About CELAS

The Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies (CELAS) works to increase the visibility and impact of research in Latin American, Latine, and Caribbean studies at Rice. It is a campus-wide initiative that seeks to build collaboration on all levels among faculty, students, and staff.

The 2021 launch of Rice’s Initiative for the Study of LatinX America (ISLA) marked a major step toward strengthening and coordinating scholarship on Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinx communities across the university. Conceived as an interdisciplinary initiative that responded to a decades-long need for a university-wide hub for research on Latin America, the Caribbean and Latinx communities, ISLA aimed to foster collaboration among faculty, students, and researchers across Rice. Officially established in 2024, CELAS built on this vision, carrying forward the same mission of advancing interdisciplinary research and public engagement in Houston and beyond.

CELAS receives staffing support from the Dean’s Office of the School of Humanities and Arts and financial support from the Office of Research at Rice University.

For more information, contact the CELAS director.