Programme information

The Master's programme in Latin American Studies is entirely oriented to the study of present-day Latin American societies.

By focusing to the main social, political and cultural issues the region is facing today we offer an academic training directed to deal with major challenges Latin Americans are experiencing at the present. The programme is fully taught in Spanish: this allow us to deal with very recent approaches, publications and data coming from Latin America. The Master programme in Latin American Studies has a strong research orientation as all students have to carry out a two-month research in a Latin American country. 

Please consult the Latin American Studies section of the Prospectus for more information.

The three tracks of the programme

• The track ‘Public Policies in Latin America’ explores recent state initiatives directed to deal with a series of problems in the fields of poverty, inequality, public security, and education, among others. A selection of specific policies are analyzed in detail, looking at their formulation and implementation, achievements, and limitations. Also attention is given to the reactions and alternative proposals to these state initiatives coming from social movements and non-governmental organizations.

• The track ‘Cultural analysis’ studies the impact of globalization in present-day Latin America and its various cultural manifestations, including the analysis of images, texts, music, architecture, fashion, and the like. Also attention is paid to the ways Latin Americans are dealing nowadays with their cultural identity and how they position themselves vis-à-vis the Western culture as large.

• The track ‘Language Variation and Bilingualism’ looks at different ways the Spanish language is spoken and used in the several Latin American countries, due to historical processes as well as a result of the ethnic composition of each society. In addition, attention is given to new forms in the use of Spanish among the youth, influenced by new musical forms (like the Reggaeton), the use of the social media, and the influence of ‘Spanglish’ coming from Latin American immigrants living in the United States.