Este evento contará com interpretação simultânea em inglês e português. Veja abaixo os detalhes completos em português do evento.

Centering Indigenous Knowledges in Contemporary Brazil

In this online panel we will hear from three Brazilian educators (broadly defined) about their work promoting the wellbeing of their Native communities and cultures in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Drawing from the fields of cultural geography, human rights, film, education, and beyond, these panelists will discuss how the worldviews of the Terena and Guató peoples inform their professional work in Brazilian universities, primary schools, and cultural institutions and media. 51���� professors Mark Freeland (Anthropology, American Indian studies) and Susana Antunes (Portuguese) join them to draw comparisons across regions and disciplines. This discussion will be in both English and Portuguese with simultaneous interpretation for both languages.

About our speakers

Antônio Hilário Aguilera Urquiza

Antônio Hilário Aguilera Urquiza holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Salamanca, Spain (USAL) and completed postdoctoral studies at UNTREF, Argentina. He is Full Professor Emeritus at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul and PI of the research group in Anthropology, Human Rights, and Traditional Peoples. Aguilera Urquiza’s academic work is the result of more than 30 years of work among Indigenous peoples, with an emphasis on the themes of territorial rights, indigenous education, interculturality/decoloniality, and the perseverance of indigenous peoples in higher education. He is a member of the Board of Directors of ABA (Brazilian Association of Anthropology – 2025/2026) and has coordinated the Indigenous Knowledge in Schools Action (Secadi/MEC) in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul since 2013.

Paulo Baltazar

Paulo Baltazar holds a PhD in Geography from the Federal University of Grande Dourados. He is a professor at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (Aquidauana campus), teaching in the Indigenous Intercultural degree program focused on peoples of the Pantanal. His research specialties include the Terena language; cultural geography; ethnogeography; anthropology; and territorial management. In 2023 he was awarded an honorable mention in the Maurício Almeida Abreu Thesis Award 2023, by the postgraduate program at the Federal University of Grande Dourados.

Gleycielli Nonato Guató

Gleycielli Nonato Guató is a writer, screenwriter, actress, and cultural producer from the Guató indigenous people of the Pantanal (Mato Grosso do Sul). She holds a graduate degree in Arts, Literature, and Culture. Her artistic production spans literature, oral tradition, and audiovisual media, affirming indigenous ancestry, feminine strength, and territory as a space for memory and identity. In cinema, she develops narratives that highlight the contemporary Indigenous presence, with a sensitive and poetic view of the Pantanal. Her language articulates daily life, spirituality, and oral tradition, creating works that dialogue between past and present. Her work is marked by poetic realism and an original, decolonial authorship. The living memory of the Pantanal and the Indigenous female voice are at the center of her aesthetic, reaffirming cinema as a space for cultural resistance and identity affirmation.

Susana L. M. Antunes

Susana L. M. Antunes holds a PhD from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and is Associate Professor of Language, Literature, and Lusophone Cultures at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where she also serves as Coordinator of the Portuguese Program. Her research interests focus on methodologies for teaching Portuguese as a second language (L2), contemporary poetry in Portuguese, travel literature, and island literatures (Ecocriticism, Geopoetics) in Portuguese, French, and English, from a humanistic and comparative perspective. Among her many collaborations, Antunes is a researcher in the research group Landscape Studies in Portuguese-Language Literatures at Brazil’s Federal Fluminense University, as well as at the Centre for Comparative Studies of the University of Lisbon, where she participates in the project to create a Digital Encyclopedia in Island Studies. She is also a translator for the International Institute of Geopoetics, France. She has published on these topics in national and international journals and edited volumes.

Mark Freeland

Mark Freeland is Bear Clan and a member of the Bahweting community in Northern Michigan (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Chippewa). He received a Master of Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology and a Ph D in Religious and Theological Studies from the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver joint doctoral program. His research critically identifies the role of Indigenous worldview as an integral component of cultural and linguistic translations. His book, Aazheyaadizi: Worldview, Language and the Logics of Decolonization, provides a theoretical grounding for understanding the problematic role that religion continues to play within Indigenous communities and calls for a deeper involvement of the logics of worldview in the regeneration of Indigenous lifeways and protection of our relationships to our environment.

