Summer research grant opportunity

Enter the 2014 Tinker Graduate Field Research Award Competition

By JESSICA LUTON

jluton@uga.edu

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (LACSI) recently announced the 2014 Tinker Foundation, Inc. Field Research Grant for students. 

The grants are meant to help fund travel and other expenses for highly qualified graduated students with an interest in conducting preliminary field research in Spanish or Portuguese-speaking Latin American or Caribbean region, excluding Puerto Rico.

Conducting field research is instrumental for academics to clearly document and study these regions.

This opportunity, which was funded with support by the Franklin College and the UGA Graduate School, will give some students the means to pursue research that they wouldn’t otherwise have funding to complete.

The Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute at UGA serves a very important purpose. As LACSI’s mission statement explains:

The Latin American and Caribbean region has had major social, cultural, political, and economic impact on the United States. This influence has increased exponentially over the last decade, especially in the state of Georgia. Establishing in-depth understandings of the region and its peoples, including those who have come to the United States from those regions and their descendants, has become crucially important in the state, and the challenge will likely grow in coming decades. LACSI’s primary mission is to address this need by promoting research, education, and service and outreach on Latin America, the Caribbean, and US Latinos.

LACSI offers a wide range of academic programs including an A.B. degree, an undergraduate certificate, a graduate certificate, an undergraduate minor and several other programs to help foster learning in this area of study. 

As an interdisciplinary program, the programs offer students a broad perspective. Course offerings represent many fields such as African-American Studies, anthropology, history, international affairs, journalism, literature, culture, music sociology, theater and many more. Students also complete extensive training in language—Spanish, Portuguese, Quechua and/or French. 

The LACSI’s mission grows increasingly important in the context of our changing demographics. This grant competition is a great opportunity for students to pursue research in an area of growing relevance in the future. 

Check out more about the competition for grant funds here. Applications are due February 24 and grant recipients will receive word about the competition by March 10-14. 

You can also learn more about LACSI mission here.