Module I – The Brazilian Economy: Economic and Social Development, Trade and Public Policy

This program is designed to study the contemporary situation of Brazil with a focus on recent macroeconomic and social policies and their consequences. Topics include Macroeconomic Fundamentals, Social Context and International Trade.

• Social Advancements: Analyzing the income distribution in the highest inequality context worldwide, and the latest public policies, especially the “bolsa-família” program (family grants) and the finance programs supporting small business.
• Macroeconomic Fundamentals: Analyzing monetary and fiscal policies, and their implications for economic growth, inflation, unemplyment, and exchange rates.
• International Trade: Studying the causes and consequences of the increasing importance of Brazil in international trade relationships, and new perspectives resulting from (1) the economic crisis and (2) the increasing role played by China.

Module II – Brazilian Social Thought: Racial Democracy and Liberation

In this course, we will explore Brazilian social and political thought in the 20th century, as it has been caught between authoritarianism and democratization, in the ongoing processes of modernization, massive migrations from rural to urban areas, social movements, and the intellectual input of positivism and Marxism. The Brazilian dream of having a social democracy, as will be shown, has been ultimately haunted by two populist pathologies at the heart of Brazil's political culture of paternalist cordiality: the myth of racial democracy and the liberationist utopia of social egalitarianism. While the conservative elites promoted the former and still call into question intersectional approaches to race and ethnic relations in Brazil, leftist and socially-engaged segments of society tend to take social democracy for granted as a socialist promise to be delivered by a paternalist State to the poor. In effect, the so-called liberation theology and related grassroots movements that flourished in the 60s and 70s led all the way up to the consolidation of a social-democratic political culture, following 21 years of military dictatorship (1964-85) and the rise of union activism culminating in the presidential elections of Workers' Party's Lula da Silva (2003-2010) and Dilma Rousseff (2011-present). We will be reading excerpts from major social and political thinkers in Brazil, and will watch and discuss streaming and video clips from Brazilian movies and documentaries.

Module III – Seminaries about Cultural and Social heterogeneity*

The seminars will discuss culture, literature, telenovelas, movies and Brazilian music. Among other topics, modern issues on Brazilian culture will be discussed including popular culture, mass culture and the relationship between Brazilian cinema and politics.

The seminars on the Amazon will provide a general introduction on the history, culture, social relations, geography and environmental conditions of the Amazon area. The hydrographic basin of the Amazon, covering a surface area of about 7 million square kilometers, is the largest tropical river basin on Earth. The Amazon River flows across this area from West to East, just South of the Equator. It is 6,750 kilometers in length and has 5 times the volume of water of the Congo River and ten times the volume of the Mississippi River. The Amazon is known for its rainforests, its biodiversity, and its rich and unexplored natural resources. It is also known for deforestation that goes unpunished, the extinction of its unique fauna and flora, land conflicts, uncontrolled exploitation of its natural resources through mining and electric companies and the discrimination of its local and indigenous population. It will be shown through examples how the pre-colonial and present-day indigenous population and riparians of the Amazon, called “caboclos”, traditionally relate to their environment. For example, how they handle plants, animals, soil and water and what it means to them. We conclude the seminar by discussing the current situation of the Amazon area, where increasing environmental disturbances manifest themselves. The daily rain patterns are no longer the same. The water is increasingly mixed with mud and deadwood.
*The topics may be modified.

Module IV – Brazilian Perspectives as an Emerging Economy

This course examines the implications of the recent Brazilian development and economic trends. Structural transformations in the country have been leading not only to significant internal social changes, but also to an increasing capacity to attract international investments. The program considers two fundamental aspects: Business environment and key-sector analysis.

• Business Environment: Providing an Overview of the Brazilian regulation system with a focus on government regulaty agencies for communications, energy and the environment.
• Sector Analysis: Examining current and potential states of affairs in the most promising sectors of the Brazilian economy, namely, agribusiness, oil and bio-fuels.

Module V – On-site study visits (to define)*

• Gerdau
• Tecnopuc and the Sports Park
• Missões Jesuíticas
• Tramontina
• Tour around Porto Alegre

*The places can suffer modifications in accordance with the interest of the group of students.

Module VI – Portuguese for Foreigners: Beginner’s Level

The course seeks to develop a basic level of competence in the Portuguese language through assignments incorporating academic situations as well as day-to-day situations, including social practices and aspects of Brazilian culture. Skills involved in comprehension, speaking and writing will be developed in an integrated manner, as they would occur in real-life communication situations.

The course aims to inform, clarify and enable foreign students to communicate in a satisfactory manner, using appropriate structure and vocabulary in first contact situations with the Brazilian language and culture.

The course will be conducted in the MOODLE Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), using various internet resources, such as communication tools and recorded lectures posted online. Students will be required to complete some activities during the course, including: watching/listening to pre-recorded lectures (video and audio); participating in forum debates and discussions; completing reading assignments; among other activities.

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Program courses are taught in English, and each module is 20 hours in duration.