Samba Beat Signals Start of Brazilian Studies Conference

March 27, 2008

Mary Ann Travis
mtravis@tulane.edu

When passersby and participants hear the sounds of the band Núcleo de Samba Cupinzeiro coming from the porch of the Lavin-Bernick Center today (March 27) from 4 to 6 p.m., they'll know the ninth international congress of the Brazilian Studies Association officially has begun.

The three-day gathering of scholars who study Brazil takes place today through Saturday (March 27–29). It is one of the biggest academic conferences — and the largest meeting of Latin American scholars — ever held on the Tulane uptown campus, says Christopher Dunn, chair and associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese. Dunn is chief organizer of the conference that he expects will draw as many as 700 attendees from the United States and Brazil.

Among the guests will be the Brazilian ambassador to the United States, Antônio de Aguilar Patriota. The presence of Aguilar at the keynote ceremony today at 6 p.m. is a sign that the conference is a "big deal," says Dunn.

The conference keynote presenter is José Miguel Wisnik, a literary critic and professor at the University of São Paulo. Wisnik, who also is a well-regarded musician and composer, will talk about the relationship between Brazilian literature and popular music while seated at the piano. "He'll play and talk," says Dunn of the unusual keynote address.

The Brazilian Studies Association's mission is to promote Brazilian studies in the United States. The choice of Tulane as the site of the association's meeting indicates the growing strength of the university in Brazilian studies during the last 10 years, says Dunn.

In academic fields such as anthropology, communication, political science and sociology as well as Portuguese language and Brazilian literature, Tulane has outstanding "Brazilianists" — faculty members and graduate students.

Brazil is the largest Latin American country in population and square miles and has the world's 10th-largest economy.

"Brazil has a vibrant, exuberant, festive culture, incredible music, a rich literary tradition and phenomenal film," says Dunn, who studies the 1970s Brazilian counterculture. While the conference will celebrate Brazilian culture and several films will be screened, the country's social problems, including urban violence related to drug trafficking, also will be discussed.

The conference's plenary session on Friday at 6 p.m., led by Kenneth P. Serbin, professor of history at the University of San Diego and president of the Brazilian Studies Association, addresses the challenges of public security in Brazil. It will be a homecoming for Tulane political science professor Anthony Pereira, who is a featured speaker on the plenary session. Pereira will rejoin the faculty next September after teaching for two years in the United Kingdom in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  

"A lot of us who work in Brazilian studies truly love Brazil," says Dunn. "But part of loving Brazil means having a critical eye. It's just like the people who love New Orleans. To be able to love New Orleans as a city doesn't mean you're going to see everything through rose-colored glasses. Part of that love is expressed through critique."