Lectures and Lecturers 2005
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On Thursday, June 16, we had the first speaker in our summer lecture series. Professor Darién Davis, Middlebury College, gave a speech entitled "Música popular brasileira, o conceito da nação e o mundo: uma perspectiva histórica" (Popular Brazilian music, the concept of nation and the world: an historical perspective).
Our lecture series continued with a talk from Flávio Steiner, a Brazilian media executive with the newspaper Zero Hora. He spoke to our students on Wednesday, June 29, with a speech entitled "A mídia no Brasil." (media in Brazil)
Our third speaker was Dr. Luiz Fernando Valente, of Brown University. His speech about the works of reknowned educator Paulo Freire, "Que país é este?" (what country is this?) was delivered on Thursday, June 30.
On Sunday, July 3, Nina Araújo, a Professional Development Consultant from Arizona, gave a workshop on children's songs from Brazil.
We continued with a talk by Middlebury professor Jeff Cason on July 7 - "O Brasil de Lula."
On Friday, July 8, Karen Sotelino, a specialist in literary translation describer her translation of Portuguese novelist Teolinda Gersão, during her talk "Memória coletiva no romance A árvore das palavras."
From Karen Sotelino we also learned a good lesson on the value of reading texts in the original language, since the translator makes many critical choices and may convey different meanings to the reader.
Our next lecture came from one of our professors from last summer, Luciana Namorato. She spoke about "O Brasil hoje" (Brazil today). The theme of her talk was the tobacco industry in Brazil, and the various forms of propaganda which are being made in an effort to increase awareness of the potential dangers of smoking.
On July 13, we heard a talk from Dr. Anna Klobucka of the University of Massachussetts at Dartmouth. She was the first of our speakers to discuss themes from Portugal - "As cartas de amor de uma freira portuguesa e a formação de um mito nacional" (The love letters of a Portuguese nun and the formation of a national myth).
On Thursday, July 14, we heard a lecture from Victor Mendes, another professor from the University of Massachussetts at Dartmouth, who discussed one of Portugal's most famous poets - "Introdução a Fernando Pessoa através das suas cartas" (Introduction to Fernando Pessoa by way of his correspondance).
On Friday, July 15, our afternoon classes met together for a lecture by Monica Rector, Professor of Portuguese at the Univresity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Rector discussed the serious side of Carnaval: its history, its structure, its symbolism, and its cultural significance.
On Saturday, July 16, the students heard a lecture given by a professor from Columbia University, Luis Gonçalves. His speech, entitled "Mia Couto, Escritor Moçambicano" (Mia Couto, Mozambican Author), discussed one of Luso-Africa's more well-known authors.
Our next two speakers were returning visitors from last summer - Russell and Cherie Hamilton. His talk on Monday, July 18, "Introdução a literatura lusófona africana," gave the students an overview of the literary accomplishments of the PALOPs - Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa (Portuguese-Speaking African Countries).
On Tuesday, July 19, Cherie Hamilton discussed "A culinária do mundo lusófono" (Lusophone cuisine), being an expert in dishes from all of the countries that have Portuguese as the official (or unofficial) language.
On Friday, July 22, Marshall Eakin of Vanderbilt University gave a lecture on Brazilian national identity entitled "Imaginando o Brasil" (Imagining Brazil).
The climax of our summer lecture series was a special presentation by our writer-in-residence Moacyr Scliar, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He and his wife Judith stayed with us for several days, getting to know the students and enjoying life in the Portuguese School.
While here, Moacyr Scliar gave two talks about his work - one in English for the general community, and one in Portuguese for our students. At both, people were able to purchase copies of his books, which he then autographed.