This event is presented by the UW-Milwaukee Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Electa Quinney Institute for American Indian Education.

Colocando em Destaque os Saberes Indígenas no Brasil Contemporâneo

Terça-feira, 21 de abril de 2026
17h00–18h30 (Mato Grosso do Sul) / 16h00–17h30 (Milwaukee, Chicago)
Webinar pelo Zoom –  para obter o link de acesso
Este evento será gravado e compartilhado posteriormente com todos os inscritos.

Neste painel online, ouviremos três educadores brasileiros (em sentido amplo) falarem sobre seu trabalho na promoção do bem-estar de suas comunidades e culturas indígenas no estado do Mato Grosso do Sul. Com base em áreas como geografia cultural, direitos humanos, cinema, educação e outras, esses palestrantes discutirão como as visões de mundo dos povos Terena e Guató influenciam seu trabalho profissional em universidades, escolas de ensino fundamental, instituições culturais e meios de comunicação brasileiros. Os professores da Universidade de Wisconsin em Milwaukee Mark Freeland (Antropologia, Estudos Indígenas da América do Norte) e Susana Antunes (Português) se juntam a eles para fazer comparações entre regiões e disciplinas. O evento será realizado em inglês e português, com interpretação simultânea para ambas as línguas.

Sobre nossos palestrantes

Antônio Hilário Aguilera Urquiza

Antônio Hilário Aguilera Urquiza é doutorado em Antropologia pela Universidade de Salamanca, Espanha (USAL), e pós-doutorado na UNTREF, na Argentina. É professor Titular e Emérito da Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul e líder do grupo de pesquisa Antropologia, Direitos Humanos e Povos Tradicionais. A produção acadêmica é fruto de mais de 30 anos de trabalho entre os povos indígenas, com ênfase nos temas dos direitos territoriais, educação indígena, interculturalidade/decolonialidade e permanência de indígenas na educação superior. Faz parte da Diretoria da ABA (Associação Brasileira de Antropologia – 2025/2026) e coordena desde 2013, no estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, a Ação Saberes Indígenas na Escola (Secadi/MEC).

Paulo Baltazar

Paulo Baltazar é doutor em Geografia pela Universidade Federal de Grande Dourados. É docente da Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul (campus de Aquidauana), no curso de Licenciatura Intercultural Indígena. Pesquisador com ênfase na Língua Terena; Geografia Cultural; Etnogeografia; Antropologia e Gestão Territorial. Em 2023, recebeu uma menção honrosa no Prêmio Maurício Almeida Abreu de Tese, pela PPGG – UFGD – Dourados/MS.

Gleycielli Nonato Guató

Gleycielli Nonato Guató é escritora, roteirista, atriz e produtora cultural indígena do povo Guató do Pantanal (MS). Pós Graduada em Artes, Literatura e Cultura. Sua produção artística atravessa a literatura, a oralidade e o audiovisual, afirmando a ancestralidade indígena, a força feminina e o território como espaço de memória e identidade. No cinema, desenvolve narrativas que evidenciam a presença indígena contemporânea, com um olhar sensível e poético sobre o Pantanal. Sua linguagem articula cotidiano, espiritualidade e tradição oral, criando obras que dialogam entre passado e presente. Seu trabalho é marcado pelo realismo poético e por uma autoria originária e decolonial. A memória viva do Pantanal e a voz feminina indígena estão no centro de sua estética, reafirmando o cinema como espaço de resistência cultural e afirmação identitária.

