Visit the Portuguese Speaking World (2015 - 2016)

The 2015-2016 academic year at Kennesaw State University was the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World. The university hosted a series of events, speakers, conferences, and cultural activities throughout the year designed to promote a deeper appreciation for and understanding of the Portuguese speaking world.

Comprised of nine countries on four continents - Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe - the Portuguese Speaking World is a diverse region, with each country possessing a unique history, economy, political structure, and culture.

As in previous years, the university teamed up with key international and domestic partners to organize events that provided attendees with unique, fascinating insights about real life in the region. For example, for the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World, KSU worked closely with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

KSU Global Education also wants to thank students in Assistant Professor Kristine Hwang's Design Practicum (ART 4030) for their efforts designing The Year of the Portuguese Speaking World's marketing materials. This year's logo was designed by Shey Draw, while the calendar poster was designed by Kelvin Lee, the border pattern by Sami Malik, and the digital signage by Brieanna Bailey.

VIEW 2016 EVENT SCHEDULE year of home
Year of the Portuguese Speaking World 2015 - 2016 logo.

Photo Gallery

This page features images captured during Year of the Portuguese Speaking World cultural and academic events.

VIEW PHOTO GALLERIES

Year of the Portuguese Speaking World Events

One of the best ways to learn about another culture’s perspective is to study its art. Throughout the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World, Kennesaw State University hosted musical and cultural performances as well as a series of films exploring the culture of the Portuguese speaking world.

  • Thursday, February 11th, 2016
    8:00 PM
    Bailey Performance Center

    Concert featuring famed fadista Catarina Avelar and choro musical group Quarteto Viagem.

  • October 6th, 2015
    12:30pm - 2:00pm
    Carmichael Student Center, University Rooms A-E

    Celebration featuring Capoeira demonstration, the KSU Tellers, musical performances, and food-tasting.

  • October 16th, 2015
    8:00pm
    Bailey Performance Center

    Featuring Brazilian jazz guitarist Felipe Coelho.

    This special concert featured Brazilian guitarist Felipe Coelho performing "Todas as Direções" for Brazilian 7-string guitar with the KSU Symphony Orchestra, plus a jazz set with KSU jazz faculty members Sam Skelton, Marc Miller, and Justin Chesarek.

    Felipe Coelho is a Brazilian award-winning guitarist and composer whose influences include flamenco, jazz, classical and world music. Producing his fifth original record in 2015, he has toured with his own works on eight different occasions, including performances in the United States, China and South America. In Brazil he has performed as well as taught in nearly 30 different festivals and has been invited to perform his own music alongside orchestras such as Cameratta de Florianópolis, Filarmonia SC and Orquestra Academica UDESC.

    If you are interested in learning more about Felipe Coelho's work, the album "Todas as Direções" is available to purchase on most digital platforms, including iTunes and One RPM.

    You can also view videos of his performances by visiting Felipe Coelho's Youtube Page.

  • November 2nd - 12th, 2015
    Social Sciences Atrium

    The Diaspora Dictionary: Bahia, Brazil exhibit is called a ‘dictionary’ because the photographs and artifacts are categorized alphabetically within different aspects of culture. Diaspora Dictionary uses literacy to show the similarities and differences of Black, African people throughout the Diaspora; it is not specific to one country, but it extends itself to encompass all the many countries and cultures that make up the African Diaspora. Diaspora Dictionary: Bahia, Brazil gives access to Brazil through one of its richest cultural states. This exhibit was made possible through Morehouse in Bahia (Fulbright-Hays Project Abroad) in Atlanta, Georgia and the Steve Biko Cultural Institute in Bahia, Brazil.

    Artist’s Statement:

    Nneka A. Bennett is an elementary educator and freelance photographer. As an educator, Nneka is interested in the integration of art in the STEM subjects also known as S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). Nneka is currently obtaining her Master’s degree in Elementary Education. As a freelance photographer she is committed to capturing the beauty in the world to use as a tool to inspire her students and others. Nneka currently lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia.

