Latin American and Caribbean History

The study of Latin American and Caribbean History at UW-Madison has a distinguished history that extends back to the late 1930s, when the first courses on Latin American history were offered. Today our broader community of Latin Americanists and Caribbeanists encompasses History faculty as well as a multitude of scholars associated with UW-Madison’s Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program, a Title VI National Resource Center in consortium with UW-Milwaukee’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

History faculty with research interests in Latin America or the Caribbean specialize in the history of race and nationalism in the Atlantic world, the African diaspora, and the history of Brazil; in global environmental history, animal studies, and the political economy of development; in the history of medicine and science in the Atlantic world and in the African diaspora; and in the politics of culture and intellectuals, global social democracy, poverty and inequality, and U.S.-Latin American relations. Uniting their research interests is a common emphasis on transnational history.

For undergraduate courses in Latin American History, see the Department of History’s Courses page. For graduate program requirements and courses, see the Department of History’s Graduate Program Handbook and Graduate Courses pages.