenses, and other travel expenses. Research periods typically range from four to twelve weeks. In most cases the grant will not be enough to completely cover expenses of travel and research, so students should expect to supplement the grant with other monies. No grant will exceed $2,000. Research must take place in a Spanish or Portuguese-speaking country, though students interested in Belize are eligible as well.
Completed applications and proposals will be Due: March 1st, 2013. Proposals will not be accepted without all application materials.
Eligibility: Master's or doctoral students in degree programs at KU.
Restrictions: Money is not available for jobs or internships, only independent research projects in the Spanish- or Portuguese- speaking countries of Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.
Application: Applicants are required to provide the following:
- Application Cover Page
- A research proposal of no more than five pages, describing the work to be undertaken and its professional significance, as well as the duration and itinerary of the project. It should also include the names of research centers with which you may be affiliated while conducting fieldwork, as well as any research contacts in the country. This proposal must be signed and approved by your faculty supervisor.
- A brief curriculum vitae.
- A letter of recommendation from a sponsoring faculty member who agrees to supervise the research.
- Two additional faculty letters of reference.
- A copy of your graduate transcripts (or ARTS form).
- A detailed budget.
- Proof of language competency sufficient to carry out the project (letter of evaluation from language instructor).
- GRE scores
The Graduate Committee of CLAS will make decisions about the grants. In making the awards, the Committee will decide what budget items can be funded, and by what amount. Announcements of awards will be made in mid to late April.
Reporting: Awardees must report to the Fellowship Committee within sixty days of their return from the field. Receipts may be required for all approved expenses. The awardees will provide a brief report that includes itinerary, research results, account of expenditures, and proposed final stages of the project. Awardees may also be requested to present research results to students and faculty.
Contact the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies for more information at latamst@ku.edu or (785)864-4213.
Stansifer Fellowship
Latin American Studies is pleased to announce a competition for the Stansifer Fellowship Fund for 2013-2014. This fund was endowed by Professor Emeritus Charles Stansifer. The award is for the support of graduate students planning to complete a doctorate in the study of Middle America (defined as Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean).
Priority is to be given first to students of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, or Panama ) second to Mexico, third to the Caribbean, and fourth to students of relations between the United States and any Middle American country.
Graduate students from any department in the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible. An interdisciplinary committee from Latin American Studies will decide the competition. The award will depend upon the interest from the endowment but will not exceed $5000 per year. A student may hold the fellowship in succeeding years, at the discretion of the committee.
Applications and nominations for the fellowship will be Due: March 1st, 2013. They can be sent to or delivered to The Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, 320 Bailey Hall and should include:
• Letter of interest, including why the candidate deserves to receive the fellowship
• GRE/GMAT scores (if available)
• Three letters of recommendation
• Transcripts from graduate and undergraduate institutions
Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Scholarship
This award was established for graduate students in History and Latin American Studies in memory of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, former KU professor of Latin American history. The Center of Latin American & Caribbean Studies and the Department of History alternate years in which the award is made to a graduate student in the corresponding department.
In 2013 the Center of Latin American & Caribbean Studies will award one or more research travel grants to KU graduate students, including MA candidates in Latin American Studies and graduate students in the humanities or social sciences performing research projects in Latin America (lower priority will be given to students in History). The amount of the individual awards will depend on project design and budget. Funds of up to $3,000 per award are to be used toward expenses in lodging, food and/or travel.
Selection will be based on a statement of academic plans, overall academic and career goals, grade point average, and letters of recommendation. Recipients of other awards (such as Tinker Field Research grants, FLAS, etc.) are eligible.
Applications for the scholarship will be handled by the Department of History for 2012.
• Application Cover Page
• Letter of proposal describing planned research project, relevance to career objectives
• Estimated budget
• Two letters of recommendation
• One official set of transcripts (or KU ARTS form)
Tinker Summer Field Research Grants
Tinker grants will not be available again until 2013
The Center of Latin American & Caribbean Studies and the Tinker Foundation sponsor a competition for field research money open to graduate students for summer research. The Tinker Foundation is an organization dedicated to issues in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Tinker grant money provides $20,000 per year through 2010 to fund short-term summer research for KU graduate students from a variety of disciplines. Awards can be used to cover airfare, in-country transportation expenses, and a limited amount of subsistence expenses. Research periods typically range from eight to twelve weeks. The recent 2010 and previous Tinker recipients are listed here.
Foreign Language and Area Studies Grant (FLAS)
The Center of Latin American & Caribbean Studies (funded by the U.S. Department of Education) will offer academic year and summer FLAS fellowships for 2011-2012. All eligible KU graduate students are encouraged to apply for academic year fellowships. LAS awards FLAS to students studying Portuguese, Kaqchikel, Quichua, and Haitian Creole.
Fellows are required to enroll in foreign language classes throughout the year. Portuguese, Quichua, Kaqchikel Maya, and Haitian Creole qualify, although French does not. Ph.D. candidates who have completed their coursework may substitute dissertation research in a Latin American language for actual language study. Travel abroad is limited to Ph.D. candidates performing dissertation research (Puerto Rico is excluded). Study abroad must be pre-approved by the U.S. Department of Education.
Academic Year awards provide 9 hours of KU tuition per semester and a $15,000 per year stipend for living expenses. New incoming students who are admitted into the LAS graduate program will be automatically considered for this award.
Selection will be based on an evaluation of grade point average, GREs, career objectives, evidence of long-term commitment to Latin American Studies , a writing sample, and letters of recommendation. Applications for FLAS 2011-2012 are listed below.
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