More than 80 Postgraduate students from 18 UK Universities gathered to discuss about different aspects of Latin America in the PILAS Annual Conference 2014. The general theme was “Where is Latin America Heading?” As in previous years, engagement with the conference theme was optional because we, like recent committees, believe that the conference should be an inclusive event in which postgraduates in Latin American Studies can present on any aspect of their research.

 

During the two days Conference, a vibrant community of PhD students explored and debated diverse issues and trends in the region related to cultural studies, inequalities, urban planning, development, politics, education and the challenges of conducting fieldwork in Latin America. The conference had an excellent turnout with 84 attendees; 39 of whom presented papers in the conference’s 9 panels and posters’ presentation (following the good experience from the previous year). 

 

We were delighted to host Professor Ronaldo Munck (Dublin City University) and Dr. Diego Sánchez-Ancochea (University of Oxford) as the two Keynote speakers of the event. The Conference also closed with a Roundtable of experts in Latin America from the University of Sheffield, including Professor Jean Grugel, Professor David Wood and Dr. Jairo Lugo-Ocando.

 

 

“PILAS 2014 shows a vibrant postgraduate community engaged in the study and analysis of contemporary Latin America in an intelligent and committed manner. What was evident to me was the very significant presence of early career Latin American researchers who add a huge amount to Latin American studies in the UK. I would hope this network continues to build on its success”

(Prof. Ronaldo Munck)

 

"Thanks to the kind invitation of this year´s Organizing Committee, I had the opportunity to attend the PILAS conference in Sheffield that took place on 12 and 13 June. The program for the conference was impressive, demonstrating how vibrant, diverse and dynamic the community of post-graduate Latin Americanist in the United Kingdom is.  Participants discussed a diverse set of issues from neoliberalism and education in Chile to theatre translation.  Although most participants were based in Sheffield and Leeds, there were representatives from many other universities in the UK--thankfully Latin America is taken seriously all over the country despite the crisis of some Latin American Studies Centres in recent years.

Many participants were also Latin Americans who have decided to study in the United Kingdom instead of doing it in the United States and other parts of the world.  This is great news because this country still offers an alternative approach to some disciplines and takes multidisciplinary more seriously than the American mainstream.  Yet there is still a lot to do to further expand the number of Latin Americans in post-graduate programs and the interest of our region in all departments (particularly in social science).  PILAS has a significant role to play in this challenge, by building more links with student organizations in the different Latin American countries (something it may not have done in the past), supporting future research and supporting more communication between students and faculty across the United Kingdom”

(Dr. Diego Sanchez-Ancochea)