Latin American Centre

The Latin American Centre was founded in 1965 by St. Antony's College although St Antony’s had begun to develop Latin American studies in 1959. The main aims of the Centre are to educate graduate students in a range of disciplines applied to Latin America; to promote research on Latin America; to support a research library; to bring students and academics from Latin America to the University; and to organize seminars, lectures, workshops and conferences on Latin America. 

The Centre’s emphasis has been on the study of the region since independence, its history, politics, economies, international relations and societies; the training of the future generations of Latin American experts; and on the establishment of permanent academic links with Latin America. Within the Latin American Centre, the Brazilian Studies Programme brings together scholars from around the University of Oxford who are teaching and researching on Brazilian topics. Four research clusters are associated with the programme: International Relations; Comparative Politics; Language and Culture; and Environmental Studies.

In addition to the permanent academic staff and several research associates housed in our premises at 1 Church Walk, there are many more Latin American specialists across the University working in anthropology, political economy, environmental sciences and international relations, not to mention Latin American languages and literature. The LAC aspires to act as a meeting point for all staff and students with an interest in the area. The continuing high quality of research at the Centre has been recognized with prestigious grants from the Economic and Social Research Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council, British Academy and Leverhulme, as well as numerous Oxford University John Fell Fund supported research projects. The current research projects include studies on reducing inequality, strengthening democracy and human rights protections, and state capacity building.

Every year the Centre welcomes students from across the world into its graduate programmes. Both the MSc in Latin American Studies and MPhil in Latin American Studies provide an excellent foundation for those wishing to specialise in Latin America and work in the private sector, government, NGOs, multi-lateral and bi-lateral aid and development agencies, international organisations, international relations, publishing and the media. The MPhil LAS programme is ideally suited to those students considering an academic or research-focused career, and is an excellent training for a doctoral degree.The Latin American Centre offers a number of part and full scholarships to attract the very strongest students who would otherwise not be able to come and study in Oxford. 

The LAC also hosts the Bodleian Latin American Centre Library located on the ground floor of our building. The LAC Library is a specialist lending collection for those studying Latin American history, politics, economics and social sciences and it holds some 16,000 volumes, together with journals, pamphlets and microfilms. It also has an extensive history collection, focused in particular on the twentieth century. The LAC Library not only supports the Centre’s postgraduate students but welcomes all current resident members of the University who are interested in the subject area.

The Latin American Centre also welcomes applications from academic visitors and from registered doctoral candidates at a university outside the UK conducting research on Latin America who want to do research in Oxford without registering for a degree of the University.