Want to finish that poetic masterpiece while living in a real artist community in the woods? Interested in conducting research on cures for AIDS and other infectious diseases as an undergraduate? Would you like to spend a few months living and working side-by-side with textile workers in Guatemala? How about creating a financial report that will be used by real investors?
In addition to our world-class libraries and special collections, Tulane is home to a diverse and impressive array of cultural and research centers that will broaden your experience and worldview. This page provides information on a few of Tulane's renowned art, culture, and research centers.
Stone Center for Latin American Studies
With its important southern port location and proximity to the islands, New Orleans is often called America’s Caribbean city. What better place for the site of one of the world’s premier programs for the study of Latin America and the Caribbean? The Stone Center brings together a variety of academic disciplines, including Anthropology, Political Science, History, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Economics, and Music in order to encourage a profound understanding of Latin America and its relation to a global world. There are several popular immersion study abroad programs offered through the Stone Center in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Costa Rica. Adventurous students can also pursue study in Portuguese, Kaqchikel Maya, Yucatec Maya, Haitian Creole, and Nahuatl in our Lesser Commonly Taught Languages program.
Middle American Research Institute (MARI)
Founded in 1924, the Middle American Research Institute (pictured right) specializes in the anthropology and archaeology of Mexico and Central America. Containing physical, photographic, and textile collections, the institute is a valuable resource to the Tulane, regional, and global communities for research. Though the collection is particularly strong in the areas of Mesoamerican and Mayan material, the institute also boasts important art from North, South, and Central America. Dinwiddie Hall, the gallery's home on Tulane's uptown campus, underwent a $9 million Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified renovation in 2011. The institute director, Marcello A. Canuto, is renowned in the field of Middle American research and brings firsthand experience from digs in La Corona, a Mayan archaeological site in Guatemala.
Newcomb Art Museum
An amazing resource for artists and art lovers alike, Tulane’s Newcomb Art Museum hosts a number of exhibitions and events. Among its permanent collections are valuable examples of Newcomb Pottery. Founded in 1894 by Newcomb faculty members, Newcomb Pottery is not only a hallmark of Tulane, but it also became one of the most significant American art collections during the first half of the twentieth century. Fashioned by Newcomb graduates, the pottery is highly valued by historians and collectors today.
H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute
The Newcomb College Institute is a dynamic, interdisciplinary center designed to enhance the undergraduate experience for women at Tulane University. Established in 2006, the Newcomb College Institute supplements the academic experience by hosting events and speakers, funding student research projects, participating in community rebuilding, and hosting symposia and international summits. Additionally, the Newcomb College Institute strives to enrich undergraduate women's experiences at Tulane University through leadership and co-curricular activities such as the Big Sister/Little Sister program, the Town Mom program, Newcomb Senate, Women in Science, Newcomb Assets and Mortar Board.
Burkenroad Reports
Since 1993, the Burkenroad Reports have offered a unique opportunity for Tulane students to research and prepare security analyses, which then are distributed to nearly 20,000 investors. Anyone can invest real money in the Burkenroad Mutual Fund, which is managed by Hancock Bank. The majority of the fund's holdings are stocks followed by the Burkenroad Reports program, and investment managers utilize our student-produced research. Since its inception, the fund has outperformed 99% of domestic equity mutual funds and has outpaced both the Russell 2000 and S&P 500 indexes.
A Studio in the Woods
Are you passionate about the environment and the arts but unsure of how to combine them? A Studio in the Woods offers a rare and selective opportunity to write, draw, study, and learn in the only live-in artist community in the Deep South. Located on 7.66 acres of forest on the Mississippi River, the Studio is dedicated to the study and preservation of endangered hardwood forest within a peaceful retreat where literary, visual, and performing artists can work uninterrupted. The “Woods” began as the homestead of the Carmichaels, who first picnicked on the land in 1968. Today, the Studio in the Woods is an inspiring environment for many artists and home to a number of educational and outreach programs.
Tulane National Primate Research Center
Located in a rural area 30 miles north of New Orleans, the Primate Center’s mission is to improve human and animal health through biomedical research. Students receive hands-on experience in testing and developing vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases such as AIDS, Lyme disease, malaria, and tuberculosis. The Center also researches regenerative medicine and genetic diseases with non-embryonic stem cells.
Payson Center for International Development
Issues of social justice, sustainable human development, and cultural understanding come together through various projects and research opportunities supported by the Payson Center. Those involved with the center seek to improve the quality of life for the world’s most vulnerable populations. To this end, students frequently complete internships and projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that bridge many different academic disciplines. Students majoring in International Development at Tulane and working through the Payson Center are currently working on projects that involve evaluating humanitarian aid initiatives in Haiti, tracking the impact of the BP oil spill, HIV/AIDS work in Rwanda, and reconstruction in Northern Uganda, among many others.