Susana L. M. Antunes

Susana L. M. Antunes, doutorada pela Universidade de Massachusetts, Amherst, é Professora Associada de Língua, Literatura e Culturas Lusófonas na Universidade de Wisconsin-Milwaukee, onde desempenha também as funções de coordenadora do Programa de Português. Os seus interesses de pesquisa concentram-se nas metodologias de ensino da língua portuguesa como L2, poesia contemporânea em língua portuguesa, literatura de viagem e literatura de ilhas (Ecocrítica, Geopoética) em português, francês e inglês numa perspetiva humanístico-comparada. Entre suas muitas colaborações, é investigadora no grupo de pesquisa Estudos de Paisagem nas Literaturas de Língua Portuguesa, da Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brasil, e no centro de Estudos Comparatistas da Universidade de Lisboa, onde participa no projeto de criação de uma Enciclopédia Digital em Estudos Insulares. É também tradutora do Institut Internacional de Gépoétique, França. Autora de várias publicações sobre esses temas em revistas nacionais e internacionais e capítulos de livros.

Mark Freeland

Mark Freeland pertence ao Clã do Urso (Bear Clan) e é membro da comunidade Bahweting, no norte de Michigan (Tribo Sault Ste. Marie do Chippewa). Obteve o título de Mestre em Teologia pela Iliff School of Theology e o doutorado em Estudos Religiosos e Teológicos pelo programa de doutorado conjunto da Iliff School of Theology e da Universidade de Denver. Sua pesquisa analisa criticamente o papel da cosmovisão indígena como componente integral das traduções culturais e linguísticas. Seu livro, Aazheyaadizi: Visão de Mundo, Língua e as Lógicas da Descolonização, oferece uma base teórica para compreender o papel problemático que a religião continua a desempenhar nas comunidades indígenas e apela a um envolvimento mais profundo das lógicas da visão de mundo na regeneração dos modos de vida indígenas e na proteção de nossas relações com o meio ambiente.

Este evento é organizado por dois departamentos da Universidade de Wisconsin-Milwaukee: o Centro de Estudos Latino-Americanos e do Caribe e o Instituto Electa Quinney para a Educação dos Índios Americanos.

The post Centering Indigenous Knowledges in Contemporary Brazil appeared first on Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies.

The research project in question is Professor Simone Ferro’s (51���� Dance emerita) nearly two decades of ethnographic research on , a UNESCO-recognized based in the northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhão and which spans musical performance, choreography, theatrical and ritualistic performance and playful expression. In partnership with Ferro’s longtime research partner Professor Meredith Watts (51���� Political Science emeritus), these collaborations with communities in Maranhão have resulted in a vast trove of video footage, audio interviews, still images, and original artifacts that capture the richness of how this tradition informs community life across northeastern Brazil.

With over 20,000 still images, more than 500 hours of performance videos, and more than 200 interviews, Ferro and Watts knew they needed a research assistant who had both the technical precision and cultural sensitivity to assess and organize these multimedia materials into an easy-to-navigate digital repository for anyone to access for decades to come. Through 51����’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and Department of Spanish & Portuguese (now World Languages & Cultures), they found a perfect match in Marcello.

Lucca Marcello had just spent the 2024-25 academic year as a FLAS Fellow in Portuguese through CLACS: the prestigious federal grant for language and area studies allowed him to take courses in Portuguese language and cultures as he pursued the minor. 51���� Professor Susana Antunes recommended Marcello, whose strong coursework in the area had developed a deep cultural understanding and strong language skills to be able to work with the hours of Portuguese-language interviews in the archive. As a result, he was able to establish a comprehensive metadata framework whose conceptual framing of materials will support public communications about the project for years to come.

As Professor Ferro notes, “The scope of this undertaking required not only rigorous organizational competence but also the intellectual agility to navigate between scholarly transcription, visual anthropology, and audiovisual archiving. Marcello demonstrated a rare capacity to integrate technical precision with cultural sensitivity, approaching each document as both artifact and living testimony within a fragile ecosystem of memory.” Drawing on his skills as a Film Production major through the Peck School of the Arts, Marcello was also able to expand on the original vision Ferro and Watts had outlined for archiving the materials, developing both a feature-length documentary highlighting these dances as well as individual edited videos to educate about and preserve this tradition, posted on YouTube.

