Speakers Bureau

Do your students want to know how Day of the Dead is celebrated in Latin America? Or how was the Inca Empire organized? Or perhaps what are CARICOM, NAFTA, ALCA or MERCOSUR and their impact in Latin America? These and many other questions are some of the possible topics of our Speakers Bureau program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

CLACS provides classroom presentations by U of I faculty and graduate students to share their expertise on Latin America and the Caribbean with your school. This service is free of charge. We serve the counties of Champaign, Vermillion, Douglas, Piatt, Ford and Iroquois.

You may contact us about our K-14 presentations on the topic you need or view a list of regions and possible topics below.

To place a request, simply fill out a request form or contact clacs@uiuc.edu .

Regions:

  • Andes
  • Argentina
  • Belize
  • Brazil
  • Central America
  • Costa Rica
  • Cuba
  • Dominica Republic
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • General Latin America
  • Haiti
  • Mexico
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Peru
  • Puerto Rico
  • Spain
  • Venezuela

Topics

History

  • Populism in Argentina
  • The Peron and Evita Period
  • Ancient Maya and Archaeology
  • The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico
  • Taíno Civilization
  • Panama Canal
  • Indigenous Languages in Latin America
  • Latin American History, Society, Culture and Politics in the Central Andes
  • US-Latin American Relation in the Past and the Present
  •  Iberian Invasion/Colonization of the Region
  • Violence/Crime in Central/Latin America
  •  Postwar Societies in Latin  America

Social Sciences

  • Undocumented Immigration to the Midwest
  • Economy
  • Public Policy
  • Population and Demographics
  • Women's Health, and Sexual and Reproductive Rights
  • Sexual Violence and Sex Work
  • Reactions to Globalization and Neoliberalism
  • Turns to the "Left"
  • Indigenous Movements
  • Race/Racism and Blackness
  • Influx of "Gringos" in Latin America (Costa Rica)
  • Immigration from Latin America to the U.S.
  • Remittances to Latin America
  • Haiti/Dominican Relations
  • Coca/Cocaine Politics
  • Child Exploitation 
  • Ecuadorian Cut Flower Industry
  • Hugo Chavez and the Media
  • Latin American Political Economy
  • Trading blocks: NAFTA, Mercosur, Caricom, and CAFTA
  • NGOs and Civil Society
  • Development and Democratization
  • Quechua
  • Latin American Anthropology
  • Migration/Emigration within/out of Brazil
  • Gender and Brazil
  • Education in Brazil

Cultural Studies

  • Literature, Cinema, Folklore and Music
  • Colonial Mexican Art, Mural Painting in Mexico
  • Pre-Hispanic through Colonial Art in Mexico
  • Dia de los Muertos
  • Community Museum in Ecuador
  • Gender and Popular Culture in Latin America
  •  Latin Americans in Hollywood
  • Indigenous Languages/Cultures in Latin America
  • Latin American Family Structure
  • Mexican History and Culture
  • Quechua Language
  • Spanish Language and Spanish Language Education
  • Primary and Secondary Schooling in Latin America
  • Cultural Differences, Practices, Dances, Rituals