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Master of Arts in
Latin American and Hemispheric Studies
Preparing a Next Generation of Good Neighbors
The proximity of Latin America makes it fundamental for the United States.
Yet, despite impressive democratization in the region in recent decades, serious
problems—poverty, inequality, ethnic cleavage, crime, political violence,
and illicit drug flows—persist. In the 1990s, cooperation between the
United States and Latin America was robust and the hemisphere remains, by far,
the U.S.’s largest export market. However, in the new millennium U.S.
leadership has been challenged, especially by Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela.
Future hemispheric leaders will grapple with an often contradictory blend
of political and economic successes and failures. To develop innovative approaches
to the enduring problems of the hemisphere, tomorrow’s leaders need a
broad and deep knowledge of the region. The Master of Arts in Latin America
and Hemispheric Studies (LAHS) offers students an interdisciplinary program
based on sound theory and practice. The LAHS core curriculum includes the disciplinary
lenses of anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations/security,
political science, and sociology. Professional skills courses are currently
available in advocacy, import/export fundamentals, the Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB), the Organization of American States (OAS), and policy analysis;
additional skills courses are planned.
The program’s full-time, core professors are internationally recognized
authorities. Outstanding part-time professors are drawn primarily from the
Washington D.C. policy community, and provide insiders’ perspectives
on key institutions and policies. The program enjoys very strong expertise
in the Andean countries, especially Peru and Bolivia.
The program’s location in central Washington, D.C. puts students only
a few blocks from leading international organizations—not only the IDB
and the OAS but also the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The
National Security Archive is based at George Washington University, and around
the corner are the U.S. Department of State, numerous embassies, and non-profit
organizations such as the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, the Inter-American Dialogue, and the Washington Office
on Latin America.
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