For Marcello, whose family is from southern Brazil, the yearlong collaboration was an opportunity to expand his cultural knowledge and produce original research: “There are 2000 miles between Porto Alegre, the city where my family is from, and São Luís, the capital of Maranhão … learning about Maranhão’s traditions made me realize how incredibly diverse Brazil is. I learned about Afro-Brazilian rituals which blend traditional Africanism with Catholicism, and with my undergraduate research I submitted an academic article about the Bumba meu Boi festival to Revista Luso-Hispánica.”

This work, which was supported by an academic internship in Portuguese and a SURF award from the 51���� Office of Undergraduate Research, provided invaluable experience in archive management, documentary production, and publicly-oriented research communication. Ferro emphasizes that “[Lucca’s] presence within this ambitious project has been anchored in collaborative rigor, artistic discernment, and a profound respect for the communities represented – qualities that have strengthened both the scholarly integrity and the future public life of this singular archive.”

These cross-disciplinary collaborations are the heart of the work of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, enabling connections across disciplines that deepen research knowledge and communicate its importance to broader audiences. As Marcello looks to continue working in documentary production, he can point to a strong portfolio of work in public storytelling and cultural documentation that is already reaching new audiences.

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I had been studying Portuguese independently for a few years but had always wished I had studied abroad during my undergraduate degree. So, when I found out that 51���� had the FLAS Fellowship, I wasn’t going to miss out on my chance to study abroad again. I knew that this experience would allow me to completely immerse myself in the language and the culture, in a way that I never could in America. The summer program was also perfect for me because I don’t have time to study abroad during the school year with my graduate assistantship.

What did you do for the FLAS Fellowship?

I studied in the city of São Paulo for the summer and was enrolled in a language course and a cultural course. We had about 5 hours of classes a day Monday-Thursday and had plenty of field visits to museums around the city, an indigenous village, and a trip to the colonial town Paraty in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Our weekends were completely open, so I was able to travel around Brazil and get to know areas outside of São Paulo as well.

What are you doing now?

I am working on my master’s degree in electrical engineering at 51���� and am working at the Center for Sustainable Electrical Energy Systems with Dr. Cuzner.

What have you learned from the experience? How have your language skills and FLAS helped or prepared you?

After this experience I can confidently say that my Portuguese fluency has grown significantly and is now in a spot that would have taken me years to reach without studying abroad. I feel much more comfortable conversing in Portuguese and have begun studying electrical engineering in Portuguese, with the goal of building up my technical vocabulary for opportunities in my future career.

The post Eric Schmitt – Portuguese appeared first on Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies.

Why did you apply for the FLAS Fellowship?

I applied for the FLAS Fellowship both because it offered me a wonderful opportunity to study abroad at a time when I did not have the funds and also allowed me to study an indigenous language that I otherwise would not have had access to in such a rich learning environment.

What are you doing now?

I am currently in my last semester as a graduate student in a Spanish master’s program.

What have you learned from the experience? How have your language skills and FLAS helped and/or prepared you?

I learned a lot from this experience such as the ability to learn and grow from experiencing cultural differences and appreciating that diversity. By learning an indigenous language of Latin America I am able to teach to my own students in a way that is so much more historically rich and accurate to the lived reality of Latin America where there are indigenous peoples everywhere. This experience gave me confidence and showed the importance of talking at and teaching on the beautiful diversity of Latin America and the great cultural impact of indigenous cultures all throughout the Spanish speaking world.

Any other relevant details you’d like to share?

The FLAS grant helped prepare me to be a more well-balanced teacher who can provide students with culturally accurate information and educational resources tied to my experiences from this trip. The trip was a unique and amazing experience to see into the lives of other people and learn from them about their worldviews truly a once in a lifetime experience.

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Visit our Film Series page for full event details.

Here’s a quick summary of what’s in store!

