DRCLAS awards a Certificate in Latin American Studies to Graduate School of Arts and Sciences PhD candidates who complete an approved course of study as part of their work toward degrees in their own disciplines. The Certificate was created by Harvard faculty to set minimum standards for their expectations for professional training in Latin American Studies and to promote interdisciplinary work on Latin America within Ph.D. program. Students must be engaged in a Ph.D. program and write a dissertation that focuses on one or more Spanish American country or Brazil.

Language Requirement
Students make a formal public presentation in Spanish or Portuguese on some part of the dissertation at a meeting chaired by a faculty member (other than the dissertation advisor) who is a member of the Committee on Latin American and Iberian Stdies (CLAIS) and who can certify the candidate's command of the language.

Field Research
Students must have conducted research in at least one relevant country for a minimum of three months.

Other Work
Students must have either (1) written a research-seminar paper on a Latin American topic under FAS faculty supervision; (2) offered a Latin American topic on the Ph.D. General Examination; or (3) taken two half-courses that focus entirely on Latin America.

Work Outside the Ph.D.-Granting Department
Students must also pass (with a grade of B or higher) a half-course in a department other than the one in which they are working towards a Ph.D.

Graduate Certificate Application