Mission Statement
The Indigenous, Latin American, and Caribbean Studies (ILACS) Consortium is a network of peer centers and programs across the Great Lakes region, with the aim to enhance collaborative research, develop programming, and expand learning opportunities for our intellectual communities. We also advocate for and coordinate the study of less commonly taught languages, especially Indigenous languages spoken in the part of Abya Yala or Ixachitlan that is often referred to as Latin America and the Caribbean.
Members
Indiana University, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Ohio State University, Center for Latin American Studies
University of Chicago, Center for Latin American Studies
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program
Core Objectives
(1) Sharing resources for faculty and students working across the fields of Indigenous, Latin American, and Caribbean Studies.
(2) Organizing collaborative events, speaking tours, and film festivals for research dissemination, curriculum design, and community outreach.
(3) Supporting the study of less commonly taught languages (some of which may be FLAS eligible) offered at our institutions, including:
- Ecuadorian Quichua
- Haitian Kreyol
- Nahuatl
- Portuguese
- Q’anjob’al
- Southern Quechua
- Yoruba
- Yucatec Maya
(4) Partnering with related initiatives and organizations across the region, including:
- Illinois’s Quechua Innovation and Teaching Initiative
- IU’s Global Indigenous Studies Network
- OSU’s Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Research Collection (Kawsay Ukhunchay)
- OSU’s Intensive Portuguese Abroad for Spanish Teachers (IPAST) program, with the Federal University of Parana, Brazil
- The Tinker Foundation’s Visiting Professors Program at UChicago and UW-Madison
- UM’s Outreach Collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico
- UM’s Global Migration Education Initiative (GMEI) with San Diego State University and the Secretariat of Baja California, Mexico
- UM’s Indigenous Studies Network
- UW-Madison’s collaboration with Universidad Amawtay Wasi, Ecuador
- UW-Madison’s Summer Intensive Portuguese Institute