The Department was considered outstanding in recent Teaching Quality Assessment Exercises, and has been consistently given top ratings in Research Assessment Exercises. The significance of Lusophone history in the Department's activities was reaffirmed by the creation of the Charles Boxer Chair in 1996. The Centre for the Study of Brazilian Culture and Society promotes research and scholarship with special emphasis on Brazilian popular music and the translation of Brazilian writing into English. King's library contains the most complete collection of material on Portugal, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa available in any British university. The libraries of the School of Oriental and African Studies and of the University of London have other important holdings and students may use the library of the Luso-Brazilian Council at Canning House.
Teaching is mostly in small groups enabling students to take an active part in discussions.
Amongst other resources students are urged to use satellite links and the Internet. Each programme lasts four years, with the third year abroad in a Portuguese-speaking country, usually Portugal or Brazil. You will either study at a university, teach in a school or college, or take employment, and carry out assessed coursework contributing towards your degree. Language courses, compulsory for all our programmes, cater for all levels from complete beginners to native speakers. You must, however, choose a course in either Renaissance literature or history, and take at least a 0.5 course unit in each of the three geographical areas of Portugal, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa.