HSPH and FIOCRUZ-Salvador Doctoral Students Trading Places

Between June and August 2008, Amie Shei, PhD candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), will spend approximately two months researching the impacts of Brazil’s conditional cash transfer program (CCT) program, “Bolsa Familia,” at the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) in Salvador, Bahia. As Amie, who participated in the first Harvard-Brazil Collaborative Course on Infectious Diseases in January 2008, heads South from Boston, Ridalva Dias Martins Felzemburgh, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at FIOCRUZ-Salvador, will be at HSPH to participate in a Clinical Effectiveness course as a Lemann Fellow.

Conversa at Harvard: Slavery, Abolition and Race in Brazil

On April 17, Lilia Moritz Schwarcz, Professor of Anthropology at the Universidade de São Paulo, was joined by Zephyr Frank, Assistant Professor of Latin American History at Stanford University, for a lunchtime conversation about race in Brazil in both the era of the slave trade and today. Schwarcz explained that the meaning of race and color is “always the subject of negotiation and change,” but it still organizes inequality and creates patterns of racial discrimination in Brazil. Frank, an expert in spatial history and network analysis, discussed how analyzing geography and social networks can illuminate the urban experience of slaves and freed persons in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. The lively discussion was moderated by Vincent Brown, Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History at Harvard.

Lemann Fellow Receives Travel Study Prize for Excellence in Teaching at Harvard

Bruno Carvalho, Lemann Fellow (2006-2007) and PhD candidate in Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GSAS), received an award for excellence in teaching from Harvard’s Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. The prize, awarded annually, recognizes Bruno’s exemplary work as a Teaching Fellow in the courses: "Contemporary Brazilian Culture through Media" and "Contemporary Brazilian Cinema." Bruno’s research focuses on the intersections between urban development and cultural production in 20th century Brazil. A native of Rio de Janeiro, he received a B.A. from Dartmouth College in 2004.

Harvard Students Receive Support for Experiences in Latin America

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) recently awarded summer research travel grants for senior thesis or dissertation research to 14 Harvard College students and 23 graduate students. In addition to Brazil, countries where students will study and work include Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and Japan (an internship with the Institute for Developing Economics, Latin American Studies Group). DRCLAS also awarded a total of 16 grants to seven Harvard undergraduates and nine graduate students for internships across the region. Financial support comes from 20 individual endowment funds and is possible in Brazil thanks to the generous support of the Lemann Family.

Conversa at Harvard: Brazilian Music and Social Action

On May 1, Jason Stanyek, Visiting Professor of Music at Harvard University and Assistant Professor of Music, New York University, and Bryan McCann, Associate Professor of History and Director, Brazilian Studies Program, Georgetown University, spoke at this Conversa. McCann discussed Noel Rosa's famous samba called “Conversa de Botequim.” Stanyek pushed the discussion out of the local and into the global sphere by talking about diasporic performance of Brazilian music, mainly the voice of Brazilian music in the United States. Alma Guillermoprieto, Visiting Lecturer of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard, moderated the discussion.

Widener Library goes on acquisitions trip to North and Northeast Brazil

With support from the Brazil Studies Program and the DRCLAS Title VI National Resource Center grant, Lynn Shirey, Harvard College Librarian for Latin America Spain and Portugal, travelled to São Paulo, Manaus, Belém and Fortaleza on an ambitious collection development trip this April for Widener Library. Institutions visited included: Biblioteca Florestan Fernandes, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Centro Cultural dos Povos da Amazônia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, and Universidade Federal do Ceará, in addition to a number of publishers, literary academies and sebos. Shirey came away from the trip "with the definite impression that there are many opportunities in Brazil for collaboration with libraries with excellent collections, great staffs and good ideas."

About "Informativo"

“Informativo” is produced by Harvard’s Brazil Studies Program at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) and its Brazil Office in São Paulo to provide summary updates on recent Program activity. If you would like to be removed from the distribution list, please e-mail hbrazil@fas.harvard.edu.

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