Portuguese Speaking World Student Symposium

November 12th, 2015
8:30am-6:30pm
Location: KSU Center
3333 Busbee Dr NW

Presentations from students who participated in the President's Emerging Global Scholars program partnership with UNIFACS in Brazil, as well as from students at Universities around Georgia who have conducted their own research projects about the Portuguese Speaking world. The event is co-sponsored by the Georgia Afro-Brazilian Consortium.

During the symposium, the photographic Exhibit, Diaspora Dictionary: Bahia, Brazil was on display in the Social Sciences Atrium.

  • TIME LOCATION DESCRIPTION
    8:30 - 9:00 am KSU Center Conference Registration
    9:00 - 9:30 am KSU Center Room 400

    Welcoming Remarks and Opening Address

    Lance Askildson, KSU Vice Provost for Global Affairs
    Hermano Telles Ribeiro, Consul General of Brazil

    9:30 - 10:45 am KSU Center Room 400

    Session I: “University of Salvador – UNIFACS and Kennesaw State University President’s Emerging Scholars Exchange”

    This session will highlight joint collaborative research on important global issues facing communities in Northeastern Brazil and Southeastern United States.

    Featured Guest: Luiza Moreira, Director Seven Revolutions Project, University Salvador UNIFACS, Brazil

    10:45 - 11:00 am KSU Center

    Break

    11:00 - 12:15 pm KSU Center Room 400

    Poster Session: Students from across Georgia will present posters describing class projects related to the Portuguese Speaking World countries.
     

    12:15 - 12:45 pm KSU Center

    Capoeira Demonstration by KSU students and Master Muriel Ribeiro of Cordão De Ouro Capoeira Atlanta

    12:45 - 1:45 pm KSU Center

    Lunch Break

    Pizza available for attendees who registered in advance.

    2:00 - 3:15 pm KSU Center Room 400

    Session II: Research Panel

    "The role of President Lula da Silva in expanding the Brazilian presence on the World Stage,” Brian Delgado, Emory University

    “Caetano Veloso’s and Gilberto Gil’s Tropicalismo and their exile in London,” Hugh McGlade, Emory University

    "Trade Opportunities within the CPLP," Eric Valdez, Kennesaw State University

    “Brazilian Musical Movements Seen from the Perspective of the Military Regime in the 1970s,” Antonieta Mackoul, Georgia Gwinnett College

    3:15 - 3:30 pm KSU Center

    Results of Twitter Vote

    1) Most Informative
    2) Most Creative
    3) Best Overall

    3:30 - 4:45 pm KSU Center Room 400

    "Protecting Fresh Water Resources in Brazil"

    Keynote Address: Joe Rozza, Global Manager, Water Sustainability and Natural Capital, The Coca-Cola Company

    5:00 - 6:15 pm KSU Center Room 400

    Session III: Study Abroad Presentations
    Cristy Jones, Spelman College
    Rickie Banks II, Morehouse College   
    Alton Pitre, Morehouse College           
    Aidid Brayboy, Morehouse College

Classes & Reference Guide

The following is a list of credit-earning courses that were offered as part of the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World. Each one addresses contemporary and historical issues relevant to the diverse culture of Portuguese countries.

  • ANTH 4490: Prime Movers of the Atlantic World: Portugal and Africa (CRN #82100

    TR 12:30 - 1:45 pm
    Instructor: Brandon Lundy

    This team taught the course with a visiting Fulbright professor from West Africa covering a variety of ideas and findings about Portugal’s and African societies' positions in modifying the Atlantic World, both historically and contemporarily. We focused on topics such as culture contact and change, inter-ethnic relations and conflict, identity and multiculturalism, transnational networks, independence movements and nationalism, neo/post-colonialism, global culture and globalization, etc.

     

    FL 4490: Topics of the Lusophone World (CRN #85413)

    TR 12:30 - 1:45 pm
    Instructors: Alan Lebaron and Robert Simon

    This course offered an in-depth study of topics related to the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World presentations during the fall semester, 2015. It incorporated the presentations as part of the course, as well as offered background content knowledge, discussion, and analysis on the part of students.

     

    ANTH 3365 / AADS 3780 Afro-Brazil Politics and Culture (CRN #81910)

    TR 5:00 - 6:15 pm
    Instructor: Ken Williamson

    This course explored the Afro-Brazilian experience in multi-racial Brazil, where the majority of the population is of African descent. This course focused on how Afro-Brazilian culture, politics, music, samba, capoeira (martial arts), carnival and religion have impacted and often defined Brazilian society and culture. The course also focused on Brazilian racial identity, social movements and racism. Brazil is constantly situated within the African Diaspora.

Introduction to the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World at Kennesaw State

By Dan Paracka the Former Director of Academic Initiatives in KSU Global Education, and Robert Simon, Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Coordinator of Portuguese, Department of Foreign Languages.

  • Marking the 32nd anniversary of KSU’s award-winning Annual Country Study Program, the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World (YPSW) was truly a unique undertaking. This is due to the tremendous diversity the constellation of countries within this community represents. Formally, it includes the following countries on four continents: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Our study focused on the relationships that have developed among these countries over the past 500 years, as well as other Portuguese speaking communities and their role in the wider world.

    Chief among the issues for these countries are the historical and cultural connections they share, their desire to protect the environment, the need for better food security, and the nature of resource governance. For example, Brazil, with a population of over 200 million is home of the Amazon rainforest and vast off-shore oil reserves; the small island nation of Cape Verde faces desertification and is susceptible to flooding due to rising seas. These reflect merely two points on this fascinating spectrum of interests and concerns.

    Another overarching goal of the program was to understand the complex histories and dynamics of this relatively undiscovered world at KSU. Such a project is borne from the growth and collapse of the Portuguese Empire and the ever-changing post/neo-colonial conditions that continues to shape the national and cultural identities, worldviews, and relationships of these countries and their people. Portugal, the first modern nation-state in Europe, took advantage of advanced seafaring techniques learned from its earlier Arab conquerors to become a nation of global traders and explorers. They first established colonies in the Atlantic Islands of Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde archipelago, then developed a network of factories/fortifications along the Atlantic coast of Africa (for example to trade for gold at the Elmina castle in Ghana) and then along the Indian Ocean. The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas fixed a boundary among the competing Portuguese and Spanish empires, incorporating Brazil and much of Africa into Portugal’s domain. Three years later, Vasco da Gama led the first European seaborne expedition to make landfall in Asia, at Calicut in India, returning with precious cargoes of spices. Notably, upon arrival, da Gama encountered Christian communities already present in India (Fernández-Armesto, 178). The Portuguese would continue their expansion developing trading entrepôts in places such as Macau, China and Nagasaki, Japan, virtually monopolizing the sea routes from Europe to Asia for 100 years. Indeed, the Portuguese were instrumental to the development of highly decentralized, social networks of global trade that have endured and continue to shape such relationships today.  David Hancock, in Oceans of Wine (2009), traced these extensive networks related to the Madeira wine trade especially in North America. In the United States, today, large communities of Portuguese speakers live in the Boston area. For example, New Bedford’s Feast of the Blessed Sacrament attracts over 100,000 people and claims to be the largest Portuguese feast in the world.

    Understanding differences in concepts of hybridity, creolization, and race and race relations (as well as gender) in the Portuguese Speaking World were other critical recurring themes in that year’s study. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Portuguese colonial empire was its reliance on marriage and miscegenation to expand its influence and deny claims of racism. “Linking expansionist impulse to sexual desire,” we have come to know this as “Lusotropicalism,” a term that encompasses many other aspects of colonial cultural re-shaping (Owen and Klubocka, 1). Encouraged by government and church in part due to Portugal’s small population and increasing European competition for global conquests, such unions – ranging from genuine voluntary companionship to coercive rape and abuse and resulting in both wanted and unwanted children – had significant consequences for both colonizer and colonized (Reid, 31).

