Masters degrees in Caribbean Society & Culture examine the cultural and societal components which are of Caribbean origin, or representative of the country and its people.
Related postgraduate specialisms include Caribbean Literature, American Literatures and International Relations. Entry requirements normally include an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject such as Communications and Culture, Languages and Literature, or Post-Colonial Studies.
This MSc provides a detailed and systematic understanding of the international relations of the Americas, with regard both to inter-American relations and relations with the world beyond. The programme's graduates have established careers in research, journalism, teaching and policy formulation and implementation in both government agencies and NGOs.
This programme, which is unique in the UK, introduces students to skills essential for the analytical study of the international relations of the Americas and assessment of the hemispherical and global issues currently facing foreign policymakers in the nation states of the Americas.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of three core modules (45 credits), three optional modules (45 credits) and a dissertation (90 credits). Please note: all optional modules are subject to availability.
Core modules
Optional modules
Students choose three optional modules from a selection that includes the following:
Students may choose elective modules up to a maximum of 30 credits from other UCL departments or University of London colleges, subject to the Programme Director's approval.
Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation of 15,000 words.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of seminars, lectures, presentations, independent reading and research. Assessment is through written assignments including essays and primary source analysis, and a dissertation.
Fieldwork
Many of our Master's students undertake fieldwork in order to carry out research for their dissertation projects.
There may be travel costs associated with fieldwork. The institute has limited funds available to students to help towards the costs of fieldwork. These funds are awarded on a competitive basis on the criteria of academic performance to date, the quality of the research proposal and the importance of fieldwork for completing the research.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: International Relations of the Americas MSc
Graduates of this programme are well placed to use their skills and knowledge to find employment in government, business, journalism, finance and international NGOs, teaching, or for further research in this field.
Employability
This MSc enhances employability for those interested in careers in the diplomatic service, think tanks, journalism, and business with Americas markets.
The UCL Institute of the Americas occupies a unique position at the core of academic study of the region in the UK, promoting, co-ordinating and providing a focus for research and postgraduate teaching on the Americas - Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States.
The institute actively maintains and builds ties with cultural, diplomatic and business organisations with interests in the Americas, and provides resources to the wider academic community, serving and strengthening national networks of North Americanist, Latin Americanist and Caribbeanist scholars.
Students benefit from tuition by world-leading scholars in an academic environment at the cutting-edge of research in the humanities and social sciences.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
The two-year interdisciplinary research master in Latin American Studies addresses cutting-edge debates on the social and cultural issues in present-day Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Leiden University's Latin American Studies (research) programme is your opportunity to explore the social, cultural, and historical narratives shaping present-day Latin America. Taught by international researchers, this interdisciplinary programme centers around the theme Latin American Modernities: Resistance, Revival and Change.
Explore the different forms of modernity in Latin America within one of three areas: culture and identity, state-society relations, and literature, arts and media. A comparative, area studies approach to research provides a broader, global context to current issues in Latin America.
This programme attracts talented students and staff from around the world. Small classes ensure you get the most from in-class discussions and direct contact with your international peers and lecturers. An important focus of this programme is developing your ability to conduct high-quality scientific research, including field research in a Latin American country. A substantial part of the programme is taught in Spanish or Portuguese, developing your proficiency in one of these languages.
This is a trans-disciplinary Masters that builds expertise in understanding the role played by the cultural sector (arts, theatres, heritage etc) in developing and managing tourism and hospitality as major engines of growth, regeneration and job creation in the 21st century.
The programme offers the possibility of engagement with the study of the cultural sector in developing and managing tourism and hospitality.
Cultural policies designed to support the arts sectors to enhance high value added tourism and to increase lengths of stay and repeat visits are increasingly being adopted by governments worldwide with the support of the tourism and hospitality sector.
This degree applies to those wishing to work in the arts and tourism sectors or perhaps in galleries and theatres associated with the hospitality sector. It is also for art practitioners and cultural professionals who wish to develop careers involving cultural tourism, cultural policy, culture-led regeneration and destination, city and country branding. It is also relevant to work in NGOs or the cultural policy arms of government and intra-governmental organisations and consultancies.
The MA is run by the Institute of Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE) and is designed for students from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. It is taught by specialists from academia and industry, ensuring a high level synthesis of practice based knowledge and cutting edge research. Both the staff and student body at ICCE have extensive international experience, enhancing peer-to-peer learning and providing an excellent base for networking and gaining contacts worldwide.
Studying the role of culture in tourism in a London setting is a unique experience, providing access to some of the world’s most renowned culture and event led regeneration projects that include the legacy of the London Olympics and many other major projects. ICCE also has links with an extensive network of organisations, businesses, policy advisors, consultancies and cultural practitioners that provide exceptional research and study opportunities, such as Creative England, Tourism Concern and visitbritain.org.
The Masters is flexible and you can tailor your interests by choosing options from other departments across the College, including Anthropology, Sociology, the Centre for Cultural Studies, Politics, English and Comparative Literature, Educational Studies, Media and Communications, Computing and the Confucius Institute for Dance and Performance.
Core modules
Please visit the website to see the optional modules available
This MA offers students the opportunity to develop an understanding of the diverse societies of both the South American continent and the Caribbean from a multidisciplinary and comparative perspective. The programme's graduates have established careers in research, journalism, teaching and policy formulation and implementation in both government agencies and NGOs.
Students will gain a broad empirical knowledge of the diverse societies of Latin America and the Caribbean from the perspective of at least two disciplines, together with an awareness of the general patterns of differences and commonalities in the histories, politics, economies and cultures of the different linguistic territories of the region.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of two core modules (30 credits), four optional modules (60 credits), and the research dissertation (90 credits). Please note: All optional modules are subject to availability.
