Latin American Centre

The Latin American Centre (LAC) was founded in 1964 to promote the study of Latin America in the United Kingdom, and is now part of the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA). The LAC offers a one-year MSc in Latin American Studies, a two-year MPhil in Latin American Studies and, through OSGA, a DPhil in Area Studies (Latin America), bringing together over 20 students working on the region at a graduate level. 

The LAC’s masters’ programmes concentrate on the modern history, politics, economics, international relations and environmental geography of the region. The LAC also acts as a hub for the study of Latin America across a wide range of disciplines in Oxford, including anthropology, geography, music and literature. Visiting academics and visiting doctoral students, from within and outside the United Kingdom, add to a vibrant community of scholars working on a variety of topics of central concern for the region. The research carried out by the LAC’s academic staff covers significant areas such as transitional justice, coalitional presidentialism, the political influence of remittances, the political economy of inequality, history of the police, urban development, and the history of democracy.

As a centre for the study of the region, the LAC serves as a venue for debating ongoing research and relevant current affairs. Leading international scholars and key public figures from the region regularly contribute to the LAC’s flagship weekly seminar. The LAC also runs a Brazilian Studies programme, which hosts a yearly conference on Brazil as well as regular academic visitors from Brazil, including a Rio Branco Professor. A History seminar meets once a week; a programme that often includes joint events with other universities in Europe and the Americas. In addition, the LAC hosts a DPhil seminar that brings together doctoral students across the university studying topics related to Latin America from a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities.

The LAC is housed at 1 Church Walk, on the premises of St Antony’s College, with which it is closely connected, although students and some members of the academic staff are also members of other Oxford colleges. An important part of the LAC is the Bodleian Latin American Centre Library, located on the ground floor and basement of our building. Its 16,000 volumes, together with journals, microfilms and DVDs, form an important specialist lending collection for those studying Latin American social sciences and history.