Knowledge of Latin America and its people, including those in the United States, is an essential part of a liberal education today. Not only is the Latino population of West Michigan growing rapidly, but Latinos will soon constitute the most populous ethnic group in the United States. In the meantime, U.S. economic, political, and cultural relations with our Latin American neighbors--from Mexico and the Caribbean to Central and South America--continue to grow in importance. Students in a wide variety of majors and professional programs can benefit from studying Latin America: the biology major who wishes to work in rainforest ecology, the business major who plans to work in international trade, the education or health sciences student who expects to work in almost any U.S. city, or the literature major who plans a graduate degree in Spanish or comparative literature. In fact, the Latin American Studies Program is for any traditional or continuing student who simply wants to learn more about the fascinating and diverse cultures of Latin America.