This year marks the third and, sadly, final year of the SIS Summer Abroad seminar and practicum course in Brazil led by Professor Eve Bratman. Professor Bratman has created a wonderful program for SIS graduate students and as she departs AU later this summer for bigger and better things we are looking forward to another successful program with eight of our students. This year's program, titled Rural Livelihoods and Food Systems in Brazil, will enable our students to travel to Brazil to learn about the country's society, politics, major environmental issues, and more closely focus on the situation of it's rural development. The program provides insight into agrarian development theories and
practice while simultaneously engaging students in rural development
projects in Brazil. You can read more about the program, here.
As in years past, the practicum component will take place with
the Iracambi
Research Center, located in
the Serra do Brigadeiro semi-deciduous forest region in the Brazilian state of
Minas Gerais. Iracambi's
mission is "to figure out better ways of forest care and protect
our extraordinary biodiversity while generating forest-based incomes and
raise living standards for local communities". One of the main focal points for this year's program will be the rapidly changing situation in the Atlantic Forest due to mining that is being planned for the region. The
practicum group from SIS will support several of Iracambi's recent projects and collaborate with the local communities and land owners to further investigate and plan for the impending changes.
Once again, the first portion of the seminar will be hosted by our esteemed partner Fundação Getulio Vargas, located in Rio de Janeiro. Though FGV's School of Social Sciences the lecture series will take place over the first 4 days of the group's time in Brazil and will
feature several of the institution's prestigious faculty.
SIS is looking forward to learning more about the students' experience and their work with Iracambi. Stay tuned for more posts soon!
