Brazil Studies Program at
HARVARD University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Kenneth
Maxwell
Director of Brazil Studies Program; DRCLAS Senior
Fellow
Phone: 617-496-4780
E-mail: kmaxwell@fas.harvard.edu
Access RAS 2018-02-15
From
1989 to 2004 he was Director of the Latin America Program at the Council on
Foreign Relations, and in 1995 became the first holder of the Nelson and David
Rockefeller Chair in Inter-American Studies.
He
served as Vice President and Director of Studies of the Council in 1996.
Maxwell previously taught at Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and the University of
Kansas.
He
founded and was Director of the Camões
Center for the Portuguese-speaking World at Columbia and was the Program
Director of the Tinker Foundation, Inc.
His
latest book, O Império Derrotado
(Companhia das Letras, 2006), has received strong
international interest and generated positive reviews.
Other books include
He
was the Western Hemisphere book reviewer for Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 2004
and has been a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books.
His latest articles inlcude:
Maxwell
was the Herodotus Fellow at the
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton,
and a Guggenheim Fellow. He serves
on the Board of Directors of The Tinker
Foundation, Inc., and the Consultative Council of the Luso-American Foundation.
He
is also a member of the Advisory Boards of the Brazil Foundation and Human
Rights Watch/Americas. Maxwell received his B.A. and M.A. from St. John's
College, Cambridge University, and
his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton
University.
More information :
Published
on David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.
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Brazil Studies Program Overview
Date; 03dec2011
Director, Brazil Studies Program
WHY BRAZIL AND WHY HARVARD?
- Though it is not always appreciated,
Brazil and the United States have much in common. The
precise ways in which the two nations are similar, or how they are
different, make a fascinating intellectual puzzle for anyone with their
feet on the ground in each country.
- Both
the United States and Brazil are continental sized nations. Each has enormous diversity of
landscapes and ecosystems. Both are multiracial and multi-ethnic
societies. Each has a federal, or in the case of Brazil federative, system
of government, where regional interests are powerfully entrenched and
strongly influence politics, daily life and popular culture.
- Both
have long been independent nations, but each developed out of a colonial
experience where relationships between settlers and indigenous peoples
were formative influences, where frontier traditions remain strong, and
where an early integration into the Atlantic commercial system profoundly
influenced their demographic make-up and linked them to Africa as well as
Europe through the slave trade and the institution of slavery.
- Both
by the early twentieth century had received many European and Asian
migrants who added more layers of complexity to the already rich tapestry
of cultures, food, music, arts and sports.
- And
both Brazil and the United States, for better or worse, each aspired to
leadership, and because of the scale of their economies, their ambitions,
and their sense of destiny, came to dominate their own regions.
- Often
they have been allies and sometimes competitors. THOMAS JEFFERSON wrote in 1820 that he would “…rejoice
to see the fleets of Brazil and the United States riding together as
brethren of the same family pursuing the same object.”
- Harvard's
relationship with Brazil has surprisingly deep roots. The first diploma
awarded by Harvard to a non-graduate was an honorary degree given to General GEORGE WASHINGTON in 1776, on the very day the Continental
Army retook Harvard Yard from the British and the fellows and students of
Harvard College returned to Cambridge from their temporary exile in
Concord.
- By a
curious historical coincidence, this diploma was among the documents in a
published French translation, discussed by the conspirators in Minas Gerais in 1788 who were planning an
armed uprising against Portuguese rule and intended not only to establish a
republic inspired by the U.S. model but also to found a university.
- GABRIEL ROCHA, a
junior at Harvard College, found the original text of WASHINGTON's diploma in the Harvard archives and this
fascinating story is the subject of an article by him in the Spring 2007
issue of ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, which is devoted
entirely to Brazil.
- In
1786, another Brazilian student had sought out THOMAS JEFFERSON in France where JEFFERSON was the American envoy. He was seeking U.S. support for Brazilian
independence. JEFFERSON secretly
met with the student at Nîmes in the south of France and reported back to
John Jay that “they consider the North American revolution as a precedent for
their own and they look to the United States as most likely to give them
honest support and for a variety of reasons have the strongest prejudices
in our favor.”
- In
1876, the centennial year of the American Revolution, Brazil's emperor, PEDRO II, visited Harvard Yard and
had dinner with his longtime correspondent and old friend HENRY LONGFELLOW at Craigie House.
- DOM PEDRO II was
the first reigning monarch to visit Harvard, and this
singular occasion was the subject of the inaugural lecture for the new
Brazil Studies Program at Harvard in May 2006 by Professor LILIA MORITZ SCHWARCZ of the
Universidade de São Paulo.
- The
visit of the young WILLIAM JAMES
to Brazil between 1865-1866 was also commemorated this year in a new book
where his letters, diaries, and drawings are collected and published in a
handsome bilingual edition edited by MARIA
HELENA MACHADO and translated by JOHN
MONTEIRO.
- Two
Harvard alumni, who happened to become presidents of the United States,
also made memorable visits to Brazil: THEODORE
ROOSEVELT in a near disastrous voyage down the River of Doubt in the Amazon basin in 1913, and FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT to Natal [RN] in 1943 for a famous meeting with his new Brazilian World
War II ally GETÚLIO VARGAS.
- Indeed
Brazil and the United States do have good reasons to have the “strongest
prejudices” in each other's favor, as Jefferson wrote. Harvard has much to learn from
Brazil. The country is a global leader in areas from HIV/AIDS treatment to
biofuels.
- These
and many other yet-to-be explored areas offer opportunities for true
two-way collaboration that will benefit both Harvard and Brazil; by
developing synergies across and between disciplines, and promoting greater
cooperation through interactions between students and faculty at Harvard
and in Brazil, by developing best practices, and by nurturing promising individuals
for the future.
