MSc in Public Policy in Latin America (MSc PP)

This is a nine-month programme which spans three academic terms.

This programme is available to candidates who have had some years' experience of working in the public or private sector in Latin America. The programme is designed to allow students to reflect on their experience, and to put their research into a comparative and theoretical perspective.

Candidates are asked to submit a specific project when applying for this programme. They should give an outline of their research topic, and explain how they intend to carry out the necessary study in approximately six pages, double spaced. They should also provide a full CV showing their work experience. The programme is somewhat tailor-made; much of the teaching is by individual supervision. Students are encouraged to take relevant classes from other programmes.

Students on this programme are assessed on the basis of a written exam, a 15,000-word dissertation and an oral exam. Details of the exam papers for 2012/13 are not yet available, however they are likely to be similar to those listed in the programme specification document below.

Please refer to the 'theses' document below for further details of previous dissertations submitted.

Past students have included diplomats, lawyers, social programme workers, government economists, health sector officials, people involved in local government and political party workers. Many of them have returned to public sector work, although some have remained in academic life.

The MSc PP programme gives students a considerable amount of autonomy to shape their own study within the context of a supportive and lively University department. Each year the LAC organises a programme of seminars and conferences with visiting speakers, and students are encouraged to make the most of these opportunities to meet with and learn from fellow Latin Americanists.

MSc in Public Policy in Latin America Programme Specification for the 2011/12 academic year
Theses on Latin America and the Caribbean approved for higher degrees at the University of Oxford

Dissertations submitted in 2011

Smallholders’ Agricultural Cooperatives and Rural Development in Colombia.

Federalism and Decentralization: the Challenges of Security in Contemporary Mexico.