DRCLAS awards internships, research grants

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) is sponsoring a record number of students traveling to Latin America for research and internships this summer. DRCLAS made a total of 156 summer travel awards that resulted in support for Harvard students across the University.

DRCLAS awarded research travel grants to 24 undergraduates for honors thesis research and 26 graduate students for dissertation research in Latin America.

This year, the center expanded its internship program to include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. In each country, students work at organizations that are in line with their personal or career interests. The center arranges host family stays and once-a-week seminars, lectures, and excursions. A record total of 70 Harvard undergraduate and graduate students will take part in the internship program coordinated by the DRCLAS Chile Regional Office, with 27 going to Chile, 20 to Argentina, nine each to Bolivia and Peru, and five to Brazil. Overall, DRCLAS has provided grants to 39 undergraduate and 14 graduate and professional School students for internships in Latin America.

DRCLAS awarded eight grants to undergraduates participating in WorldTeach this summer. Three students will receive funding to teach in Costa Rica, and five will receive funding to teach in Ecuador.

Ten undergraduates traveling to Brazil benefited from a gift from Jorge Paulo Lemann ’61 that supports research, internships, and study in Brazil. Three undergraduates will carry out honors thesis research, while five will work in summer internships and two will enroll in the Harvard Summer School course in Portuguese and Brazilian culture in Rio de Janeiro.

DRCLAS will award Mellon Summer Field Research Travel Grants to three students in the Department of History specializing in the study of the region.

Finally, the center will also award four summer Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Education, and the Harvard School of Public Health for intensive summer language training in Latin America or at other U.S. universities.