Committee member William Alonso '54, Saltonstall professor of population policy, said a concentration would not be practical because of the great cultural differences between the peoples of Latin America.

"Are you going to tell me Chileans...have a lot in common with Nicaraguans?" he asked. "Once you start picking somebody, where are you going to stop?"

Right now, the committee gives certificates to undergraduates who are involved in Latin American studies. Last year, 15 students received certificates.

After Harvard establishes the center, undergraduates would continue to receive certificates. But the new center will offer them better research opportunities, Coatsworth said.

The center will also lack some of the powers of a concentration, such as appointing or promoting faculty members, Alonso said.

The center will bring together professors from all of Harvard's schools. The current committee has only Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) researchers.

There are 80 faculty members whose work is related to Latin American studies across the University, said Coatsworth, of which only 18 are on the FAS committee.

The establishment of a full-fledged institute for Latin American studies would result in not only more research but also more interfaculty collaboration, Coatsworth said.

"Even if you did no more than bring together various people of different schools [to collaborate in Latin American studies], that would be great step forward," said Donald P. Warwick, senior lecturer on sociology and a member of the committee.

The new center will also tie all of Harvard's faculties to more Latin American governments and schools, Coatsworth said.

The FAS committee currently has direct connections with Complutense University in Spain and the government of Ecuador, which allow faculty research in both those countries, Alonso said.

Rudenstine said more specifics about the planned center will probably be available in the next few months.

There have already been some contributions specifically for a center for Latin American studies, the president said, and he plans a trip to Latin America in January to "get some help for Latin American studies."

"We plan to have the new center fully functional by next fall," Coatsworth said.

University officials have been planning the initiative for several years, Rudenstine said.

"We have been working very hard for the last two or three years to see whether we couldn't, as part of the planning exercise and [capital] campaign, strengthen and make much more apparent a major initiative in Latin American studies," Rudenstine said