UCL Institute of the Americas

UCL Institute of the Americas is delighted to announce these new funding opportunities for those planning to apply for a place at one of our MA and MSc degrees: the Santander Universities Scholarship Awards and the Postgraduate Support Scheme (PSS).

Lupita Valdez participated as panel member at the event organized and chaired by Jeremy Corbin MP at the Houses of Parliament on February 24. The event's purpose was to highlight the Human Rights crisis in Mexico. Other members of the panel were Cathy Jamieson MP, Professor Elvira Dominguez (from the team who was part of a Mision de Observacion Civil in Mexico last November), and Rupert Knox, former researcher for Amnesty International, amongst others. Contributions focused on enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings, violence to journalists and activists and the large omission of human rights in the agenda of the UK-MX2015 dual year. The parliamentarians present urged the public to lobby their MPs to join the cause of the new NGO launched at the meeting: JusticeMexicoNow, of which Lupita is founding member. You can follow JusticeMexicoNow at https://www.facebook.com/JusticeMexicoNow

UCL Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA) is delighted to congratulate PhD student, James Hillyer on his award of the Peter Parish Prize 2015. This prize to the value of £750 is awarded by the British Association for American Studies (BAAS) or the best research trip proposal in the field of American history. James has been invited to accept his award at the BAAS Annual Awards Dinner at Northumbria University in April. James will use the award to part fund his research trip to the US in May/June for his PhD Promoting Keynesian Liberalism: Walter W. Heller and U.S. Economic Policy, 1940 – 1987. Additionally, James also has had a book review published on US Studies Online: Rethinking the 1950s: How Anticommunism and the Cold War Made America Liberal by Jennifer A. Delton, which can be viewed here. Congratulations!

Frederick Bonnart-Braunthal Scholarship 2015/16 – deadline 27 March 2015 There is 1 scholarship worth £25,000 pa available. The scheme is aimed at research students who plan to explore the nature of religious, racial and cultural prejudices and to find ways of combating them. Applications from faculties and departments such as Social and Historical Studies, Law and Development Planning Unit are encouraged, particularly where a candidate can demonstrate practical application of their analyses to current problems of intolerance, always bearing in mind the interest of the Founder of the Trust (details at www.fbbtrust.org.uk) not only in the nature of intolerance but in identifying 'a means to combat it'. Applications need to be submitted by students by 27 March 2015 – further information and application form at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/scholarships/graduate/UK-EU_Res/frederick

UCL Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA) is pleased to announce that Dr Nick Witham will be joining us in September as the newly appointed Lecturer in US Political History. Nick is a historian of twentieth-century US politics and society, specialising in the study of popular protest and dissent since the 1960s.

UCL Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA) is pleased to announce that we are seeking to appoint an exceptional scholar to take up the position of Lecturer in Latin American Political Economy and/or Economic Development from September 2015. UCL-IA is a leading multidisciplinary specialist institution for the study of Latin America, the United States, the Caribbean and Canada.

UCL-IA is pleased to announce that PhD student James Hillyer has just been appointed the Economic History Society’s Student Ambassador at UCL. The Economic History Society (EHS) exists to support research and teaching in economic and social history, broadly defined, and is one of the premier communities of scholars in these and related fields. James’s role as EHS Student Ambassador is to help facilitate communication between the Economic History Society and UCL students who have an interest in the field, and to help connect them to funds and opportunities that the Society makes available to students. Congratulations!

This one-day conference seeks to cater to an international community of human rights practitioners and researchers of the Americas from across the humanities and the social sciences by focusing on an interdisciplinary and detailed examination the most recent cases decided by the Inter American Human Rights System against the Chilean state. Deadline of submission: March 15, 2015

UCL Institute of the Americas will be hosting an Open Day for anyone interested in our Master's Programmes for entry in September 2015, whether you are already holding an offer or if you are simply interested in learning more about our programmes. This event will start at 13:45 and is scheduled to end at 18:00 on Wednesday 18th March 2015, and it will take place on the premises of the Institute at 51 Gordon Square. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from our Course Directors and speak with them, in addition to our current students and alumni in an informal setting. Attendance is free of charge but registration is essential. We look forward to you joining us.

UCL - Institute of the Americas (UCL-IA) is delighted to announce the Santander Universities Award of three £5,000 scholarships for our MA and MSc Programmes. This award is for International Students applying from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay for entry in September 2015. To be considered for this award you must have applied for the relevant programme by 1st May 2015. Further details can be found on http://www.ucl.ac.uk/americas/graduate-study/santander-universities

Dr Verana Brähler, who this year was awarded her PhD by the Institute of the Americas on 'Inequality of Security: Exploring Violent Pluralism and Territory in Six Neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil' gave an interview to HispanTV on extortion in  Guatemala. The interview can be found here.

The UCL Joint Faculty (Arts&Humanities and Social&Historical Sciences) Graduate Open Day took place in Senate House on November 19 2014. It attracted hundreds of prospective students and visitors, and we are pleased to report that the stall of UCL-Institute of the Americas was one of the busiest during the event.

Professor Olle was one of the distinguished guest speakers at the international seminar Verdad, justicia y reparacion organized by the government of Ecuador and FLACSO, in Quito, December 8-10, together with, amongst others, Judge Baltasar Garzon (Spain) and Dr Jorge Auat (Argentina). More information also here.

This scheme is open to UK and EU applicants who meet the eligibility criteria. Applications close on 30th January 2015. Additionally, you must have submitted an admissions application to UCL by 16th January. Full details can be found here: http://www.lahp.ac.uk/apply-for-a-studentship/

The UCL Americas Research Network invites doctoral students and early career researchers of the Americas (Central, South, and North America, as well as the Caribbean) from across the humanities and the social sciences to submit their proposals on the theme Power and Change in the Americas in the Modern Era, which will take place at University College London from April 30 - May 1, 2015.

The Inter-American Human Rights Network (IAHRN), an international research project funded by the Leverhulme Trust, today launches its website: http://interamericanhumanrights.org/ on the development and impact of the regional human rights system of the Americas.

UCL-Institute of the Americas would like to inform that applications for post-doctoral fellowships are now being received. Those interested in applying should submit an expression of interest in the first instance. Deadlines for applications vary according to the various schemes available. For further details, please visit our Fellowships page.

UCL Institute of the Americas is pleased to announce the award for an international Network grant by the Leverhulme Trust (IN-2014-013) for a two-year research project entitled ‘The Inter-American Human Rights System: Assessing its Development and Impact’, to be led by UCL-IA's Dr Par Engstrom, Lecturer in Human Rights, as Principal Investigator.

UCL-Institute of the Americas is pleased to announce the publication, to great acclaim, of the latest book edited by Kate Quinn, 'Black Power in the Caribbean' (Gainesville, 2014).

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.

... 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.