Brazilian Studies welcomes ambassador

The Brazilian ambassador to the United States, Antonio Patriota, will visit Harvard on Feb. 13 to participate in the University’s new and dynamic Brazil Studies Program’s spring 2008 calendar of events. The ambassador will speak about relations between Brazil and the United States and the new role of Brazil in the global economy and in Latin America, as well as the foreign policy of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Patriota will visit the Center for Government and International Studies (1730 Cambridge St., Room S050) from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

“We are delighted the ambassador is coming as part of a wide series of events and seminars rolled out this week,” said Kenneth Maxwell, director of the program.

Funded by an endowment gift from Jorge Paulo Lemann ’61, the Brazil Studies Program, based at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS), is a key component of the University’s internationalization. The program in Cambridge works closely with the DRCLAS office in Brazil in encouraging faculty research, student internships, and other programs.

As Maxwell observed, “The program is truly international in content and in quality, and it is not parochial or captive to any narrowly defined disciplinary interest or preoccupation. We seek to link the very best Harvard faculty and students with the very best Brazilian faculty and students across disciplines, be they in the sciences, medicine, public health, education, engineering, environment, the humanities and social sciences, music, and design. Through this approach, I believe, we can most effectively make a difference in Brazil and at the University.”

In the spring semester, in addition to sponsoring two existing series — Conversas and the New England Brazil Studies Workshop — the Brazil Studies Program announced the launch of a new Brazilian film series co-sponsored by the student-run Harvard Brazilian Organization. The film series will feature both contemporary and classic Brazilian films depicting the country’s rich cinematic tradition and complex socioeconomic and cultural realities.