Tuesday March 31 at 7 pm
The First Women (As Primeiras)
 
Wednesday April 1 at 7 pm
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet (El perro que no calla)
* Discussion afterward with 51���� Professor Tami Williams

Thursday April 2 at 7 pm
We Shall Not Be Moved (No nos moverán)
* Virtual Q&A afterward with director Pierre Saint-Martin Castellanos 

Friday April 3 at 7 pm
Gardenia Perfume (Perfume de gardenias)
* Discussion afterward with 51���� Professor Gilberto Blasini

Saturday April 4 at 4 pm
The Visitor (El visitante)

Saturday April 4 at 6 pm
Tiger (Tiguere)

The post March 31-April 4: Free Latin-American Film Series! appeared first on Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies.

My experience in this conference was great; it allowed me to share Mathematics in my native language and create a new community of women who work in similar fields. From the first day, it felt safer than a mixed conference, the organization exceeded my expectations.

The researchers were truly open to answer questions, from the most basic ones to questions that could lead to new results, and no one was afraid to ask, the environment was full of empathy, genuine interest and collaboration, most of them included PhD opportunities where they work, which was a great networking opportunity. There were several student talks and a poster exhibition. After seeing many of them, I felt motivated to give a talk or show a poster next year. It was a huge learning experience, and I felt like they were holding my hand from the basics all the way through some of the toughest Mathematical ideas I have heard so far, I’m looking forward to what comes next in my academic path.

On Wednesday, there was a Colloquium, the speaker was my bachelor thesis director, a scientist I admire deeply, she just won an award in Brazil for her relevant contributions as a woman in Mathematics: here. As an alumni of the University of Chicago, and my mentor, she encouraged me to keep pursuing this dream. We shared some Midwest stories, talked about researchers at 51���� in our field and future collaboration opportunities in Mexico and in the US.

At the end of the conference, I participated in one of the outreach workshops, it was a game about turning gigantic pants inside out without lifting your feet from the floor, this has a very deep mathematical concept that can be applied by anyone without knowing they’re doing Math! This is the beauty of Topology; it is a lot of motions that do not ”break” apart. Our other game was about twisting ropes and rotating them to untie them, turns out, all these motions are a funnier way to look at the fractions we all hate in 4th grade! And applying a little bit of Knot Theory, which is the branch of which I dream of learning more. Being able to inspire future generations of female scientists was amazing.

During these days, we also had the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Guanajuato, a very colorful colonial town on top of a mountain. Locals say its beauty inspires minds to do better Math. The impact of the CLACS award in my participation went from my discovery of the center and its mission, to the funding of the trip. Without this award I could not have attended. It also opened my mind to understand the importance of creating a Latin learning community, which was the focus of the conference. As a Latin woman in Mathematics, this undoubtedly helped me to start building what is sometimes difficult to find in the US as a minority. After hearing about CLACS, and before the conference, I started attending and getting more involved in Latin American student activities.

The post Monica Cabria Zambrano: Math appeared first on Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies.

Many of our CLACS affiliates took part – thanks to each of them for their contributions to our university!

35 years

Paul Brodwin (Professor, Anthropology)

25 years

Barry Cameron (Associate Professor, Geosciences)
R. John McCaw (Associate Professor, Spanish)
M. Estrella Sotomayor (Senior Teaching Faculty, Spanish)

20 years

César Ferreira (Professor, Spanish)
Renato Umali (Teaching Faculty, Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres)
Chia Vang (Professor, History;  Vice Chancellor, Community Empowerment & Institutional Inclusivity)

15 years

Marcus B. Filippello (Associate Professor, History)
Jeffrey Sommers (Professor, African and African Diaspora Studies)

10 years

Susana Antunes (Associate Professor, Portuguese)
Kimberly Hernandez (Teaching Assistant Professor, History)
Amy Olen (Associate Professor, Translation Studies)

Five Years

Maria Gleason Maddox (Former FLAS Fellow, Portuguese)
Anjana Mudambi (Associate Professor, Communication)

The post CLACS Colleagues Celebrate Milestone Years at 51���� appeared first on Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies.