WHY “BRAZIL STUDIES”?
- 2006-2007 has been a golden year for
Brazil at Harvard University and for Harvard in Brazil. The
launch of the Brazil Studies Program at the David Rockefeller Center for
Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) in
May 2006 and the founding of the Brazil
Office in São Paulo just two months later have created new
opportunities and resulted in a rich set of research, programmatic and
student activities at Harvard and in Brazil.
- But why are - or should - Harvard and
Brazil seek to further strengthen their ties? Why
now?
- For
two principal reasons, and both are reflected in the steps taken by the
new Brazil Program this year.
[1] The first is more traditional. It is to increase the knowledge
and study of Brazil through enhanced language training, research and student
visits, publishing about Brazil, and so on. This is important for Harvard because any serious program in
Latin American Studies - and Harvard's DRCLAS is certainly such a program -
must have a solid Brazilian component. Unfortunately, it is
still true that too many Latin Americanists in the United States seem to think
it is sufficient to focus on Spanish-speaking Latin America, and yet still
claim to be “experts” on the entire region. It is unacceptable to ignore a large proportion of the Western
Hemisphere's geographical space and population, and to remain ignorant about
one of its most vibrant cultures. So Harvard is recognizing the basic fact
of life that Brazil is needed for any program of Latin American Studies to be
taken seriously and to be complete.
[2] Secondly, because the Program we have created at Harvard is more
than “Brazilian Studies.” In point of
fact, it is not even named “Brazilian Studies.” The Program is deliberately
named “Brazil Studies.” Why? By this we mean to ensure that the Program is
truly international in content and in quality, and that it is not parochial or
captive to any narrowly-defined disciplinary interest or preoccupation. We seek to link the
very best Harvard faculty and students with the very best Brazilian faculty and
students across disciplines, be they in the sciences, medicine, public health,
education, engineering, environment, the humanities and social sciences, music,
and design.
- So
we are not in any way limited to the traditional notion of what a country
or regionally-defined program can or should do. That is why our Faculty Advisory
Committee has more than 50 members and represents all the Schools and
Divisions of Harvard. This explains the committee members' active and early
engagement with the Program.
- Through
this approach, I believe, we can most effectively make a difference in
Brazil and at the University. I do
not think any other program in the United States has the breadth in terms
of disciplines involved or the infrastructure we benefit from at Harvard
in terms of libraries, laboratories, museums and other unique resources.
Teaching and research are at the core here; and faculty leadership and
engagement is essential to the success of the whole enterprise.
BUILDING FOR THE LONG-TERM
- The expansion, initially, has
principally focused on the research agenda, meetings and conferences,
fellowships and study abroad opportunities, and in strengthening the
faculty.
- We
have not been able to do everything in the first year. The steps taken so far, however, have
been very deliberate and the achievements in a short period of time
impressive. The Program is up and running, the office in
Brazil has been successfully established, and the initial footprint has
been made very solidly at Harvard.
- The
power of the Brazil Studies Program's strategy is reflected in the
exponential increase in interest in Brazil at Harvard this year. There have been more than 20 special
events and Conversas, all of
which have attracted strong student and faculty interest. But it's only a
beginning. We want more Brazilians at Harvard at all levels.
- The
inaugural class of LEMANN Fellows,
for example, came into residence this year. They represent the first
cohort of a group that will grow substantially over the next five years.
- Much
remains to be done, such as the insertion of more on Brazil into the
curriculum. This
takes time. As the overall Harvard curriculum is in the process of being
reformed and made more international, Brazil will become a more important
part of that effort.
- Already,
for example, I am teaching two courses each semester with a strong
Brazilian component. Professor NICOLAU
SEVCENKO has developed several courses in Romance Languages and
Literatures. The
Portuguese language program under the leadership of Clémence Jouët-Pastré
has tripled in terms of enrollments over the past three years, as will be
seen later in this report. Teaching and students are as important as
faculty research and seminars and colloquia. Opportunities
for students to visit and study in Brazil are expanding dramatically as a
result of the Program's initiatives.
- Above all, this is a team effort. We are very fortunate to have such an
experienced, hard-working and enthusiastic staff in both Cambridge and São Paulo. None
of the achievements this year would have been possible without the
dedication of JASON DYETT, TOMÁS AMORIM and LORENA BARBERIA in Brazil, and ERIN GOODMAN in Cambridge.
Professor JOHN COATSWORTH,
DRCLAS's founding director, began the process of bringing Brazil to
Harvard. Professor MERILEE GRINDLE
assumed the directorship as the Brazil Studies Program and the office in
São Paulo began their operations, and has been unstinting in her support.
We are also grateful to Professor HOWARD
STEVENSON of the Harvard Business School for all he does to support
the Brazil Program, and to CLAUDIO
HADDAD and the entire Brazil
Advisory Group. And we are absolutely delighted that DAVID ROCKEFELLER was able to see
for himself the office that bears his name in São Paulo and met with the
staff and interns there.
- In
all of this, the gifts to Harvard from its alumnus JORGE PAULO LEMANN (AB '61) were, and are, absolutely critical
to the initiation of the Brazil Studies Program, its expansion, and its
future sustainability. Harvard
is very fortunate indeed to have a benefactor who wants to see the
University's best schools and programs open to Brazilians, to see talented
Brazilians learning at Harvard and returning to Brazil to improve public
services - particularly in the areas of education, public health and
public administration - and in making Brazil an important part of the
educational experience at Harvard for faculty and students.
Director,
Brazil Studies Program
Date;
03dec2011
Printed Version
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