Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies. Academic and Business Plan

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1 Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies Academic and Business Plan Title and Classification Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies (hereafter ANCLAS or the Centre) Academic Justification The Australian National Centre for Latin America Studies (ANCLAS) at the Australian National University has established itself over the last six years as the most vibrant and active Centre of Latin American studies in Australia. It conducts research on Latin America, on relations between Australia and Latin America and on Latin America s broader role in the world. It offers the only degree in Latin American studies in Australia - the Bachelor of Latin American Studies (BLAS) - and the only major in Latin American Studies grounded in the social sciences in Australia or New Zealand. A private business endowment to ANU (the Bernard Wheelahan Pacific Hydro Scholarship) has enabled a small scholarship to be established in perpetuity to assist students studying in Latin America as part of the BLAS degree. ANCLAS operates as the major point of contact between Latin America and the ANU. The Centre has forged very good relationships with the Latin American Embassies and the Australian government. It has also developed relationships with Australian businesses involved in investment and trade with Latin America. It has developed promising relationships with universities in Latin America and has enhanced the ability of the Australian National University to attract funded undergraduate and, especially postgraduate students, from Latin America, one of Australia s fastest growing student markets. ANCLAS has also been instrumental in drawing together scholars outside the School of Politics and International Relations at ANU and elsewhere in Australia studying Latin America. It has done this through an intense program of activities including international conferences, public lectures and other events. It was instrumental in assisting the establishment of external funding for Portuguese language teaching at the ANU. ANCLAS has brought in significant external funding (approximately $952,000) in the years from the Australian Research Council, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID, the Department of Industry, Council on Australia-Latin America Relations, Ian Potter Foundation and smaller additional amounts in competitive internal grants including an ANU MEC grant of $32,000 to improve library resources on Latin America.

2 Mission and Objectives ANCLAS will build on its capacity to research, teach and contribute to the debate on economic, political, cultural and security affairs in Latin America. ANCLAS at the ANU will remain and enhance its role as the only institution in Australia that has the infrastructure, the academic base and the proximity to government and the diplomatic community necessary to fulfil this mission. This will continue to have a key role in the development of knowledge about the Latin American region, its connections with Australia and with other parts of the world. Research Our objective is to further develop research, teaching and outreach activities on Latin America. This will require: further development of the research potential of ANCLAS through drawing on the research publications of our current staff in SPIR and Associates outside the ANU in high quality journals. continued efforts to broaden the base of research funding from ARC and non-arc sources. This will include working closely with the Council on Australian Latin America Relations and looking to establish research ties with private organisations that have business interests in Latin America. accessing the very significant amounts of research funding available in Latin America and collaboration with academics and academic institutions in Latin America. Supervision Currently the three tenured ANCLAS staff in SPIR supervise ten PhD students (although only 5 in Latin American Studies). An ANCLAS brown bag series of seminars has been established to discuss work in progress of graduate students and staff. This will be continued. An objective will be to supervise 8 PhD students in Latin American Studies by 2015 and to highlight our postgraduate program by promotion throughout the country and internationally. To achieve this we will seek to find the resources to employ a third tenured staff member. Teaching The Centre will take an active role in undergraduate and Honours teaching, in postgraduate coursework teaching and in PhD supervision. Currently the BLAS has a very small enrolment. Our objective is to lift enrolment in this degree to sustainable levels. This will be done through promotion to schools in Australia and internationally. A marketing plan has been drafted and will be implemented in 2014 in consultation with CASS marketing. ANCLAS will also work more closely with other schools and colleges at ANU, such as the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, with a view to attracting students with an interest in Latin America to enroll in ANCLAS courses through the flexible degree model.

3 The current requirement for BLAS students to complete one semester of study in Latin America will be supported by the development of ANIP-administered internships in the region. This has already been approved in principle by the Department of Foreign Affairs at their Buenos Aires Embassy and by the government of Argentina. We will attempt to extend this to other Australian Embassies in Latin America by There is also an opportunity in the future to expand this to include Australian businesses working in Latin America. The international experience of our students will be further supported by the attempt to secure private endowment funding for travel and other expenses. Our objective is to establish three new undergraduate courses in Latin American Studies by Currently, one, largely on-line course, at Masters level is established. Our objective is to promote and teach this on an annual basis and to establish a second such course by To achieve these teaching objectives we will seek to find the resources to employ a third tenured staff member. An expansion of the on-line components of our courses and to develop further innovations in teaching delivery is a further objective. We aim to use our visiting fellows (9 in 2013) to enhance our teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate coursework level by asking them to deliver guest lectures and seminars and at postgraduate levels through consultation with HDR students. Outreach The current outreach program of ANCLAS is very extensive. In 2013 this included 14 public lectures, 13 film screenings, 5 concerts, 3 publicly-accessible conferences and four other public events. Diplomatic and senior government representatives were present at all of these events. Previously most of these events have been free. In the future it is likely that more of them will be fee based to provide a semblance of value and to provide additional funds. The ANCLAS web presence will continue to be important in this. This currently involves a website containing edited videos of public events and using Facebook, Twitter, an app, and a blog on contemporary Latin American politics. ANCLAS will expand its public briefings on contemporary events in Latin America (e.g. post-election briefings) as a means of informing Australian public policy on the area. In addition ANCLAS will look to provide annual update briefings to government and these will likely be fee based briefings. ANCLAS will also develop a subscription model with a view to providing 3 small reports a year after significant events in the region, such as elections, to organisations that subscribe to the scheme. As well as expanding ANCLAS s relevance it is hoped that this initiative will bring in significant funding both through the subscriptions and follow up consultancies.

4 External funding In addition to the government and Australian Research Council sources mentioned above, further efforts will be made to secure business funding on a significant scale. This will involve attempts to secure endowment funding and the development of our executive training and consulting capacity on contemporary Latin American politics and economies which will be fee based. To assist this aim the new ANCLAS Advisory Board has been appointed which includes four senior Australian business figures with significant involvement and experience with investments in Latin America. A number of the initiatives mentioned above involving more interaction with commercial operations in Latin America came out of the first meeting of this board. Staffing The Director of ANCLAS has primary responsibility for the Centre, with the assistance of the School of Politics and International Relations. The Director may nominate suitable academics as Associates of the Centre. For the last three and a half years, ANCLAS has had casual administrative support. We will seek to make this permanent in the future. Academic Representation The Director will be an academic member of the School of Politics and International Relations. There is no need for independent representation at the College level. ANCLAS has had a strong history of representation on and providing advice to professional academic and government bodies including the Presidency of the Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia and membership of the Education group of the Council on Australia-Latin American Relations and will seek to continue this. Annual Report The Director will submit a brief annual report to the Head, School of Politics and International Relations, and to the Director, Research School of the Social Sciences. Review The financial performance of the Centre will be reviewed biennially as part of the normal budgetary and review process of the College of Arts and Social Sciences. Governance Arrangements The Director will report to the Head, School of Politics and International Relations and through the Head to the Director, Research School of Social Sciences.

5 The ANCLAS Advisory Board is appointed by the ANU Vice Chancellor, will meet at least once each year and will provide advice to the Director of ANCLAS on an Honorary basis. Administrative Arrangements The Centre will be housed in the Haydon-Allen Building and be administered within the School of Politics and International Relations.