The drums pound while voices, young and old, form tribal harmonies as they dance as one in a circle of community. Their wind struck faces with lines of age eye the camera with stoic curiosity. This is just one of many scenes featured in Hebbe Mattos’ documentary film series “Presents Past.” The films shed light on Mattos’ extensive research of slavery in Brazil. As part of Queens College’s Year of Brazil celebration, Mattos, history professor at Universidade Federal Fluminese in Rio de Janeiro and visiting professor at the Institute of Latin American Studies at Colombia University, gave a lecture entitled “Slavery and Memory in Brazil,” on Feb.19 in Kiely Hall.…
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Projeto Morrinho comes to Queens College
As part of Queens College’s Year of Brazil initiative, Projeto Morrinho has come to Queens College to build a favela — a model of the QC community — in front of the Science Building. The elaborate project is funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and will continue until September 19. Morrinho — translated from Portuguese to English — literally means little hill and a favela is an urban community that is squatted on by people who are desperately seeking shelter. It is the equivalent of what is known as a slum. The building of favelas, which initially began as a way to pass the time, has grown to be…
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Queens College learns from the Year of Brazil
Walking around Queens College, colorful posters and multicolored flags adorn the campus. That’s because this year, Brazil was chosen as part of QC’s Year of Initiative. To show the college’s dedication to global education, each year QC focuses on the diverse contributions of a specific country. During the 2010-2011 academic year, QC focused on China. For the 2011-2012 academic year, QC learned more about India and for the 2013-2014 academic year, QC will be focusing on Brazil, the largest country in both South America and Latin America. “The Year of initiative is designed to make our campus more globally aware . . . The ‘Year of…’ programs also lead to…