Latin American Studies (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

MSc
The MSc in Latin American Studies is a taught course offering interdisciplinary study of Latin America since 1900, covering politics, economics, international relations, geography, and history, with options like Andean politics and Brazil.

This is a nine-month course which spans three academic terms and is intended to provide an interdisciplinary understanding of the main developments in Latin America from c. 1900 to the present.

While the course emphasises the specific features of individual countries, there is also broad comparative coverage of major trends such as authoritarianism and democracy, the economic cycle, the effect of international factors, the evolution of the Left and Right, revolutionary movements and the effects of neo-liberal economic models.

Course structure
You will choose two disciplinary papers and one option paper or a further disciplinary paper.

These topics are addressed through taught classes for a number of academic disciplines (including history, politics, environmental geography, international relations and economics), individual preparation for a range of assessments, and a lively programme of seminars and conferences with visiting speakers.

The Latin American Centre’s (LAC) main seminar room serves to host the regular Latin American seminar, a weekly event where Oxford- based and visiting academics present and discuss the results of their most recent research activities on a wide range of topics. In addition, the seminar room serves to host the Latin American History seminar.

MPhil
This course offers an interdisciplinary approach towards the understanding of modern Latin America, allowing you to develop an in-depth research project that may involve a period of fieldwork in the region.

This is a 21-month course spanning six academic terms, including a fieldwork project in Latin America for up to three months.

The course will be informed by a range of disciplines: history, political science, environmental geography, economics and international relations. Major trends in the development of Latin America will be analysed with reference to the main categories of explanation advanced to interpret that development.

Course structure
In the first year, you will choose two disciplinary papers.

In addition, you will choose three option papers, or you may substitute these with further disciplinary papers. One paper will be taken in the first year, and two papers in the second year.

You will also be required to attend and participate in the research methods course. The course will provide you with a critical understanding of the major elements in the development of Latin America over the past two hundred years. You will be taught to relate economic and political trends, and to assess the importance of international influences. The course will demonstrate the way in which different disciplines contribute to an overall understanding of the historical development of the continent. You will also be taught the importance and the limitations of the comparative method of analysis.

A lively programme of Latin American Centre (LAC) seminars, workshops and conferences with visiting speakers complements the MPhil course, and you are encouraged to make the most of these opportunities to meet with and learn from fellow Latin Americanists.

The centre’s main seminar room serves to host the regular Latin American seminar, a weekly event where Oxford-based and visiting academics present and discuss the results of their most recent research activities on a wide range of topics. In addition, the seminar room serves to host the Latin American History seminar.