Current Areas of Research
Dr Tanya Harmer is a specialist on the Cold War in Latin America with a particular interest in the inter-American dynamics of the struggle and its links to broader developments in the Third World. Her most recent research and her book, Allende's Chile and the Inter-American Cold War| (Chapel Hill: University of Carolina Press, 2011), focuses on the international history of Chile during the presidency of Salvador Allende (1970-73) and Chile's foreign relations with Cuba and the United States during this period. As well as examining the relationships between Santiago, Havana and Washington, her book also deals with Chile's relevance for the multidimensional Cold War struggle going on in the Southern Cone in the early 1970s; Brazil's involvement in that struggle and its relationship with the Nixon administration; and Latin America's role in North-South debates of the time.
Dr Harmer obtained her BA at the University of Leeds before moving to the London School of Economics to obtain a MA and PhD in International History for which she was awarded an AHRC scholarship. Before becoming a lecturer in the department, she was appointed as an LSE Fellow and served as a Book Review Editor for the journal Cold War History| between 2008 and 2010.
Between 2005 and 2011, Dr Harmer was also Head of the Latin America International Affairs Programme| at IDEAS|, which brings together scholars and practitioners who are interested in the significance that the Cold War had for Latin America and the region's current affairs. In 2008-09, she was awarded an LSE Abbey-Santander award to organize an international conference on the Cold War at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago and is currently editing a book alongside Professors Joaquín Fermandois and Alfredo Riquelme on Chile and the Cold War. In 20010-11, she received a British Academy UK-Latin America Link Programme award to work with the Fundação Getulio Vargas to organise two international conferences on Brazil's role in Latin America during the Cold War and post-Cold War worlds. She remains closely linked to the Latin America International Affairs Programme and the Cold War Studies Programme at IDEAS.
Dr Harmer's current research focuses both on the Latin Americanization of the Cold War in the mid-1970s. She is also writing a biography of Salvador Allende's daughter, Beatriz.
Teaching
Dr Harmer's teaching at the LSE reflects the research interests outlined above. She is happy to supervise dissertations relating to twentieth-century Latin American history. In 2009-10, she will be teaching the following courses:
At undergraduate level:
HY113: From Empire to Independence: The Extra-European World in the Twentieth Century| (taught jointly with other members of staff in the Department)
HY239: Latin America and the United States since 1898|
At Masters level:
HY458: LSE-Columbia Double Degree Dissertation Workshop|
Contact Details
Office: Room EAS.E602
Telephone: 020 7107 5401
Email Address: T.Harmer@lse.ac.uk|
Office Hours
Tuesdays 14.30-15.30 and
Thursdays 13.00-14.00