Diversity Statement and Land Acknowledgement
The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) values diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our mission is to study and educate about one of the world’s most linguistically, culturally, and ethnically diverse regions – Latin America and the Caribbean. Our affiliate faculty hail from the United States, Latin America, and beyond, representing a variety of cultures, nationalities, linguistic traditions, races, genders, and religious and social backgrounds.
We seek to ensure that our faculty, students, and staff are respected and welcomed. We thrive on our diversity, which comes from the variety of races, ethnicities, national origins, sexual orientations, genders, cultures, religions, physical abilities, and political viewpoints represented in our community.
We are committed to:
• Building a diverse, inclusive community;
• Fostering an atmosphere in which our faculty, students, and staff treat each other with respect
• Teaching and research on less commonly taught languages and working with local partners to develop and support language revitalization efforts to preserve linguistic and cultural diversity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Paying respect to the myaamiaki (Miami), Lënape (Delaware), Bodwéwadmik (Potawatomi), and saawanwa (Shawnee) people, on whose homelands Indiana University sits, recognizing them as caretakers of this land, and facilitating closer ties between Indigenous nations here and in Latin America wherever possible.
Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is to collectively reflect diverse perspectives on Latin America, the Caribbean, and their various nations and sub-regions. We are committed to giving voice to viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum, generating productive debate on world affairs, and protecting the academic freedom of our faculty, students, and affiliates.