Teaching about Latin America
At the Institute for Latin American Studies students have an opportunity to specialize in seven different subjects relating to Latin America.
Image Credit: Vitoscha König
The Institute for Latin American Studies at Freie Universität is the largest of its kind in Germany, and it is also one of the largest such institutes in Europe. It has a reputation for combining specialized disciplines with regional studies.
News from Apr 13, 2015
The Institute for Latin American Studies (LAI) encompasses seven different disciplines in the social sciences and cultural studies. Research is conducted, and classes can be taken in each of the following fields: Anthropology of the Americas, Brazil Studies, Economics, History, Latin American Literatures and Cultures, Political Science, Sociology.
Degree Programs
All seven of the disciplines represented at the Institute are involved in the research-oriented master’s in Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies program. There is also a 30-credit interdisciplinary module Latin American Studies. The LAI is also involved in the bachelor’s program (BA) in Spanish Language and Literature with a focus on Latin American Studies, the 60-LP module in Brazilian Portuguese, and the BA degree program in Social and Cultural Anthropology. For students enrolled in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in history, political science, sociology, and economics, the courses taught at the LAI can help them to gain a specialization in regional studies .
Utilizing Networks
In 2009 an International Research Training Group Entre Espacios/Between Spaces was set up at the LAI. It focuses on movements between various global regions and the new spaces they generate in historical and contemporary phases of globalization. Since 2010 there has been a research network called desiguALdades.net that is devoted to social inequalities in Latin America. The same year a Brazil Research Center was founded at the Institute. Since 2012 the LAI has been involved in the international collaboration project, MISEAL - Maßnahmen zur sozialen Inklusion und Gleichstellung in lateinamerikanischen Hochschuleinrichtungen.
Regional, national, and international networks of the central institute provide excellent study and research conditions for junior researchers. The LAI has cooperation agreements with more than 50 universities in Europe, Latin America, and North America and regularly hosts student field trips to Latin America.
The Institute for Latin American Studies is one of four central institutes at Freie Universität Berlin: