Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies McNeil 473 / Zoom
Renato da Silva Souza (Federal University of Bahia)
Faculty Advisor: Vanicléia Silva Santos (Penn Museum and Africana Studies)
João da Costa Júnior and the Dynamics of the Illegal Slave Trade in Nineteenth Century Bahia
The research for this master’s thesis investigates the life of one of the leading slave traders in Bahia, Brazil between 1831 and 1850. The analysis of the social relations of this trafficker allows us to map the characteristics of his illegal activities in a way that we can identify his actions in various areas of the Bahian economy. A key result of this research experience at Penn is the globalization of local understandings of how the formation of capitalism in Bahia went on to occupy an important space in our studies of slavery and the slave trade in Brazil, specifically, and in the Atlantic world, more broadly.
Vanessa Rosa (Federal University of Bahia)
Faculty Advisor: Keisha-Khan Perry (Africana Studies)
Terreiros do Riso: Joy as an Ethical Foundation in Black Comicality
This master’s research project contributes to social science and humanistic studies related to traditions of joy as an ethical foundation in African diaspora traditions. The work identifies and analyzes Black comicality in various Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous cultural expressions and performances. The research while at Penn has expanded this focus on Brazil and provided the groundwork for a global and comparative perspective on the ethical principles at the heart of Black comicality and related manifestations in Africa and the Americas.
Simulatenous interpretation from Portuguese to English will be offered. Please bring a device and headphones to hear the interpretation.