Georgetown and Latin America

Building on its academic strengths, Washington, D.C., location, Jesuit values, and regional networks, Georgetown aspires to be a leading U.S. university engaged in Latin America.

Georgetown has deep historical ties to Latin America reaching all the way back to its 1789 founding, when the Society of Jesus had already been running universities in Spanish America for more than a century and a half. Today, Georgetown is part of a hemispheric network of Jesuit universities spanning 58 institutions. 

Georgetown’s interaction with Latin America intensified with the founding of the Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) in 1919. Over subsequent decades faculty and student interest in Latin America increased sharply, as reflected in the curriculum, number of enrolled students from the region, and relationships with Latin American embassies. 

Today Georgetown’s engagement with Latin America spans across Georgetown’s schools and the Main Campus, Medical Center, and Law Center. Main hubs of research, teaching, and outreach include the Center for Latin American Studies (SFS), the Latin American Leadership Program, the Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas (Law Center), the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and the Americas Initiative (Georgetown College). The number of faculty with Latin American expertise across the university has grown to around 100. 

In the years to come three thematic areas will be critical for Georgetown’s engagement with Latin America: governance and the rule of law, economic growth and innovation, and social and cultural inclusion. All three are of critical importance for the future of the region, correspond to areas of faculty strength and student interest, and align with our mission and location as a Jesuit institution committed to the common good and located in Washington, D.C.