Distinguished members of community and university will lend expertise and experience to the nation’s preeminent Center devoted to sharing the cultural and intellectual capital of the Lusophone world
The UMass Dartmouth Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, the nation’s preeminent university-based organization devoted to promoting and sharing the culture of the Lusophone world, today announced the appointment of new Advisory Council members.
“Over the last 15 months, I have become keenly aware of the importance of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture to both the university and the community,” interim Chancellor Peyton R. Helm said. “Our goal with the appointment of these new members is to honor the mission and history of the Center while positioning it for a path-breaking future. These members will reenergize the important commitment of this academic center to community outreach and collaboration. I am impressed by the depth and breadth of these individuals’ leadership credentials and grateful for their willingness to serve in this important endeavor.”
“Our new members bring a rich diversity of experience and an unyielding commitment to supporting the important work of the Center,” said Center Director Victor Mendes. “With their guidance, the Center is poised to embark on a new journey, celebrating and sharing the cultures of the Lusophone world.”
The Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture is one major component of UMass Dartmouth’s commitment to the study and dissemination of Portuguese culture. The university is also home to the Ferreira Mendes Portuguese-American Archives, a comprehensive collection of materials related to the Portuguese-American experience; and the Department of Portuguese, which houses undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level academic programs.
The new members include:
- Nélia Alves-Guimarães, President of the House of the Azores in New England
- João Caixinha, Deputy Coordinator for the Portuguese Language Programs and Education Affairs in U.S., Camões Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, IP
- Joseph Cordeiro, Chief of Police, City of New Bedford
- Nuno Couto, Founder and Managing Partner, Optimal Partners
- Helena DaSilva Hughes, Executive Director, Immigrants’ Assistance Center
- Gerard Kavanaugh, Senior Vice Chancellor, UMass Dartmouth
- Manuel J. Louro, State Council President, Prince Henry Society
- Joseph Medina, Vice Chancellor for Advancement, UMass Dartmouth
- Victor Mendes, Director, Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture
- Glivânia de Oliveira , Consul-General of Brazil in Boston
- Sarah Quintal, President of the Azorean Maritime Heritage Society
- Carlos Wahnon Veiga, Cape Verdean Ambassador
Additional members may be added in the future.
More about the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture
The UMass Dartmouth Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, originally established in 1975 as the Center for the Portuguese-speaking World, is a multidisciplinary international studies and outreach unit dedicated to the study of the language, literatures and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world. The Center builds relationships between the University and other institutions engaged in Portuguese studies, both abroad and in the United States. The Center develops pedagogical materials to aid in teaching and learning the Portuguese language and cultures at all educational levels.
The Center is also home to Tagus Press, which is recognized as a leader in bringing Portuguese literature, history, and culture to an English-speaking audience. The press recently published The Eighteenth Century,volume 29. of Portuguese Literary & Cultural Studies (PLCS), guest edited by Bruno Carvalho from Princeton University. The issue, focusing on the 18th Century Luso-Brazilian Enlightenment, showcases the vibrant and diverse scholarship on the period in Portuguese and Brazilian literary and cultural studies, placing the Lusophone world in transatlantic and hemispheric contexts, while shedding light on several of its specific dimensions. This issue also inaugurates a new era in publishing for the press. Thanks to a partnership with Digital Services at the UMass Dartmouth Claire T. Carney Library, PLCS is now available in print and online as an open access journal: https://ojs.lib.umassd.edu/index.php/plcs/issue/view/1
Tagus Press will publish in July an illustrated children’s history of Portugal. This colorful book, the first children’s history of Portugal to be published in English, covers the exciting history of Portugal, one of the oldest countries in Europe, from the time of the ancient Lusitanians to the contemporary moment. Written for elementary and middle school students, this history has been placed on the Plano Nacional de Leitura, a national education initiative sponsored by Portugal’s Ministry of Education. Now in its fourth edition, A Children’s History of Portugal was written by prize-winning author Sérgio Luís de Carvalho, the Director of the Museu do Pão in the Serra da Estrela and author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books. It was translated into English by Inês Lima, a Ph.D. candidate in Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies and Theory at UMass Dartmouth.