UCL Institute of the Americas - Journal of Latin American Studies Annual Lecture 2025

The Journal of Latin American Studies (JLAS) and the UCL Institute of the Americas are proud to host the Annual Lecture 2025, a high-level panel that brings together the directors of major Latin American Studies centres in Europe to reflect on the future of the field.

This year’s event invites a timely conversation around critical questions:

• How do Latin American Studies fit within broader Area Studies frameworks?
• Is Latin America still a coherent and relevant category of analysis?
• What role should European institutions and journals like JLAS play in shaping the future of the field?

Join us for an afternoon of discussion with leading scholars and directors of Latin American Studies centres in Europe. The panel will also include reflections from the JLAS editorial team on the role of scholarly publishing and research institutions in fostering transnational collaboration and inclusive knowledge production.

Confirmed speakers:

• Dr Pedro Mendes Loureiro, Director, Centre of Latin American Studies – University of Cambridge
• Eduardo Posada-Carbó, Director, Latin American Centre – University of Oxford
• Prof Araceli Mateos, Instituto de Iberoamérica – Universidad de Salamanca
• Prof Bert Hoffmann, Co-Leader, GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies – Hamburg
• Prof Paulo Drinot, UCL Institute of the Americas

Chaired by:

• Dr Malu Gatto, Deputy Director, UCL Institute of the Americas
• Dr Nestor Castaneda, Director, UCL Institute of the Americas

The event will be followed by a reception.

More information:

The JLAS–UCL Americas Annual Lecture 2025 is a platform for discussing the current issues, challenges, and future of Latin American Studies in Europe. This event aims to address several questions: How do Latin American Studies fit within the broader Area Studies framework in today's context? Is Latin America still a coherent subject of study, and if so, how do we define its boundaries? As we confront ecological crises and a geopolitical landscape where the significance of Latin America to global powers seems to be shifting, does the region remain a relevant analytical category?

These questions are important and increasingly urgent as we observe the transformation of higher education in Europe and the United States, and the growth of sophisticated scholarship emerging from Latin America. This new context calls for rethinking knowledge production and exchange about Latin America from institutions based in Europe and North America.

The event will also be an opportunity to discuss the place of publications like the Journal of Latin American Studies and research institutions in fostering knowledge production and research exchange in the short and medium term. How can these platforms contribute to a more dynamic and inclusive field, especially given the transformations in higher education across the Americas and Europe? How can they help transform Latin American Studies? In what ways can they aid in expanding disciplinary-centred knowledge about the region? What is the significance of a European perspective in shaping these discussions, and how can we ensure that it bolsters rather than marginalises scholarship emerging from Latin America? By bringing together leading scholars and representatives from area studies institutions across Europe, this event seeks to provide fresh insights into these challenges and open new avenues for collaboration in an era of shifting global priorities.