This is an eighteen-month programme which spans six academic terms, with the addition of a field work project in Latin America (up to 3 months). 

This programme allows students to develop an individual research project informed by interdisciplinary teaching at the LAC and a period of fieldwork in Latin America. The programme is ideally suited to those students considering an academic or research-focused career, and is an excellent training for a doctoral degree.

In their first year, students on this programme will join classes in the various disciplines taught at the LAC (including History, Politics, Sociology, International Relations and Economics), and will be asked to submit two portfolios of essays on subjects of their choice. The classes taught may emphasise the specific features of individual countries, but there is also broad comparative coverage of major trends such as authoritarianism and democracy, the economic cycle, the effect of international factors, the evolution of the Left and Right, revolutionary movements, and the effects of neo-liberal economic models.

Students will receive a number of tutorials to review their academic progress and preparations for their fieldwork research. A list of exam papers will be provided on arrival in Oxford, and students must pass three exams in order to qualify for entry on to the second year of the programme. The exam papers for 2013/14 are not yet confirmed, but you may view the range of papers available for the current year in the programme specification document below.

In the second year, students complete a 30,000 word thesis. The thesis is an in-depth research project, and will train students to apply theory to empirical study of their selected topic. Second years also take a further exam, or by agreement with the relevant department, take a methodology or other paper from an appropriate MPhil in another discipline at Oxford University. Students will be required to attend an oral exam.

A lively programme of LAC seminars and conferences with visiting speakers complements the MPhil programme, and students are encouraged to make the most of these opportunities to meet with and learn from fellow Latin Americanists.

Please read through all the guideline documents below! They contain important information about application criteria and deadlines.