Research on Ibero-America
Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula and the regions that are closely linked with both are the field of research of the new Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies (HCIAS). Founded in August 2019, this interdisciplinary centre pools Heidelberg University’s existing and new scientific and organisational competences on Ibero-America in a central research institution. The new centre complements the University’s existing research facilities on South Asia, East Asia and North America, with their partnering structures in Heidelberg and the respective regions. The HCIAS is headed by Spanish linguist Prof. Francisco Moreno-Fernández, who transferred to Heidelberg University on a Humboldt Professorship - the most highly endowed international research award in Germany, with up to 5 million euros in funding.
The new central scientific institution works at the intersection of two major fields of research in the humanities, social sciences and behavioural studies: ‘Cultural Dynamics in Globalised Worlds’ (Field of Focus III) and ‘Self-Regulation and Regulation: Individuals and Societies’ (Field of Focus IV). The HCIAS uses Heidelberg University’s strengths in research and teaching to investigate new and current interdisciplinary questions on Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula and on regions that are closely linked to both for historical or socio-economic reasons, such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, North America and Asia. The overriding goal is to establish research, teaching and knowledge transfer on, with and in Ibero-America and its regions of influence at the University within the broader subject of ‘Spaces and Dynamics’.
As early as 2002, Heidelberg University founded the Heidelberg Center for Latin America (HCLA) in Santiago de Chile, which, in its capacity as a DAAD Centre of Excellence in Research and Teaching, has been offering various master’s and graduate programmes in cooperation with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Chile since 2009. The HCLA is now developing a new research line in Advanced Studies that ties in with the research programme of the HCIAS. The academic director of the HCLA is linguist Inés Recio, who took up her position in April 2020. Before her appointment, the native of Spain designed and coordinated international cooperative study programmes and research projects and was responsible for quality management at Heidelberg University’s Institute of Translation and Interpreting (IÜD).