    The advent of Early Modern slavery and the Atlantic slave trade also corresponded with the Portuguese colonial legacy and, ironically, from what we may characterize as an early variant of Globalization. One of the most devastating impacts of the contact between Europeans and Native Americans was that of diseases such as smallpox which caused widespread epidemics and loss of life. In the Brazilian colonies, because of these decimating illnesses, and the desire to exploit labor for economic gain, the loss of native populations lead the Portuguese to begin importing enslaved Africans from the regions around the Angolan colony to work on sugarcane plantations. Slavery was the key institution to the development of the sugar industry as well as other areas (gold, tobacco, coffee, cotton, indigo, rubber, brasilwood, etc.). Because of these lucrative industries, Brazil became the jewel in the crown of the Portuguese empire. The trade saw more enslaved Africans forced to Brazil (4 million) and over a longer period of time than any other country. As a result, the impact of African cultures on Brazil is ever-present. Beyond influences on the Portuguese language itself, it is most obviously evidenced through traditions such as Capoeira, Candomblé, and certain Carnival performances. Yet, it also permeates numerous aspects of daily life especially in the northern states of Bahia and Pernambuco. Due to the shorter distance between Africa and Brazil, it was also the only territory in the Americas that regularly exported goods directly back to Africa. Direct trade between Brazil and Southern Africa remains a vital economic and social driver of change in the Portuguese Speaking World. These on-going “South-South” relationships have begun to take on new meaning to embrace alternative views of social justice and the solidarity economy, the theme of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) Executive Secretary Ambassador Murade Murargy’s opening YPSW keynote address. 

    Among the most interesting episodes in all of World history is the unprecedented move in 1808 of the Portuguese Royal Court and Capital from Lisbon to Brazil with the help of the British Navy in order to escape Napoleon’s forces. After King João VI returned to Portugal in 1821, his son Pedro claimed Brazil’s independence from Portugal in 1822. Nonetheless, Portuguese emigration to its colonies and the sending of remittances back to Portugal became an important aspect of economic development for Portugal especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. Unfortunately, most of the countries in the Portuguese Speaking World only gained their independence from Portugal 150 years later in 1974-75 following the overthrow of authoritarian rule in Portugal (15 years after most African countries gained independence from British and French colonial powers). This makes this Year of the Portuguese Speaking World also the year of the 40th anniversary of these countries’ independence. For Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau, independence was only achieved after years of guerilla warfare and armed struggle. The decolonization of these Portuguese territories also went hand-in-hand with nationalist movements committed to socialism. Therefore, African decolonization in the Portuguese Speaking world occurred against the background of supposedly having learned lessons from the previous British and French colonies, involved extensive military conflict and traumatic violence, was seen as “the last great hope of Third World socialism,” and occurred simultaneously with the overthrow of the Salazar-Caetano regime inextricably linking change in Portugal with change in Africa (Chabal, 18-19). Now Portugal is an important link for the Portuguese Speaking World within the European Union as well as a highly regarded global center of artistic, musical, and literary culture (“Portugal,” par 1).

    A notable consequence of this colonial legacy and the circumstances of its final moments has been that the so-called periphery (i.e., Portugal’s former colonies in Africa and Asia) was now influencing the center (i.e., Portugal). It is common knowledge, for example, that many Portuguese are moving to Angola, Brazil, and Mozambique in search of work; more so, such a movement “back” to the former colonies has been by invitation and with the support of the Portuguese government (Pinto, p3.publico.pt). In this sense, while Portugal has represented this world’s rich and complex past, and Brazil symbolizes the challenges and opportunities of the present, Lusophone Africa is viewed as a vital place for the Portuguese Speaking World’s future potential. Moreover, today, the community of Portuguese speaking countries is working as closely as ever to support each other’s progress in mutually beneficial ways.

