Ksenija Bilbija, a professor and Director of the Latin American, Carribbean and Iberian Studies Program, attended the LASA Conference in Brazil last month.
Bilbija convened a reception with UW-Madison alumni living and working Brazil for the "Brazil Initiative."
The initaitive - an interdisciplinary program with the International Institute - aims to produce collaborative research, teaching and outreach projects focused on Brazil. The overarching goal is to bring faculty and alumni together with private foundations, businesses and state agencies to help Wisconsin better understand and engage with Brazil as an emerging global economy.
Severino Albuquerque, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, is the faculty lead and director of the Brazil Initiative for 2009-2011.
A website dedicated to Brazil Initiative activities is being developed and will be linked to both the LACIS and International Institute's respective websites.