My courses are framed by the histories of Brazil and Latin America, and the African Diaspora. I privilege undergraduate research, deep and ethical collaborations with partners outside of the academy, and digital humanities methods. Courses I have offered at the UNC School of the Arts and Northwestern University include:
The History of the Future: Brazil
Did a 1926 Brazilian novel, The Black President (O presidente negro), prophesy the dynamics and outcome of the 2008 U.S. presidential election? Were the 2019 fires that raged in the Brazilian Amazon a preview of an apocalyptic climactic future on the near horizon? Why is Rio de Janeiro home to a spaceship-shaped building – suspended in mid-air, seemingly ready for flight – called the “Museum of Tomorrow?” “The History of the Future” is about how we relate to the unknowability of tomorrow in the past and the present. Looking through various thematic lenses – from environmental and cultural to political and technological – we will investigate the range of creative and destructive responses to the inescapable uncertainty of the future. We will examine these responses in the context of Brazil, a nation once described as “the country of the future.” At times, that future has seemed utopian, with Brazil in various historical periods deemed a post-racial paradise, mecca of Modernism, and global hub of social innovation. At other times, that future has seemed dystopian, with Brazil a seeming “waste land” characterized by urban violence, vast political corruption, and climactic catastrophe. This apparent paradox will set the stage for an in-depth examination of the future as it has been imagined and passed into history in Brazil and beyond. Course content will range from Oscar-nominated films, like The Waste Land (2010), The Edge of Democracy (2019), Bacurau (2019), and Seven Prisoners (2022) to written works of science fiction and history.
Just Code: Programmable Ethics in the Digital Age
Once upon a time (the 1990s), the disruptive innovations introduced by emerging technologies seemed poised to unleash unprecedented connectivity, creativity, freedom, empowerment, and equality across the globe. This century has revealed those disruptions to be nowhere as beneficial as once imagined, and new technologies grow more powerful and autonomous by the day. What are the ethics, or moral principles, that guide (or could guide) the programs and programmers behind these technologies? How do we, as producers and consumers in the Digital Age, advance more socially-just technologies? Framed by these inquiries, this course will interrogate the promises, possibilities, and perils of emerging technologies. In our study we will foreground questions about social impact and draw historical parallels to earlier periods of disruptive innovation. We will also engage in introductory-level programming exercises. No prior programming skills necessary. Students interested in learning programming basics in a supportive and structured environment are welcome.
Latin American History through Film
This is a history of contemporary Latin America through film, spanning from the first moving images projected in the region in 1896 to the present. Beginning with the late abolition of slavery in Brazil (just seven years before films were first projected in the Americas), the course will proceed through major events like feminism in 1940s Argentina, idealistic revolution in 1950s-60s Cuba, terrorizing dictatorship in 1970s Chile, and indigenous movements for land in 1980s Mexico. Examining films that capture monumental events and everyday moments alike, students will grapple with major themes of the region’s past: colonialism, urbanization, Revolution, inequality, and environmental issues. We will study films that focus on peoples of Indigenous and African descent and primarily discuss work made by filmmakers from Latin America.
From City of Gold to City of God: Placing Latin America’s Past
This course will introduce students to histories of Latin America from the fifteenth through the twenty-first century. Since the earliest period of colonial encounter, the region’s places and people have commonly been represented in distant, exoticized, or mythic forms. Examples range from sixteenth-century Spanish tales of El Dorado, or the city of gold, to Katia Lund and Fernando Meirelles’s 2002 film about Rio de Janeiro, Cidade de Deus (City of God). This class will work to bridge the gap between mythic and real Latin Americas by placing lived experiences from the region in historical and environmental context. The course will proceed chronologically, beginning with Amerindian societies before 1492, and interrogate major themes that echo throughout this expansive period, such as empire, revolution, and race mixture. Evaluations will be comprised of intensive in-class discussion, short writing, primary source analysis, and a capstone project.
Bulldozed: Chicago and São Paulo
This course examines the histories of São Paulo (Brazil) and Chicago (USA) through the demolitions that remade them over the twentieth century. Today among the most populous and ethnically-diverse global cities in the Americas, São Paulo and Chicago grew up as transportation gateways to the West and hubs of industry. The compelling shared and comparative histories of these two cities will serve as the basis for critical questions like: How do demolitions change places and the meanings attached to them? Why do authorities bulldoze certain structures and not others? Where do dislocated residents go? How have demolitions contributed to segregation, economic immobility, and racialized inequities across space and time? Course sections will follow the razing of singularly meaningful sites along with broad patterns of demolition related to housing and transportation projects (to take two examples). Source material will span from historical maps and city plans to samba and blues music that preserve razed spaces in popular memory. The course will include a digital humanities (DH) project. Students will use a digital mapping application to document, analyze, and visualize social and spatial change related to demolitions over time. No prior experience with mapping applications is required, and students interested in learning programming basics in a supportive and structured environment are welcome.