Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies

The Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies (LACLS) Program at Brandeis University offers an interdisciplinary major and minor. The program draws on faculty in nine departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and Brandeis International Business School. Although individual classes might emphasize local and regional studies, the LACLS major and minor moves beyond a particular area to view communities and regions as embedded within global processes.

The deep commitment of faculty in LACLS to a multidisciplinary approach to the study of Latin America and Latinx people is evidenced in the range of courses available and the distribution requirements. This structure enables students to appreciate the subject matter in its rich social, economic, political, cultural and historical implications, encouraging students to develop methodological flexibility. While embracing such intellectual breadth, the LACLS 100 seminar required of all majors and the fact that many students focus on one or two departments in completing the major promotes depth in at least one disciplinary approach.

We wish to share the sad news of the passing of Donald Hindley, Professor Emeritus of Politics and former core faculty member of LACLS, who died on December 30, 2022.

Donald Hindley came to Brandeis University in 1962. With an Honors degree in Geography and a graduate diploma in Education from Leeds University, he earned a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California. He went on to earn a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University. He was the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation Grant as well as a Fulbright Travel Grant which enabled him to conduct fieldwork in both Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Outspoken on many issues of the political moment, Professor Hindley had a strong sense that injustice and inequality based on gender, race, class, ethnicity and nationality should be exposed and combated. He prized the opportunity to teach students, taught multiple generations in families, and said at his retirement in 2015 that “the chance to interact with (students) and watch them grow…has kept me thrilled and alive and interested.”

Professor Hindley was a founding member of the LACLS (then LAS) program, helping to create it in 1963 and then an enthusiastic member of the program steering committee until his retirement over half a century later.  Professor Hindley’s courses in Latin American politics were a central part of our curriculum and his participation as a core faculty member and member of Jane’s grant and prize committees through the years enriched the program enormously.