Institute of European Studies

Established in 1994, the UC Berkeley Center for Portuguese Studies (CPS) strengthens scientific, academic and cultural ties between the Berkeley campus, California, and Portugal.

Under the visionary leadership of Dr. Rui Machete, the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) was at the inception of the Center for Portuguese Studies and continues to be its main sponsor. FLAD promotes the development of Portugal, the Portuguese and Portuguese-descendant communities through a close cooperation with the United States of America. It serves as a bridge between the two countries, focusing on Science, Education, Culture and Transatlantic Relations. 

CPS manages the prestigious Pinto-Fialon Fund, established by the philanthropists Arthur Ferreira Pinto and Annette Fialon. 

It further expanded its scope with the support of Camões I.P., a public institute that coordinates education and dissemination policies relating to the Portuguese language and culture internationally, which allowed the creation of the Cátedra Ana Hatherly Chair. The latter supports research about the life and work of the Portuguese academic, poet, visual artist, essayist, filmmaker, painter, writer, and UC Berkeley alumna Ana Hatherly (1929-2015) by increasing the collection of her work at the Doe Library, developing areas of research associated with Hatherly, such as contemporary literary, musical, pictorial, and cinematographic productions in the Portuguese language, and organizing an annual conference related to her artistic production.

In cooperation with the Luso-American Financial (LAF), a Fraternal Benefit Society and the leading Portuguese fraternal benefit life insurance society in the United States, CPS developed a Luso-American Studies Program that supports Luso-American students at UC Berkeley and promotes the study of the Portuguese language among decedents of Portuguese immigrants to the United States. In the context of this Program, CPS also manages the Portuguese in California Project that documents the stories of Portuguese immigrants and their descendants in northern California. 

In cooperation with the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), CPS supports scientific and academic cooperation between UC Berkeley and Portuguese institutions of higher education.