The World Languages and Cultures Speaker Series presents, with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies:

From Poetry to Protest: The Circulation of a Poetics of Justice in Mexican Women’s Writing and Activism

This talk examines how a language of justice circulates from poetic writing into activist movements and public discourse in Mexico, through an analysis of Susana Chávez Castillo’s Primera Tormenta and Arminé Arjona’s Juárez, tan lleno de sol y desolado. Drawing on Chávez Castillo’s work, initially circulated online prior to her feminicidal murder in 2011, it traces how her poetic discourse of justice—including the phrases “Ni una más” and “Ni una menos,” now central to anti-feminicidal movements—entered public and political spaces. The talk then turns to Arjona’s poetry, dedicated to the dead women of Juárez, whose dissemination through the Movimiento Acción Poética brought her work into the city streets. Together, these cases illuminate how a poetics of justice transcends traditional literary boundaries to become part of the public discourse, positioning Mexico as a generative space in which women’s writing actively shapes the language of resistance.

Dr. Diana Aldrete is Assistant Professor of Language and Culture Studies and Human Rights at Trinity College. Her research, pedagogy, and artistic production, interrogates the intersections of contemporary Mexican/Latin American/Latinx literary, film and cultural studies, Mexico-U.S. border studies, feminist and queer theory, environmental humanities, and Human Rights studies. She is currently working on her first monographic book project tentatively titled Between Land and Death: Women Writing for Justice in Mexico, which examines how literary production, primarily by contemporary Mexican women writers, have become part of the political dialectic on anti-feminicidal violence as they question notions of justice, and place literature in conversation with activism.

Professor Aldrete is also an abstract visual artist and writer, who often infuses literary, musical, and cultural references in her visual art and writing.

The post From Poetry to Protest: The Circulation of a Poetics of Justice in Mexican Women’s Writing and Activism appeared first on Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies.

This talk is part of the LACUSL Speaker Series: Join us to learn about the many topics you can study through 51����’s interdisciplinary LACUSL major (Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latinx Studies). Save the date for our other Spring 2026 LACUSL talks!

Moving Between Tongues: Choreographing Translation and Embodied Memory

In this talk, 51���� Dance Professor Maria Soledad Gillespie will share about her work as a choreographer, performer, dance and somatic educator. Gillespie explores dance as a liberation practice, and she draws on the fields of somatics, translation studies, narrative storytelling, and new media to chart a path for expressing body-based knowledges that exist before and beyond language. This work is shared with audiences through long-form choreographic performance installations, which connect Gillespie and her collaborators’ personal experiences to larger social and political meanings and rewrite narratives designed by colonial destruction. Professor Gillespie will share about how she got started in this field, the collaborations that enrich her work, and what sustains her artistic commitment through today.

Professor Maria Soledad Gillespie (she/they) is Professor of Dance at 51����, a CLMA Laban Bartenieff Movement Analyst, director of the MFA in Dance program, and director of two Milwaukee-based arts groups: MG/The Collaboratory and Hyperlocal MKE, both dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration and improvised performance. She has enjoyed choreographic commissions with numerous universities and cultural institutions (including UCLA, California Institute of the Arts, The Getty Center, La Cantera in Mexico City, and the Beijing Modern Dance Festival) and toured and taught internationally with her LA-based company Oni Dance. Gillespie’s choreography and performance have been recognized by multiple awards and grants, as has her teaching; she loves bringing improvisation methodologies, embodied anatomy, and choreographic thinking to students of all backgrounds.

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Director: José María Cabral

2024 Dominican Republic | 84 minutes

Pablo is sent to a camp run by his father, where strength is demanded and fear is treated as failure. Within its rigid rules, he is taught how to endure, obey, and perform a version of masculinity (Dominican tigueraje) that leaves little room for doubt. As Pablo forms fragile connections and questions the lessons imposed on him, the film drifts between intimacy and rebellion. Tiger is a tense coming-of-age portrait of control, inheritance, and the forces that shape who we become. Best Feature Nominee, 2025 Guadalajara International Film Festival.

Other films by José María Cabral:

• Hotel Coppelia (2021)
• Woodpeckers (2017)

Find him on letterboxd:

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