Welcome to the Center for Latin American and Border Studies (CLABS). CLABS was created at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in 1979 after the receipt of generous grants from the Nason Family and other sources. The Center’s mission is to promote excellence in teaching, research and community outreach on issues concerning Latin America, the US-Mexico border and border studies in general. The Center hosts lectures, workshops and conferences, supports outreach activities with local communities and schools, and promotes undergraduate and graduate courses in Latin American and Border Studies at NMSU. It is located in Las Cruces in southern New Mexico, less than an hour from the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez.

Please come by and visit us at the Nason House, where you can read one of the books in our Latin America book collection, see our Latin American artifacts, prints, and photographs, and talk to other scholars, students, and community members interested in Latin America and Border issues. I would love to welcome and see you here! 

David G. Ortiz 

Inaugural Faculty Fellow

Mission

The mission of the Center for Latin American and Border Studies is to foster excellence in Latin American academics at New Mexico State University. The Center accomplishes this mission by pursuing the following broad objectives:

• Stimulate scholarship on Latin America
• Encourage excellence in academic programs related to Latin America
• Provide outreach to the public and to public schools on Latin America
• Encourage grant writing relevant to Latin America
• Serve as a clearinghouse for activities related to Latin America on the NMSU campus
• CLABS serves the entire NMSU community and is governed by an advisory board.