Background

What is VILLA?

VILLA is a ‘virtual area hub’ which formalises, fosters and further encourages the University’s expanding links with academics, diplomats and policy makers in Latin America. It acts as a node for interactions across all disciplines at the university with counterparts and interested parties both in New Zealand, and in particular in Wellington, and in Latin America itself. This approach goes beyond a pure ‘area studies’ approach and thus the word ‘links’ is emphasised in the title of the Institute.

Background

New Zealand has a growing fascination with Latin America in many areas of society. Given the growing interest in academic Latin American studies, exchanges between academics and students and the blossoming in other aspects of the NZ-Latin American relationship, by late 2007 the time was ripe for the establishment of an entity at Victoria University of Wellington to foster and grow these activities. There is a real and genuine interest in Latin American studies (as is evidenced in SGEES and the ‘Chile Connection’ that is already in operation there and in the European Languages and Culture programme for example) as well as increasing interaction across many disciplines with counterparts in Latin America (for example in biology, earth sciences and meteorology). The Institute works to improve such interaction, crossing a number of the faculties and including student and other exchange bodies in its work.

VILLA responds to the call by the five Latin American ambassadors in 2006 (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru) that their collaborative educational and academic needs be addressed by an entity in Wellington. It also builds on and from the government’s Latin America Strategy launched in 2001 which is part of New Zealand’s geo-political and economic diversification strategy.