NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A panel of eminent Brazilian scholars analyzing Brazil’s most recent elections will be among the highlights of an international conference hosted by Vanderbilt University Oct. 13-16. More than 400 researchers, with approximately half of them coming from Brazil, will attend the Brazilian Studies Association’s Eighth International Conference, according to Marshall C. Eakin, professor of history and executive director of the association. According to Eakin, “This biannual conference is the largest interdisciplinary gathering of Brazilianists held outside of Brazil.”
Panel discussions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including cultural studies, economics, history, geography, political science and anthropology, are scheduled all weekend. These panels include “Brazil at the Crossroads: The Elections of 2006 and the Prospects for the Next Government,” which will provide perspective on the presidential, congressional, state and municipal elections in Brazil in October.
Vanderbilt participants, in addition to Eakin, include Beth Conkin, associate professor of anthropology; Earl Fitz, professor of Portuguese, Spanish and Comparative Literature; Jane Landers, associate professor of history; Emanuelle K.F. Oliveira, assistant professor of Portuguese; and graduate students Carolina Castellanos, Jonathan Wade, David Wheat, Scott Ryan Infanger and James Krause. Other Brazilianists include Thomas Gregor, professor of anthropology; James Lang, associate professor of sociology; and Russell Hamilton, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, emeritus.
During the conference, Thomas E. Skidmore, professor emeritus of history at Brown University, will be honored with the Brazilian Studies Association’s first Lifetime Contribution Award.
The association, which was formed in 1992, strives to promote Brazilian studies and to build strong links between those who study Brazil and other parts of Latin America.
Vanderbilt, which has a long tradition of interest in Brazil’s culture, economy, history and people, has hosted the Secretariat of the Brazilian Studies Association since July 2004 with the generous support of the Center for the Americas.
Media contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, 615-322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu