Student Awards

We are very proud to have funded the following KU students for these awards: Stansifer, Oppenheimer, Tinker, Herzfeld, and FLAS.  

Charles Stansifer Fellowship  

The Charles Stansifer Fellowship is a $5,000 award to outstanding doctoral students who are working to complete their dissertations on a Latin American or Caribbean topic.  Preference is given to research on Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and U.S.-Latin American relations, respectively.   

2025 

Pere DeRoy (PhD, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies) Guyana

Rafa Gonzalez (PhD, Geography) Mexico  

Guillermina Peña (PhD, Spanish) Mexico 

Robert Oppenheimer Research Travel Grant

The Robert Oppenheimer Research Travel Grant honors a former KU professor of Latin American history and funds graduate students in the humanities and social sciences who wish to perform research in Latin America or the Caribbean. The Center awards the grant(s) in odd years, and the Department of History selects applicants in History in even years. 

2025 

Luisa Garcés Sierra (PhD, Spanish) Brazil  

Ridwan Aribidesi Muhammed (PhD, History) Brazil  

Laryssa Oliveira Rodrigues (MA, Spanish & Portuguese) Argentina 

Tinker Field Research grants  

Tinker Field Research Grants are co-funded by a grant from the Tinker Foundation and KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.  Tinker grants support Masters and pre-dissertation doctoral students for 2+ weeks of travel to Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking countries in Latin America for exploratory research.   

2025  

Adedolapo Adenike Adewuyi (PhD, History) Brazil  

Douglas Eifler (MA, Geography) Paraguay  

Amalie Hipp (PhD, Anthropology) Panama  

Juan David Martinez Zayas (PhD, Educational Leadership & Policy Studies) Mexico & Guatemala  

Cap McLiney (MA, Geography) Panama  

Samuel Morrow (MA, Geography) Panama  

Ridwan Aribidesi Muhammed (PhD, History) Brazil  

Emmanuel Ofon-ikot (MA, African and African American Studies) Brazil  

Laryssa Oliveira Rodrigues (MA, Spanish & Portuguese) Brazil  

Kip Perry (PhD, History) Mexico  

Jennifer Ramos Doval (PhD, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology) Mexico  (award deferred)

Margarita Rivera Arrivillaga (PhD, Anthropology) Mexico & Guatemala  

Matheus Romanetto (PhD, Sociology) Brazil  

Mary Self (GIST - Latin American & Caribbean Concentration) Uruguay  

Sarah Thornsberry (PhD, English - Rhetoric & Composition) Peru (award deferred)

Anita Herzfeld Study Abroad Scholarship  

The Anita Herzfeld Study Abroad Scholarship honors former Center Undergraduate Director, Study Abroad Director, and Latin American linguist who helped shape the Center into what it is today.   

Fall 2024-Summer 2025   

Kendal Adams - Costa Rica   

Sophia Eddinger - Argentina  

Julianna Forsha - Argentina  

Carigan Foster - Brazil  

Julia Hanson - Mexico  

Ashley Hernández - Costa Rica  

Abigail Kovac - Costa Rica  

Tatayanna López - Costa Rica  

Joseph Minder - Costa Rica  

Vijay Reddy - Argentina  

Norah Rohlfing - Argentina  

Isabella Souza - Costa Rica  

Matthew Steinmetz - Panama  

Caitlin Vanoss - Costa Rica

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships  

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships are funded via an institutional grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education (USDoE).  The intent is to build a reservoir of scholars with linguistic and cultural expertise on all areas of the world.  FLAS Fellowships focus on “Less Commonly Taught Languages,” which currently include all non-U.S. languages except Spanish, German, French, and Italian.  Due to generous support from the USDoE and the KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, CLACS funds instruction in the indigenous languages of Guaraní, Kaqchikel Maya, Mískitu, Quechua, Tlapanec (Me’phaa), and Yucatec Maya, as well as Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish.   

SUMMER 2025   

Graduate Students  

Luisa Garcés Sierra (PhD, Spanish) Portuguese  

Rafa Gonzalez (PhD, Geography) Rarámuri  

Christa Osarczuk (PhD, Anthropology) Quechua  

Raul Alejandro Rangel Fernández (MA, Indigenous Studies) Quechua  

Jorie Stump (PhD, Curriculum & Instruction) Quechua  

Sarah Thornsberry (PhD, English - Rhetoric & Composition) Quechua 

Undergraduate Students  

Jason Caetano Brown (Music Education) Portuguese   

Due to a cut/cessation in funding and the discontinuance of the FLAS Fellowships program by the Dept. of Education after we designated the awardees for the Academic Year 2025-26, only one of eight fellowships was awarded in the fall semester using remaining carryover funds.  The Center was not able to distribute the remaining fellowships, but we recognize the students for their original award.

ACADEMIC YEAR 2025-26   

Graduate Students   

Luisa Garcés Sierra (PhD, Spanish) Quechua  

Christa Osarczuk (PhD, Anthropology) Kaqchikel Maya  

Guillermina Peña (PhD, Spanish) Nahuatl  

Kip Perry (PhD, History) Yucatec Maya  

Mary Self (MA, GIST - Latin American & Caribbean Concentration) Portuguese  

Jorie Stump (PhD, Curriculum & Instruction) Quechua 

Undergraduate Students  

Esperança Monteiro (Political Science) Quechua  

Ana Silva (International Business) Quechua