Olá (Hello in Portuguese)

Welcome to the January Term 2017 Brazil Blog! For the duration of our trip, our group will be updating our blog to keep the world updated on all that we are learning and experiencing. We hope that you enjoy hearing of our adventures and maybe even learn a few things right alongside us!

About Me

My name is Anna Phearman and I am a Sophomore Political Science major with both an International Studies and a Communication Studies minor. I also participate in Student Senate, Student Philanthropy Council, and run on the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. I am looking forward to finding new places to run while in Brazil!

Our Trip

While Brazil is frequently praised as being one of the most diverse nations in the world, it is unfortunately not free of widespread racism. In reality, Brazil has struggled with vast inequalities stemming from racial discrimination for most of its history. For instance, Afro-Brazilians make an average of 48% less than white Brazilians in the same exact job. Although Brazil holds an abundance of natural resources, the nation has consistently failed to utilize them in creating prolonged economic development. Due to the lasting impact of Brazil’s history of slavery, recent economic growth has only exacerbated enduring inequalities.

We will be spending the month of January examining development, race, and inequality within the Brazilian context in an attempt to understand how these three factors are interconnected. Personally, I hope to witness Brazil’s incredible diversity firsthand and to come to fully understand the implications of subtle (or, in some cases, not so subtle) discriminations on a society.

Que comece a aventura!

(Let the adventure begin!)

Anna Phearman, Blog Coordinator