Brazil Abroad: Indigenous Peoples, Conservation, and Film

This abroad course immerses students into a multicultural, multilingual, and international landscape where they explore and engage in complex problems associated with local communities and sustainability in the Brazilian Amazon. Specifically, they will engage with students and faculty from Brazilian institutions of higher education, NGO and local leaders in the Indigenous Rights and Sustainability space, and Local Community members, leaders, artists, and organizers. Throughout this abroad experience, they will also learn about different disciplinary and sectorial approaches to the same sustainability issues. Students will support their experiential learning abroad with readings and daily formative reflections to guide their experience to both understand complex problems on the ground, evaluate solutions that are in place, and develop their own ideas about future possibilities.

Indigenous Peoples in Amazonia have long been at the frontlines of stewarding biocultural diversity and providing leadership in cultivating spaces for just livelihoods. At the same time, Indigenous Peoples face economic, political, and other pressures as they seek self-determined futures. More and more, Indigenous Peoples have turned to local leadership, storytelling through film, and social media use to bolster and fortify their efforts. This three-week study abroad experiential course takes you to the heart of the Brazilian Amazon region to partner with the Mẽbêngôkre-Kayapó Peoples to learn about the intersections of indigenous rights, environmental justice, and film. You learn about how to cultivate and engage in collaborative community-based projects and how to work ethically with Indigenous Peoples and Local communities. Through partnering with local knowledge holders and experts, you become knowledgeable about the intersections and differences between environmental justice efforts, Indigenous rights, and sustainability. Working with local artists and filmmakers, you co-create  final projects with community members and local NGOs. Finally, this program invites you to reflexively consider your own lives and broaden your perspectives about cultural diversity. There are no prerequisites to this course.