Centre for Contemporary Latin American Studies (CCLAS)

Description

The Centre for Contemporary Latin American Studies (CCLAS) aims to foster research collaborations between The University of Edinburgh and universities, institutions and organisations in the public and private sectors throughout Latin America.

CCLAS was established in 2014 with funding from Santander Bank, seeking to strengthen knowledge networks, as well as cultural, social and institutional ties between the UK and Latin America.

The Centre aims to foster activities rooted on: cultural exchange and understanding of the Latin America region, through increasing international experiences and scholarship as well as through hosting key events; promoting and supporting research; and facilitating knowledge exchange and enterprise.

At the core of CCLAS's interests lies its commitment to the University’s vibrant community of students and researchers from Latin America, promoting educational, cultural and economic ties between Scotland and Latin America, and supporting mobility of students and researchers between them.

Building on the University of Edinburgh’s long-standing mission and success in collaborating and supporting the public and private sectors, the Centre promotes the inception and development of new outlets for knowledge, including knowledge exchange and knowledge transfer activities.

In so doing, the Centre’s mission is to unify the efforts that make Edinburgh, one of the world-leading Universities in the advanced study of Contemporary Latin America, in areas as diverse as anthropology, law, business, political science, architecture, history, art, literature, engineering, geoscience, biological sciences, and psychology. In detail, CCLAS areas of expertise include:

• Social studies (indigenous political movements, social policies, climate change, food systems, film studies)
• Development ('neoliberalism, social movements, NGOs, governance, environmentalism, disasters, ICTs')
• Politics (international politics between Latin American countries and the US and the EU)
• Financial Systems (Brazil, Colombia and others)
• Business (market analysis, carbon market design, investment, energy recovery, ecosystems)
• Architecture (urbanisation and urban development, architectural design, in Brasil, Colombia, Uruguay and other countries)
• Cultural studies (media, literature, history, film)
• Environment and Ecology

The Centre’s vibrant hub of Arts and Humanities activities connects interdisciplinary teaching and research through programme development, knowledge-exchange and postgraduate supervision in the major areas of Latin American cultural and literary studies.

CCLAS work seeks to better understand the dynamics of cultural production in Latin America and question existing interpretive frameworks to approach the diversity of the region. Members have secured AHRC funding for the International Networking Project ‘Afro-Latin (in)visibility and the UN Decade: Cultural Politics in Motion in Nicaragua, Colombia and the UK’.

The Centre has a thriving Latin Americanist postgraduate community, with particular strengths in Latin American narrative, poetry and film, clustering around Chile and Argentina. It also has research expertise in a wide range of other areas, in particular women’s writing in Latin America, gender and sexuality in visual cultures, 19th century Latin America, Latin American cinema, Indigenous and Afro-descendant filmmaking, Cuban post-1959 culture, and Brazilian cultural studies. CCLAS has an exciting programme of cultural events, including the weekly reading group ‘Poema de la semana’, the annual Latin American Cultural Colloquium, hosted by the Centre, and frequent research talks, either by visiting speakers, or showcasing the research interests of postgraduates and staff. Members also benefit from the participation of Latin American writers and artists in the various Edinburgh Festivals, including the book and film festivals.

The Centre’s thematic area relating to Social and Political Science focuses on fostering research in these fields, as well as promoting interdisciplinary collaborations in research within the university as well as with academics across the globe.

CCLAS has supported different types international events, such as the Latin America Symposium.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

2014

Contact details

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University affiliation(s)

University of Edinburgh
Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh
EH8 9YL