The buried mirror? A comparative view of Europe and Latin America
Masters' in Latin American Studies presented at the CIDOB Foundation.
On 13 November, the CIDOB Foundation hosted the presentation of the First Masters' in Latin American Studies. This interuniversity, interdisciplinary Masters' is coordinated by the University of Barcelona, together with participation by the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Pompeu Fabra University. Pilar García Jordan, Professor of the Department of Cultural Anthropology and of the History of America and Africa at the UB, presented the main lines of study of the Masters' course, which has been specifically designed for training specialists in advanced knowledge of the history, anthropology, economics, politics, language and literature of Latin American societies, as well as specialist training in the advanced theoretical and methodological frameworks involved in the research. Meanwhile, María Ángeles del Rincón, Dean of the Geography and History Faculty at the UB, declared that this was “an academic project that we are commencing with a great deal of optimism, and which is essentially aimed at generating a space for interdisciplinary debate to understand better the reality of Latin America”.
Within the framework of the presentation of the Masters', a talk was given by the special guest Jean Grugel, Professor at the University of Sheffield and editor of the bulletin Latin American Research and of the academic magazine Latin American Studies Society. Under the title “The buried mirror? A comparative view of Europe and Latin America”, Grugel employed the metaphor created by the writer Carlos Fuentes to reflect on relations between Europe and Latin America.
Based on her own personal experience of her first research studies on the reality of Latin America, Grugel stressed that “Latin America should not be seen exclusively with European eyes, nor as a poor copy of Europe, or we will run the risk of only seeing what Latin America is not, instead of what it is”. She also highlighted the importance of the Masters' in Latin American Studies as a tool for stimulating knowledge and understanding of the region, through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach.