Vanderbilt has a long tradition of interest in Brazil's people, culture, economy and history. This interest began after World War II, when the U.S. government celebrated the Allies' victory by supporting the academic study of its partners in the war. With federal funding Vanderbilt established its Institute for Brazilian Studies in 1947, and Brazil’s President Eurico Dutra inaugurated the new Institute. In the 1950s and 1960s the Institute broadened its scope, eventually becoming the Center for Latin American Studies. You may read about Vanderbilt's historic connections with Brazil at http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/files/cXfX7G/TheBrazilianConnection.pdf </SPAN>Today a wide variety of programs, departments and centers at Vanderbilt support Brazilian studies.
Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) is an international organization devoted to the promotion of the study of Brazil. In July 2004 the BRASA secretariat moved to Vanderbilt from the University of New Mexico and Marshall C. Eakin, Department of History, became the organization’s executive director. A number of Vanderbilt faculty participate in BRASA 's annual meetings, including the Rio de Janeiro meeting in June 2004 and the meeting held on the Vanderbilt Campus, Oct.13-16, 2006 which attracted more than 400 participants from Brazil and the United States. BRASA held its last meeting in March, 2008 in New Orleans, and once again a number of Vanderbilt faculty and students participated. Executive Director Eakin is now planning BRASA's next meeting which will be held in Brazil's capital of Brasilia in 2010. The meeting will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Brasilia and has the enthusiastic support of many branches of the Brazilian government. For more on BRASA see http://www.brasa.org/
The Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) evolved out of the Institute for Brazilian Studies and has built on its great success. On the strength of its Portuguese language instruction, CLAS is a Foreign Language and Area Studies program of the Department of Education and receives significant federal funding to support graduate students wishing to study Portuguese or work on Brazil. CLAS offers the M.A. in Latin American Studies and three joint masters degrees. With the Owen Graduate School of Management it offers a joint Master of Arts and Master of Business Administration degree, with the Vanderbilt School of Law, a Joint Masters of Art in Latin American Studies and a Masters in Law, and with the Graduate Program in Economic Development, a Joint Masters of Art in Latin American Studies and a Masters in Economic Development.
In 2006, CLAS had the distinction of being named a National Resource Center (NRC) by the Department of Education, joining the ranks of the most prestigious programs in the country. CLAS will receive over $1.5 million over the next four years for faculty and graduate student research, visiting speakers and conferences, and outreach to public schools and the medical, legal, and business community. This funding will also support the further expansion of the Portuguese language program at Vanderbilt.
For more on CLAS see http://www.vanderbilt.edu/clais/aboutclaisStudies
The Graduate Program in Economic Development (GPED) was founded as a summer institute in 1954 and became a comprehensive, one-year graduate program leading to the Master of Arts degree in Economics in 1956. The program trains businesspeople and government officials from all over the world, offering courses in several major areas of emphasis including Finance and Banking, International Development, Poverty and Inequality, and Development of Institutions, as well as numerous electives from across the University. Ninety Brazilians have graduated from the program since its initiation, and many now hold high posts in government agencies and banks across Brazil. For more on the GPED porgram visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/econ/GPED/site/
You may also browse for Brazilian alumni of the GPED program at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/econ/GPED/site/index.php?option=com_sobi2&Itemid=212
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FIPSE-CAPES Certificate Program I
