News & Events
Upcoming Events
“Ask Me Anything: Diplomacy Careers for Portuguese, CHinese, Arabic, and Spanish Speakers”
By Clark A. Pew, U.S. Foreign Service Officer serving in Rio de Janeiro since 2022. Tuesday, June 30thm 12:30pm, 257 HRCB
Past Lectures and Events
“World Cup Watch Party: England vs. Croatia”
Wednesday, June 17th, 2-4pm, 238 HRCB
“The Metamorphosis of Peruvian Quinoa: From Marginalized Indigenous Staple to Global Superfood”
By Rick Jellen, Professor of Genetics in the BYU Department of Plant & Wildlife Sciences.
“The Latino Experience” Art Banquet and Competition
Organized by the Student Association of Latin American Studies (SALAS).
“Writing, Speaking, and Making Assumptions About Greater Latin America”
By Dr. Ignacio García, Professor of Western & Latino History at BYU.
SALAS Care Week: Flowers and Traditional Ribbon Braids
All donations went to the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah (ACLU).
“Sin Padres, Ni Papeles: Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Coming of Age in the United States”
By Stephanie Canizales, Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of California, Berkeley and Director of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative.
Translation Studies Symposium: “Borges and Translation”
Presentations by Sergio Waisman, Daniel Balderston, and Victoria Livingstone.
BYU School of Medicine: “Preparing Physicians to Serve Throughout the World”
By Josh Jaramillo, MD, Associate Dean of Admissions for the BYU School of Medicine.
“La Política de Ciencia y Tecnología al 2030”
By Dra. Jeri Gloria Ramón Ruffner de Vega, Rectora de la Universidad Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM).
“Venezuela: Situation and Options Ahead”
By Jeff Rands, retired from the U.S. Foreign Service.
“Fút(e)bol is Life: Why You Should Care About the World Cup”
Presentations by Jonathan Wade (Department of Spanish and Portuguese), Ryan Hill (Department of Spanish and Portuguese), Jeff Shumway (Department of History), and Cacey Farnsworth (Department of History).
“Ask Me Anything: Latin American Careers”
By Nate Knudsen, member of the commercial operations team for Qualtrics Mexico.
2026 Washington Model OAS
We want to congratulate our 2026 Washington Model OAS team who very ably represented both BYU and their assigned country of Peru at the Model OAS simulation in DC in early April. All BYU delegates successfully presented their draft resolutions, and BYU/Peru delegate Elena Aguirre was elected as Assistant Secretary General for the 2027 Washington Model OAS—the first BYU student to be elected to serve in this position. Elena will also serve as a member of the new student advisory council with the actual OAS Assistant Secretary General, Laura Gil.
New Grad Swag
We have custom stoles for the LAS graduates! You can rent a stole for a returnable deposit of $10, or you can purchase a stole for $45.
Art Contest Winners
Rebeca Ozaeta, Here and There
Luna Sproul, On the Surface/En La Superficie
Lila Bastidas, Ya Me Cansé
2026 Valedictorian
Tori Mask of Gilbert, Arizona is our 2026 Latin American Studies valedictorian. She graduated in April with minors in Spanish and Italian. After graduation, she’ll spend spring term at an immigration firm in Rome, where she’s excited to use her Spanish skills, as the firm has many Spanish-speaking clients but no Spanish-speaking employees. In the fall, she’ll begin her first year at the BYU Law School; while she’s currently aspiring to be an immigration law attorney, she’s also interested in international law and estate planning.