Carl Sauer's vision of an institute for Latin American studies

Strong connections of empathy and intellect have long flourished between academics in the western United States and in Latin America. In 1937 Carl O. Sauer, long a professor of geography at the University of California, Berkeley, and a potent figure because of his connections to major eastern foundations, proposed the formation of an institute for Latin American Studies. To be quartered in Berkeley, the institute would have offered a bridgehead for vast cooperation with professors, independent scholars, and the keepers of indigenous knowledge across Latin America. Especially notable was Sauer's emphasis on the scholars of small means who were so rarely touched by foundations or grants. Although Sauer's initial proposals came to naught, later initiatives with the Office of Naval Research and other outlets were considerably more successful.