    The specific and varied circumstances of the colonial pasts, independence movements, and post-colonial developments represent another important theme in our year-long program of study of the Portuguese Speaking World. For example, Angola’s most important export crop, coffee, and the political fights for its control “affected the wars of liberation in the 1970’s, the wars of intervention in the 1980’s, and even the civil wars in the 1990’s (Birmingham, 140). In discussing the development of a large dam in Mozambique, Allen and Barbara Isaacman (4) have observed that

    “despite their very different economic agendas and ideological orientations, the Portuguese colonial regime, the postindependence socialist state, and its free-market successor all heralded the development promise of Cahora Bassa. Whether Portuguese or Africans held the reins of state power, the dam symbolized the ability of science and technology to master nature and ensure human progress… [yet], Cahora Bassa has caused very real ecological, economic, and social trauma for Zambezi valley residents.”

    As noted at the beginning of this essay, the challenges of balancing economic development with environmental sustainability are critical issues for the Portuguese Speaking World.

    Brazil, a unique example of a long-term post-colonial nation in the Portuguese Speaking World, holds an important place within it as well as globally. Born out of Portugal’s economic colonial empire and now almost 190 years post-independence, it is a vital trading partner of the United States and therefore of particular interest to many of our faculty, staff, students, and local community. Georgia’s Governor recently led a trade delegation to Brazil. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Brazil was the sixth largest destination for global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows in 2013. The country typically receives close to half of South America’s total incoming foreign investment. US trade with Brazil exceeds $100 billion annually. However, not all of the news from Brazil is so positive. The nation also boasts the second most expansive market for cocaine and the second-largest small arms industry in the world, a murder rate higher than that of Mexico, and the fourth largest incarceration rate in the world (Reid, 189-191). To be fair, it should be noted that the United States has the dubious distinction of surpassing Brazil in most of these categories. Nonetheless, and despite the recent downturn and corruption scandals, overall long-term economic prospects in Brazil remain relatively good due to growing domestic demand, global demand for commodity exports, a growing middle class, increased investments in infrastructure and development of offshore oil reserves, and prudent macroeconomic policies.

    It was the goal of the YPSW that a critical understanding of this diverse region will contribute to the development of more nuanced approaches to solving the complex global issues and challenges that our students face as they attempt to interact constructively, responsibly and appropriately across cultures. The YPSW weekly series of lectures and round tables, our many cultural events, and two-week seminar abroad, offered participants a wide range of perspectives on different aspects of the artistic, economic, social, scientific, literary, musical, and cultural life of the region as well as opportunities to engage with people from the region in meaningful dialogue. In this regard, we have initiated a new element to the “Year of” program which, along with our traditional professional academic conference, will be a student conference that will bring together students from several campuses across Georgia and from abroad to discuss issues they identify as intellectually and professionally stimulating. We are grateful that many of you joined us for the many valuable, informative, and engaging programs were being offered throughout the year.

    Sources: 

    • Chabal, Patrick (2002) A History of Postcolonial Lusophone Africa. (Bloomington: Indian University Press).
    • Birmingham, David (2002)”Angola” in A History of Postcolonial Lusophone Africa. (Bloomington: Indian University Press).
    • Fernández-Armesto, Felipe (2006) Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration (Oxford University Press).
    • Hancock, David (2009) Oceans of Wine: Madeira and the Emergence of American Trade and Taste (New Haven: Yale University Press).
    • Isaacman, Allen F. and Barbara S., (2013) Dams, Displacement and the Delusion of Development: Cahora Bassa and its Legacies in Mozambique, 1965-2007. (Athens: Ohio University Press)
    • Owen, Hilary and Klubocka, Anna M. (2014) Gender, Empire and Postcolony: Luso-Afro-Brazilian Intersections. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).
    • Pinto, Mariana Correia. “Angola: Reconstruir a vida num país em construção”. 19 December, 2011. «http://p3.publico.pt/actualidade/economia/1726/angola-reconstruir-vida-num-pais-em-construcao». Accessed 23 June 2015.
    • “Portugal.” 2 June 2015. «http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/portugal/index_en.htm». Accessed 26 June 2015.
    • Reid, Michael (2014) Brazil: The Troubled Rise of a Global Power. (New Haven: Yale University Press).
  • Trade, Investment and Value Chain Development in the Portuguese Speaking World

