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Latin American Politics MSc

London, Bloomsbury

UK students International students

Study mode

UK tuition fees (2022/23)

£12,900

£6,450

Overseas tuition fees (2022/23)

£26,600

£13,300

Duration

1 calendar year

2 calendar years

Programme starts

September 2022

Applications accepted

All applicants: 18 Oct 2021 – 31 Mar 2022

Applications open

Apply for this course

We recommend that you submit your application as soon as possible. The programme may remain open if places are still available after 31 March 2022 and will be closed as soon as it is full or by 30 June 2022.

Entry requirements

Normally an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. A basic reading competence in Spanish or Portuguese is desirable. Students without such skills may be considered but are advised to undertake a separate language course prior to or during their programme.

English language requirements

If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency.

The English language level for this programme is: Good

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level. International Preparation Courses

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

Students will develop a detailed understanding of the political histories of major Latin American countries, key public policy issues, the challenges of democratisation and democratic consolidation, and the domestic and international influences on political developments in the region. They will gain the key research and analysis skills necessary for professional development in the field of Latin American politics.

Who this course is for

Applicants must have a UK Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate subject, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard from a recognised higher education institution. They should have competence in Spanish, French and/or Portuguese, and wish to develop their understanding of Latin American Politics for further research or a career in this field.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

In the UK the Institute of the Americas occupies a unique position in the academic study of the region in promoting, co-ordinating and providing a focus for research and postgraduate teaching on the Americas, including Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States.

The institute actively maintains and builds ties with cultural, diplomatic and business organisations with interests in the Americas, and it provides resources to the wider academic community, serving and strengthening national networks of North Americanist, Latin Americanist and Caribbeanist scholars.

Students benefit from tuition by world-leading scholars in an academic environment at the cutting-edge of research in the social sciences and the humanities.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Students on this degree will have excellent opportunities to expand their professional networks and establish personal contacts that enhance their future employability. Through institute staff members' extensive professional and personal contacts in the region, and through participating in the institute's extremely active events programme, students will meet potential colleagues in government and the foreign service, development agencies and the international NGO community, business and finance, and print and electronic media. On the basis of such contacts, recent programme graduates have found employment in government (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), NGOs (Amnesty International, Caritas) and political risk-analysis firms, while others have undertaken PhD research.

Employability

Graduates of this programme will be well placed to use their skills and knowledge to find employment in government, business, journalism, finance, international NGOs, teaching, or for further research in this field.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through a combination of seminars, lectures, presentations, research skills training, and independent reading and research. There is a range of assessments including essays, oral presentations and the dissertation.

Modules

Full-time: In Term 1, you will start a module in research methods for the social sciences that includes sessions on research design, qualitative and quantitative methods, and fieldwork ethics and preparation. In addition, you will take a core module which addresses the challenges associated with transitions to, and the consolidation of, electoral democracy in Latin America since the 1980s. You will examine alternative conceptual approaches to the study of democracy and key thematic issues concerning democratisation processes in Latin America. The module provides an introduction to the politics of Latin America that will underpin your work in other substantive-focus modules on this programme.

In Terms 1 and 2, you will select four further substantive-subject modules from a broad range of options including the fields of comparative politics, international politics, political sociology and human rights. These modules further develop key concepts introduced in the compulsory modules, in addition to adding new topics.
Part-time: Part-time students will split the taught modules between year 1 and year 2. The core module on Democratization in Latin America will be taken in year 1, the research methods module and the dissertation in year 2.

Compulsory modules

Democratization in Latin America

Dissertation

Researching the Americas

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Latin American Politics.

Fieldwork

Many of our Master’s students undertake fieldwork in order to carry out research for their dissertation projects.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support & Wellbeing team.

Visit us

All open days and events

30 November 2021 — 9 December 2021

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Applying for Graduate Study at UCL

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students

Fee description	Full-time	Part-time
Tuition fees (2022/23)	£12,900	£6,450
Tuition fees (2022/23)	£26,600	£13,300

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

There may be travel costs associated with fieldwork. The institute has limited funds available to students to help towards the costs of fieldwork. These funds are awarded on a competitive basis on the criteria of academic performance to date, the quality of the research proposal and the importance of fieldwork for completing the research.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

Funding opportunities at the Institute of the Americas can be found here.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

why you want to study Latin American Politics at graduate level
why you want to study Latin American Politics at UCL
what particularly attracts you to this programme
how your academic background meets the demands of this challenging programme
where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to elaborate on your reasons for applying to this programme and how your interests match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that some funding schemes have an earlier application deadline; please view the Funding section for further details.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes in any application cycle.

This programme requires two references. Further information regarding references can be found in our How to apply section.