Core modules
Optional modules
Students choose four optional modules from a selection that includes the following:
Students may choose elective modules up to a maximum of 30 credits from other UCL departments or University of London colleges, subject to the Programme Director's approval.
Dissertation/report
All students write a dissertation of 15,000 words (90 credits) on a topic relating to the Caribbean, or Latin America and the Caribbean.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of seminars, lectures, presentations, independent reading and research. Assessment is through varied assignments including essays, an oral presentation and the dissertation.
Fieldwork
Many of our Master's students undertake fieldwork in order to carry out research for their dissertation projects.
There may be travel costs associated with fieldwork. The institute has limited funds available to students to help towards the costs of fieldwork. These funds are awarded on a competitive basis on the criteria of academic performance to date, the quality of the research proposal and the importance of fieldwork for completing the research.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Caribbean and Latin American Studies MA
Graduates of this programme will be well placed to use their skills and knowledge to find employment in government, business, journalism, finance and international NGOs, teaching, or for further research in this field.
Employability
Students will have excellent opportunities to expand professional networks enhancing their future employability. Through institute staff members' extensive contacts in the region, and through participating in the institute's extremely active events programme, students will meet potential colleagues in government and the diplomatic service, development agencies and the international NGO community, business and finance, and print and electronic media. On the basis of such contacts, recent graduates have found employment in government (Foreign & Commonwealth Office), NGOs (Amnesty International, Caritas) and political risk-analysis firms, while others have undertaken PhD research.
The Institute of the Americas occupies a unique position at the core of academic study of the region in the UK, promoting research and postgraduate teaching on the Americas, including Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States.
The institute actively maintains and builds ties with cultural, diplomatic, third sector and business organisations with interests in the Americas, and provides resources to the wider academic community, serving and strengthening national networks of North Americanist, Latin Americanist and Caribbeanist scholars.
Students benefit from tuition by world-leading scholars in an academic environment at the cutting-edge of research in the humanities and social sciences.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
The suite of taught modules have been carefully constructed to take you on a series of journeys - from a discussion of American Studies itself as an approach, and then from the immediate localities, regions and borders of the United States, to the wider national and international settings. This will offer multi-perspective interpretations of the United States, internally, with its neighbours and with the rest of the world. You will engage in an inter-connected sequence of debates which will lead you to a greater understanding of the complexity of the United States as a cultural construct as well as a geographical and political entity.
The academic year is divided into three terms: term 1 (September –December); term 2 (January-March); term 3 (April to June). July and August is the period when you write up your dissertation.
All taught sessions take place in the evening, 4pm-7pm.
Full-time is two evenings per week / Part-time is one evening per week.
This degree offers a tightly integrated programme with a selection of modules that will enrich your research methods and approaches in the American Studies subject-area. Whilst concentrating on the core aspects of American Studies you will be encouraged to pursue your research through avenues of related subjects (History, Literature and Film) forming a holistic, yet inter-disciplinary, approach. The modules offered emphasise a cross-fertilisation of subject areas, promoting an international perspective towards America, such as global concerns and transnational considerations, thus shifting from the original constructs of America, ‘American uniqueness’ and ‘exceptionalism’ (Brian Edwards, Globalising American Studies, 2010).
This programme is, therefore, well-suited to those students who prefer diversity to the narrower focus of a single-subject Master’s degree.
The suite of taught modules have been carefully constructed to take you on a series of journeys - from a discussion of American Studies itself as an approach, and then from the immediate localities, regions and borders of the United States, to the wider national and international settings. This will offer multi-perspective interpretations of the United States, internally, with its neighbours and with the rest of the world.
You will engage in an inter-connected sequence of debates which will lead you to a greater understanding of the complexity of the United States as a cultural construct as well as a geographical and political entity.
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Each module is worth 30 credits; you will take two modules per term.
American Studies has a historical, literary, cultural and evidence-based approach which requires wide, critical reading and intelligent synthesis of ideas and information. It requires you to construct arguments in writing. You will receive critical and constructive comments on your progress as an integral part of teaching and learning, through individual meetings with tutors, feedback on written work or specific coursework tutorials.
We place importance on presentations so, as a transferable skill, you will present seminar papers extensively throughout the course of your modules. These will be used as a basis for feedback and will then feed into your written work. These exercises will develop your critical abilities as well as widen your familiarity with, and confidence in handling, a range of sources, preparing you for the modules’ summative assessment stage, and the final dissertation.
This programme places a strong emphasis on the development of independent research and writing. The programme’s assessment strategies are designed to develop independent research skills; the ability to structure and write a sophisticated critical essay and longer academic monographs, and the opportunity to pursue your own intellectual interests within each module’s thematic scope.
Teaching and learning at postgraduate level differs from what you may have experienced at undergraduate level. Each week, small presentation groups lead/initiate the discussion of the topic. You will therefore bring to the table your own interpretation of the given material, working independently as well as in a group. The sessions will provide you with the opportunity to discuss your ideas in a safe and supportive environment.
Workload: 30 contact hours per taught module / 124 supported open learning hours (e.g. online documentation) per taught module / 146 independent study hours per taught module
Our Academic Support Team provides help in the following areas: study skills, written English, and research skills. Details on where to get support will be provided at the beginning of the course. In addition, you will meet regularly with an academic tutor, who is there in a pastoral capacity.
Further information on this course is available in the programme specification. Please note that the programme specification relates to course content that is currently being studied by students at the University. For new programmes, the programme specification will be made available online prior to the start of the course.
York St John University works hard to create an inclusive environment for all our students. We offer a range of learning support services to assist students throughout their studies.
