Welcome to the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

¡Bienvenidos!

Welcome to the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Loyola University! Here you can find information about the Center's major and minor programs in Latin American Studies, as well as information about upcoming events, lectures, film screenings, and programs focused on Latin America, the Caribbean, and US-Latino communities in the United States and New Orleans.

¿Listos para la aventura?

A region of immense cultural, political, and economical diversity, Latin America and the Caribbean have more people than Europe, a huge economy, and a history deeply intertwined with the United States.  For centuries the city of New Orleans has been an open gateway between the United States and Latin America, specially the Caribbean, stimulating trading as well as political and cultural exchange. 

New Orleans' influence is palpable throughout not only the Gulf of Mexico but also along the Yucatán Peninsula and Northern Central America.  The city's key cultural role can be found in places as diverse as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Honduras. In addition, it is a region rich in the Jesuit presence.

Latin America is made up of 20 countries, with four main languages (Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese) and hundreds of non-Western indigenous languages and cultures.

The Caribbean region is divided into three groups: the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles—Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic—and the Lesser Antilles (38 islands with ties to the United States, Britain, Venezuela, France, and the Netherlands).

With so many places to explore, open the door and your mind to all the exciting things that our continent has to offer!