Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies
Newsletter Summer 2024

BRASA XVII hosted at San Diego State University 

We’re excited to focus on BRASA XVII! BRASA (Brazilian Studies Association) is an esteemed academic organization dedicated to the development and promotion of Brazilian Studies, particularly within the humanities and social sciences. This year, we had the immense honor of hosting the BRASA XVII right here on the campus of San Diego State University from April 3-6, 2024.

Held at the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union, the event was a success, drawing more than 600 attendees from Brazil and the United States. Over four days, the conference featured 160 panels covering a vast range of topics within Brazilian studies. The intellectual energy and enthusiasm created a vibrant atmosphere for scholarly exchange and networking.

We are immensely grateful for the participation of so many distinguished scholars and professionals, whose contributions helped make this event a landmark occasion. BRASA XVII not only showcased the richness and diversity of Brazilian culture and academic research but also reinforced the importance of international collaboration in the humanities and social sciences.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making BRASA XVII a truly unforgettable event. We look forward to seeing you all in BRASA XVIII at Bahia, Brazil. 

We are also thrilled to announce that our Director, Erika Robb Larkins, has been elected BRASA president (2024-2026).

 

Center Launches New Community Researcher Residency

The center launched a new community researcher residency in partnership with the Antiracist Caucus of Rio de Janeiro and City Council member Monica Cunha. Cunha is a Black woman, mother, antiracist activist and human rights defender who has worked in various non- governmental organizations (NGOs) as an educator, and coordinator of social projects. She is the mother of Rafael da Silva Cunha, a victim of state violence and founder of the "Movimento Moleque," an organization of mothers of youths whose rights had been violated by the state. Cunha was also the coordinator of the Network of Communities and Movements against Violence and in 2019, she coordinated the Human Rights Commission of Alerj. She was elected as an alternate for PSOL in 2020 and in 2023 took office as a councilor. She proposed the installation and is the president of the first Special Commission to Combat Racism in a legislative house in Brazil. Since then, she has focused her work on promoting an anti-racist society. She is also vice-president of the Human Rights Commission.

In January Cunha traveled to San Diego State University along with the inaugural community research in residence, Rute Fiúza. Fiúza is a human rights activist and the mother of Davi Fiúza, who forcibly disappeared by police in Salvador in 2014. She is the coordinator of Mães de Maio for the northeastern region of Brazil and co-founder and coordinator of the Collective of Mothers and Family Members of Victims of State Violence working under the Coalition for Black Rights. She holds a degree in social work and is currently a researcher on a Harvard-based project entitled “Violence and Mothering Politics in Brazil.”

Cunha and Fiúza delivered lectures at the event, “State Violence and Racial Justice in Brazil,” where they talked to students about police brutality and the anti-racist movement in Brazil, both on the ground via social movements such as the Black Coalition for Rights, the Mães de Maio and Movimento Moleque, and on the political front via initiatives like Cunha’s Special Commission to Combat Racism and the Human Rights Commission where she serves as vice-president.

Fiúza stayed in California for three weeks, during which she visited several classes at SDSU to deliver guest lectures and traveled to give talks at UCLA and Pitzer College. The center will receive one community researcher each year for the residency.

 

San Diego Latino Film Festival Welcomes Renato Novaes

The Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies collaborated with the San Diego Latino Film Festival (SDLFF)for the third year in a row to increase the presence of Brazilian cinema at the festival. This year the Center hosted actor and filmmaker, Renato Novaes, star of "The Day I Met You," which was selected as the opening film of the festival. 

While in San Diego, Renato visited SDSU and delivered a guest lecture in BRAZ 325: Democracy in Brazilian Society. Students received free tickets to the festival to see "The Day I Met You" and had the chance to ask Renato questions about how he became an actor and his career in cinema.

In addition to participating in Q&As at the two screenings of the film at the festival. Renato also participated in the SDLFF’s press conference to promote the film.

 

Faculty Spotlight: Eliane Gomes Alves, Spring Semester Sustainability Fellow

We are pleased to highlight our spring Sustainability Visiting Fellow, Eliane Gomes Alves. Gomes Alves is currently a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) in Germany and a collaborator in the graduate program in climate and environment at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) in Brazil. She obtained her Ph.D. in climate and environment at INPA in 2016, and her entire research career has been developed in forest-atmosphere interaction research in the Amazon. She is interested in investigating how plants (mainly trees) respond to the climate in primary forests in central Amazonia and disturbed forests in the "Amazon Arc of Deforestation," where environmental extremes such as heat and drought are becoming more frequent.

Gomes Alves has been part of several international project collaborations to carry out research in the Amazon. In addition to her scientific research, she devotes time to developing activities that impact teaching, mentoring, diversity and inclusion. Moreover, she is co-founder of the Latin America Early Career Earth System Scientist Network (LAECESS), a network to empower Latin Americans in the international scientific community.

 

SDSU Sends Two Fulbright Scholars to Brazil

We are thrilled to announce that San Diego State University will be sending not one, but two Fulbright scholars to Brazil in the 2024-2025 academic year. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government to foster mutual cultural understanding. Kristal Bivona, associate director, Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies, will go to Brazil as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar in fall 2024 and Ph.D. student, Lily Astete Vasquez will go to Brazil through the Fulbright U.S. Students Program in spring 2025. Both Bivona and Astete Vasquez will be hosted by the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, where they have forged previous research collaborations during their time in Belo Horizonte through the NSF-funded project, “U.S. Brazil Collaboration to Expand Perspectives on Water and Sustainability.”

Bivona will be conducting field research for her book project on Brazilian cinema and democracy. In addition to studying the Minas-based film production company, Filmes de Plástico, she will also attend four of the country’s most important film festivals (in Brasília, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Gramado) to write about the crucial role they play in supporting the film industry in Brazil and promoting Brazilian cinema abroad. Her research examines the relationship between democracy and cinema, examining both how the government impacts the content of film or censorship of audiovisual production, as well as the role of the government in encouraging or suppressing cinema and the audiovisual industry.

Astete Vasquez’s project is focused on the fundamental processes occurring within onsite sanitation systems (pit latrines, septic tanks, etc.) for determining ways to sustainably improve them. She has explored the development of a mobile waterless flushing toilet for providing people experiencing homelessness with low-maintenance sanitation options, and she’s in the process of patenting a technology to reduce the filling of solids in septic tanks. Her work applies to homeless encampments, disaster relief zones, refugee camps, and individual households in rural and developing global regions.

 

Student Spotlight: Victoria Argimon

We’d like to introduce you to Victoria Argimon, an undergraduate sociology major and a student assistant here at the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies. When asked about her experience working with the center, Argimon responded, “It’s been amazing! I’m so lucky to have been able to meet and work with everyone here. I feel like I’ve learned so much from everyone.” 

Argimon was born in Canada, but moved to Porto Alegre with her family as a child. At six years old, they moved to California where she’s lived ever since. Her experiences living in Brazil and having a Brazilian family left her deeply interested in Brazilian culture and political dynamics. Argimon plans to return to Brazil for a few years after finishing graduate school to work and spend time with her family. 

When asked about her decision to study sociology and pursue higher education, Argimon explained that she has a deep passion for social justice, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. Studying sociology was a mechanism in which to get a more thorough understanding of why queer people are marginalized economically and socially. Additionally, Argimon is deeply interested in inequality, political economy, and labor history. 

In her free time, Argimon likes to play bass in her band, read science fiction, spend time with her family, and practice her Portuguese. 

Congratulations on graduating! We’re so happy to have had you with us.  

 

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