About BACLA

The Boston Area Consortium on Latin America was founded in the early 1980s to facilitate communication among the faculty at nine Boston area colleges and universities who specialize in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and the Latin American diaspora in the United States. At that time, when the local Latin American Studies programs were in their infancy, BACLA's central goals were to raise the profile of the field in the Boston area and to help each institution supplement its resources with those available at the others. In 1991 BACLA moved its headquarters to Brandeis University, where it has been directed by Professor Silvia Arrom, who continues to preside over the organization.

Over the years BACLA has published a list of the Latino and Latin America specialists at the nine member colleges and universities, shared information on Boston-area events on Latin America, organized occasional panels and lectures by BACLA members, held receptions to facilitate networking, and publicized courses at institutions with cross registration.

Because this information is now readily accessible on each institution's website, the links to the area's Latin American and Latino Studies websites are provided below. Please click on the institution's name for the link.

BACLA maintains an e-mail list for members to share urgent messages of interest to fellow Boston area Latin Americanists. To post messages to this list, or suggest BACLA activities, please contact Silvia Arrom [1].

• Boston College [2] (Contact Person: Professor Deborah Levenson-Estrada (617) 552-3790)
• Boston University [3] (Program Director: Professor Strom Thacker (617) 353-7160)
• Brandeis University, Latin American and Latino Studies Program [4], (Program Chair: Professor Javier Urcid (781) 736-2223)
• Harvard University, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies [5], (Contact Person: Merilee Grindle (617) 496-1605)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology [6] (Program Coordinator: Professor Elizabeth Garrels (617) 253-9688)
• Northeastern University [7] (Program Coordinator: Professor Alan West-Duran (617) 373-4292)
• Tufts University [8] (Co-Directors: Professor Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir (617) 627-2723; Professor Peter Winn (617) 627-2314)
• University of Massachusetts, Boston [9] (Professor Reyes Coll-Tellechea (617) 287-7555)
• Wellesley College [10] (Program Directors: Professor Renjilian-Burgy (781) 287-2400; Professor Wasserspring (781) 287-2202)

BACLA Chair: Professor Silvia Arrom; contact arrom@brandeis.edu [11]
Brandeis BACLA Administrator: Marilyn Brooks; contact mbrooks@brandeis.edu [12]
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