Preparing a Next Generation of Good Neighbors

Cynthia McClintock,
Program Director

Latin America's proximity, shared history, and increasingly intertwined demography make it a key region 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. 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.

This program prepares you for jobs and internships throughout the Western Hemisphere. The program's location in the heart of Washington, D.C. facilitates employment at a broad spectrum of organizations. Our students and alumni are employed at leading organizations that are only a few blocks from our campus, including multilateral organizations like the Organization of American States and the World Bank, policy institutes like the Inter-American Dialogue and the Washington Office on Latin America, government agencies like the Departments of State and Commerce, and much more.

The program's faculty members 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 coordinates a dynamic series of events that bring leading policymakers from Washington and all over the world to engage with our students and faculty on issues facing the hemisphere.