Student Awards

We are very proud to have funded the following KU students for these awards: Stansifer, 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.   

2026

Amalie Elizabeth Hipp (PhD, Anthropology)

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.   

Winter Break 2025/Spring 2026

•    Oluwakorede Opeyemi Ajibona (PhD, Philosophy) - Brazil
•    Cilicia Brotherson (PhD, Psychology) - Brazil
•    Janice Robles Fernández (PhD, Psychology) - Puerto Rico
•    Eva Sostak (PhD, Theatre and Dance) - Argentina
•    Natalie Wolf (MA, English) - Peru

Summer 2026

•    Nate Blum (PhD, Geography) - Guatemala
•    Jeremy M. Cook (PhD, History) - Argentina
•    Rocio Arasy Chamorro Jara (PhD, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies) - Paraguay
•    Doug Eifler (MA, Geography) - Paraguay
•    Cesia Espinal (PhD, Spanish & Portuguese) - Guatemala & Honduras

•    Cap McLiney (PhD, Geography) - Panama
•    Alexandra Celina Navarro Espinoza (PhD, Sociocultural Anthropology) - Honduras
•    Marcela V. Paiva Veliz (PhD, Geography) - Chile
•    Alexa Paredes (MA, Film and Media Studies) - Ecuador
•    Matheus Romanetto (PhD, Sociology) - Brazil
•    Zenia Ruiz-Utrilla (PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) - Colombia

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.   

Winter Break/Spring 2026

•    Samantha Jane Avila - Costa Rica, Winter break
•    Bhavya Gupta - Brazil, Winter break
•    Rachel Hostetler - Costa Rica, Spring semester
•    Mariana Mullarney - Costa Rica, Winter break
•    Avery Elena Vance - Costa Rica, Spring semester

Summer/Fall 2026

•    Erika García-Reyes - Argentina, Summer
•    Christopher Loma Panuco - Costa Rica, Summer
•    Rafael Martínez - Chile, Fall semester
•    Alexa Montalvo Valadez - Costa Rica, Fall semester
•    Ava Pegg - Argentina, Summer
•    Alexandra Vander Pol - Argentina, Summer
•    Grady Warren - Guatemala, Summer

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships  

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships was 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.   

ACADEMIC YEAR 2025-2026 

Mary Krishnaa Self (MA, Global and International Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Concentration) - Portuguese

SUMMER 2026 

•    Kelly Brennan (MA, Indigenous Studies) – Kaqchikel, Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala
•    Clara Rodriguez (MA, Spanish & Portuguese) – Portuguese, São Paulo, Brazil
•    Jorie Stump (PhD, Curriculum and Teaching) – Quechua, KU Summer language study online
•    Grady Warren (BA, Linguistics) – Kaqchikel, Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala