Houston Community College faculty members return from Brazil

HOUSTON - Four Houston Community College faculty members recently returned from a summer trip to Brazil, where they did what they do best teach and learn.

The 15-day visit was the initial phase of a five-year International Cooperative Agreement faculty exchange program between HCC Southwest College and Univates University in Brazil. It is designed to promote educational exchanges across borders and open a collaborative academic dialogue between the institutions.

During their stay, HCC Southwest Professors Julieta Ruppert, Intensive English/Government; Linda Cook, Global Studies/Sociology; Julie Cote, Developmental Studies; and John Speer, Government, gave a series of lectures and workshops in three southern Brazil universities: Facinter University in Curitiba, Uniritter University in Porto Alegre, and Univates University in Lajeado.

Lecturing in classrooms, standing-room-only auditoriums and small workshops depending on the topic and audience, the HCC faculty gave presentations ranging from The Neo-liberal State; Economic and Social Inequality in the United States and Brazil for law students, to Global Issues and Social Changes for international business students, to Literary Analysis, Composition Strategies and American Pronunciation for Teachers of English and English as a Second Language (ESL) student learners.

In addition to teaching and lecturing, all four American professors were given the opportunity to study the relationship of the Brazilian universities with their surrounding communities.

We arrived during a political campaign, noted Speer, a political scientist and Chair of HCC Southwest's Government and Criminal Justice Department, which allowed me to witness first-hand the difference between our campaigns here in America and those in Brazil. It's something I?ll certainly be sharing with my students here at HCC, he added.

All four professors were impressed by the involvement of Brazilian students in community social projects; the environmental progressiveness of the country; the high level of cultural activities at the universities; and the sheer beauty of Brazil.

The agreement continues in January, when four faculty members from Univates, travel to Houston for 15 days to participate in workshops, teach, and visit HCC campuses.