UCL Institute of the Americas

In a packed Gustave Tuck lecture theatre after Professor Iwan Morgan's Inaugural Lecture, Professor Stephen Conway (Head of the Department of History at UCL) announced that University College London has awarded the Commonwealth Fund Professorship in American History to Professor Iwan Morgan.

The Government of Ecuador has announced that Dr Guillaume Long has been named Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent.Dr Long completed his MA and PhD while a student of the staff now at UCL - Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA).

UCL Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorship for Professor Roberto Gargarella (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Argentina).

UCL-IA is pleased to announce two new publications to the Palgrave Macmillan series Studies of the Americas.

In Politics and Power in Haiti Kate Quinn and Paul Sutton examine the political legacies of the Duvalier period.

photo copyright: P Pepper

Listen to the recording of the presentations and discussion that took place over the seminar that UCL-Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA) held on March 20 on this divisive topic. The panel consisted of Prof Peter Willetts (City University, London; far right on image) and Prof Hal Klepak (Royal Military College of Canada and UCL-IA; far left on image); Fernando Iglesias (author, academic, journalist and politician; second from left). The panel was chaired by Celia Szusterman, Director of the Latin America Programme, The Institute for Statecraft, and Associate Fellow, UCL - Institute of the Americas.

Listen to Prof Kevin Middlebrook's interview to South African radio news program on the recent demise of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Listen to Prof Middlebrook's interview to BBC World Service's 'Newshour', on the recent arrest of Ms Elba Esther Gordillo, leader of Mexico's powerful teachers' union SNTE.

Congratulations to UCL-IA's Dr Graham Woodgate who has been appointed 'International Expert in Environmental Sociology' to the 'Feeding Knowledge Programme' that is being developed in preparation for the Expo 2015 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life' in Milan.

“He came to believe the huge killing of the Civil War could only be justified if it had a moral purpose – if slavery was abolished,” says Professor Iwan Morgan (UCL Institute of the Americas). 

This recent news article, which draws in part on an interview with Professor Kevin J. Middlebrook, assesses the possible political consequences of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's life-threatening illness.

On December 13, UCL-IA had the pleasure of hosting Cuban/British hip-hop fusion X-Planet, feat. Cuban virtuoso Alain Garcia Artola. X Planet is the collaboration of Holly Holden (London) and Alayo Style (Santiago de Cuba). This project, born in Santiago de Cuba in June 2011, draws on a multitude of musical influences from the Caribbean and beyond. Having launched their debut album in Cuba in June 2012, X Planet are now ready to share their music with the world!

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently named his preferred successor just before travelling to Cuba for a new operation to treat his cancer. Prof Kevin Middlebrook from UCL-Institute of the Americas looks at the implications for Venezuela. Listen to Prof Middlebrook's interview by the Austrian Broadcast Corporation (please scroll down to the appropriate article).

As President Barack Obama begins his second term in the White House, his administration will need to evaluate its many foreign policy agendas. Dr Tony McCulloch, Senior Fellow in North American Studies at UCL-IA, investigates the various challenges ahead for the president. He is to be published in Jane's Intelligence Review.

On 30 November UCL-IA published a Policy Brief on the current peace talks between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-Peoples’ Army (FARC-EP). This brief was prepared by Andrei Gomez Suarez (Sussex) and Par Engstrom (UCL-IA). The authors convened a group of experts at the UCL Institute of the Americas on 26 October 2012 to discuss the prospects for a negotiated end to the Colombian armed conflict.

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new title in the UCL Studies of the Americas series.

Following the UCL-IA-organised Brazil network meeting with members of CEBRI, UCL colleagues and Ambassador Luiz Augusto de Castro Neves last week, Prof Morgan spoke to Brazilian news channel globo.com about the Obama second term.

... with significant repercussions for 2016 election. Dukascopy TV continues to countdown to the US election with an interview with US politics expert Professor Iwan Morgan. He tells Peter Lovegrove his predictions and why Republicans are unlikely to be conciliatory mood if results do not go their way.

UCL - Institute of the Americas is proud to announce that the prestigious Santander-Catalyst Award 2012 has been conferred to our colleague, Dr Par Engstrom, to support his research collaboration with the Instituto de Relações Internacionais of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil. Dr Engstrom’s visit is intended to facilitate the planning of a collaborative research project on the impact of the Inter-American Human Rights Court and Commission on human rights outcomes in Latin America, as well as future research and student exchanges between UCL-IA and USP.

UCL President and Provost Professor Malcolm Grant officially launched the UCL Institute of the Americas on Wednesday 3 October 2012 at BMA House, Bloomsbury.

Three new books published in the UCL-IA Palgrave Studies of the Americas series edited by Professor Molyneux: 

 Professor Iwan Morgan (UCL Institute of the Americas) appeared on CNBC, describing the task for Obama as quite different from 2008, as he needs to give a vision and explaining why he deserves a second term:

The Institute of the Americas has been awarded a significant grant by the Foundation for Canadian Studies in the United Kingdom on behalf of its new Canadian Studies programme in 2012-2013.

Professor of United States Studies Iwan Morgan has coedited and contributed a chapter to a new publication that includes contributions by UK and US-based scholars:

The Institute of the Americas is pleased to welcome Dr David Sim. Dr Sim teaches US history with a particular focus on politics, diplomacy, imperialism and culture during the nineteenth century.

We are pleased to announce the publication of a report on American Studies in the UK commissioned by the British Association of American Studies in conjunction with the Fulbright Commission.