Mexico
Mexico Office
Established in 2012, the DRCLAS Mexico Office is Harvard University's only office in Mexico with a Harvard-wide mandate. It plays a pivotal role in strengthening the University’s presence in the country by facilitating faculty and student engagement, supporting innovative research, and fostering academic collaborations. The office has become a hub for advancing educational initiatives, connecting local individuals, organizations, and alumni to Harvard, and supporting scholarly and cultural activities.
As one of Harvard's 20+ global offices, the DRCLAS Mexico Office contributes to the University's broader mission by supporting faculty, students, and researchers in their work worldwide, while continuing to build and strengthen ties between Harvard and Mexico.
Student Opportunities
Summer Internship Program (SIP)
The Summer Program Internship (SIP) offers structured internship and immersion experiences tailored for students from all concentrations and degrees. Since its inception, the program has engaged hundreds of Harvard students in eight-week pre-professional and cultural experiences with various Mexican partners.
Internships are designed to provide practical, hands-on experience and deeper cultural understanding, aligning academic pursuits with real-world application. Cultural activities are designed to create a deeper understanding of the diverse realities lived and experienced throughout Mexico.
"During my internship at the Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, I saw an opportunity to improve the lab’s process for analyzing Southern blot images. I researched and selected a software tool, taught myself how to use it, created a step-by-step guide, trained my colleagues, and analyzed approximately 60 patient samples. I was able to strengthen my skills in research, problem-solving, initiative, and scientific communication, while helping the lab create a more efficient and reproducible analysis process"
Faculty Opportunities
Faculty Research Support
The DRCLAS Mexico Office provides assistance to Harvard faculty conducting innovative and transformative research in the country.
It helps navigate the challenges of international research including facilitating fieldwork, fostering partnerships and collaborations, and coordinating multi-year initiatives.
Mexico Studies Program Faculty Committee
Under the leadership of its faculty co-chairs, the Mexico Faculty Committee leads the vision, priorities and projects undertaken by the program, both in Cambridge and in Mexico.
Recent News
Seeing Mexico and Brazil Through Students’ Eyes
Building Classrooms That Welcome Every Student: Professor María Luisa Parra on Inclusive Education
Mexico, the land of my ancestors
Learning to Do Research: One Sample at a Time
If the War on Drugs Isn’t Failing—What Is It Actually Doing?
Gender, Power, and the Realities of Migration on Mexico’s Northern Border
Building Bridges Across Borders: DRCLAS and UC San Diego Connect Fellows in First Joint Virtual Gathering
Past initiatives
The Mexico Innovation Fund (MIF)
Established in 2018, the Mexico Innovation Fund (MIF) at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies provided funding for collaborative research projects between Harvard and Mexican partners. The fund aimed to address some of Mexico's most pressing challenges through innovative solutions.
Cátedra Eduardo Matos Moctezuma
The first lecture series in Harvard’s 400-year history to be named in honor of a Mexican intellectual, the Cátedra Matos Moctezuma ran from 2017 to 2024. Dedicated to Mexico's most distinguished archaeologist, this series brought together leading specialists in pre-Hispanic Mexico from around the world. Through the legacy of Professor Matos Moctezuma, Harvard celebrated the world-renowned excellence of Mexican archaeology.
Watch the 2024 Roundtable on Eduardo Matos Moctezuma's Death in Mesoamerica here.
Winternship
The Mexico Winternship Program, offered during the January Term from 2014 to 2024, provided a deep immersion into the country’s rich cultural, historical, and social diversity through various activities and internships over three weeks. This experience aimed to foster professional development for Harvard students while building valuable international networking opportunities for their future careers.
GHP 544: The Mexican Health System Course
A Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health course that examined Mexico’s historic health reforms, including Seguro Popular and IMSS-Bienestar, with participation from both Mexican and Harvard students. A key aspect of the course was promoting knowledge exchange between Harvard experts and their Mexican counterparts through lectures and joint classes. Additionally, students had the opportunity to deepen their understanding through field visits to regions such as Chiapas and Nayarit.
The Harvard Summer School Mexico program
The Harvard Summer School Mexico program included advanced Spanish language classes three times a week at the DRCLAS Mexico Office, located in the heart of Mexico City.
Students engaged with invited speakers and participated in at least one field trip each week. Excursions to significant sites throughout Mexico formed an integral part of the curriculum and were led by two Harvard faculty members.
