The mission of the Rutgers University Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) is to promote pedagogy, research, and service in and about the broader region known as Las Américas. Through courses, programs of study, and extracurricular events, we help students and faculty better understand the diverse cultures and histories of the complex region, and the many ways in which the United States and Latin America are deeply conjoined. In fields spanning the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, Rutgers faculty and student research generates new insights into Latin American culture and society, politics and economics, and environment and ecology.
We believe that all engagement between US-based peoples and institutions and Latin America, be it pedagogical or scholarly, should be characterized by openness and reciprocity. Therefore, another aspect of our mission is to offer service opportunities for our students, to create positive encounters between researchers and students across the hemisphere, and to ensure that all of our engagements promote good relations between people in the diverse regions that make up Las Américas.
Lucy Stone Hall A262