First established in the 1970s as “Hispanic Civilizations,” the Program in Latin American and Iberian Studies (LAIS) at UC Santa Barbara is the oldest interdisciplinary program on our campus, and the only one in the UC system that offers an Iberian component. LAIS provides training both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, offering Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Masters of Arts (M.A.) degrees. At the undergraduate level LAIS can also be taken as a minor.
LAIS is devoted to the study of the histories, languages, literatures, and cultures of the peoples of Latin America and Iberia, from antiquity to the present day, and of their diasporas in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This encompasses not only Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, but also Angola, Mozambique, the Philippines, Macao, and Chicano, Puerto Rican, and other Latino populations in the U.S.
LAIS is thoroughly interdisciplinary. Our affiliated faculty, researchers, and students examine a diversity of themes and issues — including history, religion, politics, gender, language, literature, music, and performance — from a variety of disciplines across the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, and more.
This rich and engaged scholarly community allows us to offer our students thorough interdisciplinary training in our undergraduate major and minor and in the MA in Latin American and Iberian Studies, and to support PhD students engaged in the study of Latin America and Iberia across campus. Join us!
LAIS Diversity Statement
The Latin American and Iberian Studies Program (LAIS) at UC Santa Barbara values diversity, inclusion, equity, social justice, and academic freedom. Diversity encompasses various qualities, including race, ethnicity, class, gender, culture, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexuality, legal and educational status, age, national origin, epistemological approaches, and geographic region.
We aim to ensure that all students, staff and faculty are valued, respected, accepted, heard and welcomed. The interdisciplinary nature of our program, and our focus on Latin America and Iberia, two widely diverse geographical regions of the world, linguistically, culturally, ethnically, geographically, makes diversity intrinsic to our educational and research missions. Students can choose courses from a wide variety of disciplines and establish close mentorship relationships with faculty coming to the most diverse backgrounds and life experiences. Several of our faculty and staff, and many — if not most — of our students are the first generation in their family to go to college, and come from underrepresented groups in academia. This is a testament to our inclusive vocation.
We recognize current and historical injustices, and are committed to increasing our awareness of them through teaching, research, and in our daily interactions. This is a necessary step to build a society in which every life is valued equally and every one is treated with respect and equity. We support academic freedom and the mission of the University of California, which is to serve the interests of our state by ensuring that students and employees reflect the diversity of our population. By broadening and deepening our understanding of the current and historical reality of Latin America and Iberia we aim to prepare our students and support our faculty and staff to be active and thoughtful participants in our complex global society.