HPOB10221U Portuguese and Brazilian Studies - Debates and voices in Brazilian society

Volume 2017/2018
Content

This course gives an almost exhaustive overview about Brazil today. The course structure follows a double didactical approach, which is applied simultaneously in each class: One learning process is carried out through a teacher-centered presentation of a chronological panorama of Brazil from colonial times to now, with a focus on the 20th and 21st centuries. The other learning process follows the method of problem-based teaching and gives the students the opportunity to design and develop in teams small research projects about a relevant topic of their choice, which is currently under debate in Brazil. Guided by the teacher and using the more general knowledge built in parallel about Brazil as a whole, students tackle a specific problem in an interdisciplinary perspective and find out about the different actors and interests, the context and the history behind. Applying academic techniques, this project is turned into a research paper and handed in as final written assignment. During the past years students’ research projects have addressed a large variety of topics, such as  the division of private and public space in “favelas” and gated communities; women’s rights in relation to abortion; how to reform the political system; Afro-Brazilian cultural movements; football and identity; corruption and mass protests; the effects of public policies to reduce inequality; cattle ranching and sustainability in the Amazon; and the environmental impact of the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. The course is taught in English.

Literature: MEADE, Teresa A. 2010. A brief history of Brazil. New York: Checkmark.

  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 162,75
  • Total
  • 204,75
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Other
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