    Thursday, August 27th, 2015
    12:30 PM
    Social Sciences 1019
    402 Bartow Ave.
    Kennesaw, GA 30144

    Open to the Public

    Georgina Maria Augusta Benrós de Mello
    Georgina Maria Augusta Benrós de Mello, Director General of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, was born in Cape Verde, and received her Master’s degree in Heritage, Tourism and Development from the Department of Social and Human Sciences, University of Cabo Verde. She also completed post-graduate studies with the Centre for Studies and Training in Public Administration (CENFA, Cape Verde) & Foundation For Administrative Development (FUNDAP, Brazil), and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh (USA). She has worked as an economist in both the public and private sectors in Cape Verde and East Timor. In East Timor, she was the nation’s founding Executive Director for the Investment and Exports Promotion Agency. Her experience with international organizations and civil society organizations includes working with high-profile projects supported by the United Nations and the World Bank. She has published several articles in specialized magazines and newspapers, both in Cape Verde and Portugal. She is co-author with Ana Cristina Lopes Semedo, the "Exporter's Guide to the European Union Market", published in March 2001 in Praia by the Cape Verdean Investment Promotions Agency. Before being chosen as the Director General, she worked as the Coordinator of the National Unit on the Implementation of the Enhanced Integrated Framework of the World Trade Organization in Cape Verde and continues to be keenly interested in the development of trade, investment, the private sector, and the connection to global value chains.

Journal of Global Initiatives (JGI)

Examining Complex Relationships in the Portuguese Speaking World
The special issue of the Journal of Global Initiatives on the Portuguese Speaking World is available now!

The JGI is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal of international policy, pedagogy and perspectives, previously published twice-yearly by Kennesaw State University Global Education. 

We have solicited contributions from all disciplines related to every aspect of life and culture, past and present, in the Portuguese Speaking World. 

The Journal of Global Initiatives is available to read at no cost via digitalcommons. 

    • Introduction to the Special Issue: Examining Relationships in the Portuguese Speaking World
      Dan Paracka and Robert Simon

    • The Integrity of Women in Re-making a Nation: The Case of Guinea-Bissau
      Brandon Lundy, Raul Mendes Fernandes Jr., and Kezia Lartley

    • Macau's Trade with the Portuguese Speaking World
      Paul B. Spooner

    • Blending Myth and Reality: Maritime Portugal and Renaissance Portraits of the Royal Court
      Barbara von Barghahn

    • Vasco da Gama, the Explorer: Motivations and Myths
      S. Ghazanfar

    • The Portuguesinhos: Experiences of Return and Reintegration of Angolan Police Commissioned Officers Who Studied in Portugal
      Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues

    • A Lagoa do Cacimbo
      Heather Leila H. Jordan MPH

    • The Universality of Traditional Tales of the Portuguese Speaking Countries
      M.Margarida Pereira-Müller 177152

    • Critical Pedagogy and Language Acquisition: Benefiting from a country’s crisis to improve Second Language Instruction
      Jamile Forcelini
READ THE JOURNAL

International Partners

Strategic partnerships are a critical element of the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World's success. Without these partnerships, many of the thought-provoking lectures and culturally-illuminating events offered by the program would not be possible.

View below to learn more about the organizations that partnered with Kennesaw State University on the Year of the Portuguese Speaking World.