Internships
Career Information
Recommendation Letters
Conferences and Student Fellowship Opportunities
La Companera
Getting Together
Internships
Latin American Studies students have participated in a variety of internships
that complement and contribute to their major or concentration. Internship
opportunities for Latin American Studies students range from work with
international development and human rights organizations like Cultural
Survival and the Inter-American Foundation, to work in organizations
that provide legal, health, or social services to Spanish-speaking communities
in the United States. Although these internships are typically in the
United States (not Latin America), they nonetheless provide valuable
educational and job-related experience for students. Students are encouraged
to consult with the Internship Advisor in the Career Center for further
information about these opportunities.
In addition to regular internships like those mentioned above, the
Community Internships in Latin America (CILA) program offered by HECUA
provides an off-campus study opportunity that is built around student
internships. The CILA Program, located in Ecuador, places students in
internships with community and non-governmental organizations. The bulk
of the student's time is spent working in the community with their organization.
This is supplemented with seminars that provide an academic and analytical
focus to the internship experience. For more information about CILA,
contact the Off-Campus Studies Office
Career Information
Program faculty are happy to discuss your career plans with you and
help you think about your options for graduate schools, jobs, and planning
your course of study to meet your career goals. We also receive lots
of information from graduate schools and occasionally receive fliers
about jobs. We will forward job and internship announcements to you
via email. And, of course, you should make full use of the services
provided by the Carleton Career Center.
Recommendation Letters
At some point, you will undoubtedly need letters of recommendation
from faculty. Whether you are applying for admission to an off-campus
study program, a student fellowship, or post-Carleton employment or
study, faculty can write better letters in support of your application
if they know you and your work, and if they have adequate lead-time.
Talk to the faculty member from whom you are requesting a recommendation
well in advance of the application deadline. Keep in mind that although
faculty may know your work in their class(es), they may not know about
all of your other academic and non-academic interests and accomplishments.
It is very helpful to have a brief resumé that summarizes your
goals and objectives, as well as your employment and educational experience.
Include volunteer work, special skills, and any academic (or non-academic)
"specialties" that you have developed outside the Program
and of which we may not be aware.
Before you graduate, we recommend that you open a file at the Career
Center, and ask your faculty referees to put letters on file for you,
even if you don't foresee needing recommendations immediately. We frequently
receive requests for letters of recommendation from students who have
graduated a year or two—or even longer—before, and we are
happy to oblige. But faculty go on sabbatical, and may not be on campus
when you discover that you need a recommendation. It's best to have
the letter on file; it can be replaced with a new one, if necessary.
Conferences and Student Fellowship Opportunities
Carleton offers several fellowships, including Independent Research
Fellowships, the Class of 1963 Fellowship and the Larson International
Fellowships, that support student travel and research. The competition
for these fellowships is announced each fall by the Dean of the College,
and applications are typically due in early February. Latin American
Studies students who wish to undertake independent research in Latin
American during the summer are encouraged to consider applying for one
of these fellowships. The College also makes available limited funds
to support student travel to conferences or for more limited research
during winter break. For these funds, students must submit letters of
application to the Associate Dean of the College. For more information,
see "Student Grant Opportunities" on the Dean of the College’s
web page.
Each February, the Institute of Latin American Studies Student Association
(ILASSA), University of Texas, sponsors a national student conference
in Latin American Studies. This conference brings together undergraduate
and graduate students from throughout the nation to present their work
and exchange ideas. The conference provides an excellent opportunity
for students to make contacts with others, gain professional experience,
and take advantage of the enormous resources of the Institute of Latin
American Studies and the Benson Library (one of the leading research
libraries in Latin American Studies). Several Carleton students have
participated in the conference, and have found it a rewarding and exciting
experience. To participate, you must submit an abstract of the paper
you propose to present at the conference. The abstract is typically
due in late September. For more information, see the ILASSA
web page, at (http://www.utexas.edu/cola/llilas/students/studentgroups/ILASSA/index.html.)
From time to time other student conferences or contests are announced.
The Program Director will distribute information about these opportunities
as it becomes available.
La Compañera (Newsletter)
Latin American Studies publishes a student newsletter, La Compañera,
at least once each term. The newsletter includes information on program
events, courses offered, articles about the activities of program faculty
and students, and other news of interest to program participants. If
you would like to help with the newsletter or have ideas about articles
and news to include, contact the editors, Kate Fischer (fischerk@carleton.edu)
and Kielly Dunn (dunnk@carleton.edu).
Getting Together
Each year the Latin American Studies Program sponsors a series of public
lectures that bring prominent scholars and public figures to campus.
Students and faculty have the opportunity to meet and interact informally
with these speakers during their campus visit. In addition, we also
sponsor colloquia and social events for students and faculty in the
Program. These events are announced throughout the year. If you have
ideas about events or speakers that you would like to see us sponsor,
contact the Program Director or SDA.
