Latin American Studies (MA)

Career preparation

During your master’s programme, you will also be stimulated to think about your future career. We will encourage you to think about your ambitions and your potential, to reflect on the skills you have learnt and still want to learn, the subjects you’d like to specialise in and how to do that.

Career preparation activities

Seminar career orientation in November
Research abroad (in Latin America)
Humanities Career Event
Seminar career orientation in April
Various workshops Humanities Career Service
Research seminar Public Policies/Methods of Cultural Analysis and Critical Readings/Methods: Putting Theory into Practice (Language Variation and Bilingualism) (MA)

Skills and knowledge

With the skills and knowledge you have gained during the MA in Latin American Studies at Leiden University you will be able to work in a range of professional and academic careers. These include highly sought after skills such as:

Problem solving (recognizing and analyzing problems, solution-oriented thinking)
Analytical skills (analytical thinking, abstraction, evidence)
Project management (planning, scope, boundaries, result-orientation)
Responsibility (ownership, self-discipline, bear mistakes, accountability)
Motivation (commitment, pro-active attitude, initiative)
Self-regulation (independence, self-esteem, aware of own goals, motives and capacities)
Verbal communication (presenting, speaking, listening)
Written communication (writing skills, reporting, summarising)
Collaboration (teamwork, group support, loyalty, attendance)
Flexibility (adaptability, dealing with change, teachability, eagerness to learn)
Critical thinking (asking questions, check assumptions)
Creative thinking (resourcefulness, curiosity, thinking out of the box)
Integrity (honesty, moral, ethics, personal values)
Intercultural skills (communications between different cultures)

Fieldwork research

During your fieldwork research you will not only develop your research but also your personal skills. In recent years Latin American Studies students have been doing their fieldwork research at the following institutions:

Mexico: Colegio de Mexico (Mexico D.F.), Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara/ITESO, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
Ecuador: FLACSO
Brazil: Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Fundação Getulio Vargas.
Chile: Universidad Diego Portales, Universidad Central de Chile, Universidad de Chile, Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano.
Puerto Rico: University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
Guatemala: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala

Alumni network

The Latin American Studies programme has an active alumni network. Two times a year, in November and April, the programme invites alumni to talk to current students sharing their career paths, offering advice, and introducing their companies to students.

Humanities Career Service

Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at Humanities Career Service provide all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.

Online Career Week

The first Online Career Week was organised in May 2020. Every day there were 2 events that students could sign up for.

For example, there was a Q&A with interns. Three interns working for respectively Philips, the Dutch Mission to the UN, and the World Economic Forum provided the participants with information on their internships, the application processes and working from home. In addition, a live webinar CV writing took place, and students were able to schedule an appointment with a career counselor for personal advice.