The Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies (LCS) offers a program of study that examines the histories, politics, and cultures of both U.S. Latino and Caribbean populations. We employ interdisciplinary, hemispheric, and transnational approaches to consider the ways U.S. Latino and Caribbean communities have been, and continue to be, shaped by the legacies of colonialism, slavery, globalization, and social, artistic, and intellectual activism. The department's interdisciplinary faculty and major/minor curriculum expose students to a wide range of scholarship, intellectual debates, and methodologies drawn from the social sciences and the humanities. We also offer a departmental certificate in multicultural competence to students who take 9 credits offered by LCS. The certificate enables students to demonstrate competency in one of the most important areas of change in the United States in the 21st century: the formation of an increasingly multicultural society. The department works closely with students to foster a comprehensive learning experience by teaching them to write well, speak articulately, and think analytically and creatively. These skills prepare students for success in many careers and fields of study in graduate or professional schools.