With much fanfare, I am pleased to announce that the first community workshop meeting on the Horto d’El Rey is finally happening on Thursday, October 8 at the G.R.E.S. Preto Velho in Olinda from 19:00 to 22:00 for residents of the Carmo neighborhood. My students from the Federal University...
Brazil Fulbright research
My keynote at the 6th National Seminar on Geography and Phenomenology
Although I’ve only been in Brazil for about two months, and am careful about over-generalizing based on my limited experience, it seems as if phenomenology, as a field of study, is much more active here than in the United States. In the US, phenomenology gained traction in the 1970s...
Community workshop meetings in Olinda
Work is proceeding on setting up the first of what will hopefully be a series of community workshop meetings in Olinda that will address what should become of the Horto d’El Rey. I’ve written about this garden previously, as well as what I hope my research will accomplish and...
UFPE mini-course: old places, significance, and a social science approach
This week I gave my first series of lectures in a special “mini course” at the Department of Urban Development (MDU) at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). The first two topics I addressed were “Why Do Old Places Matter? What the Social Sciences Can Tell Us” and “Principles...
Mini course at UFPE on the social sciences and heritage conservation
While I’m working on my research in Olinda, Brazil, I will be participating in a “mini course” in the Urban Development Program (MDU) at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). In this course, I’ll be lecturing on a number of topics that address critical heritage studies theory, the use...
Bringing phenomenology to the people (but don’t call it that)
The phenomenological approach is of particular relevance when dealing with the questions of significance for preservation. … If a historical place is such a phenomenon, then the term ‘significant’ should be used in preservation to describe places whose physical character and matrices of historical, mythical, and social associations...
Facilitating community workshops and community-based participatory research
The community workshop is a core method of my research with the Horto d’El Rey, which is part of the overall methodology of community-based participatory research. This post will cover the nature of meetings, facilitation, and various techniques to engage participants in community workshops. While not easy, facilitating community...
Becoming brasileiro through pizza
So last night I made what I think was a significant milestone: I successfully ordered a pizza for pickup, in Portuguese, over the telephone. For anyone learning a foreign language, the telephone can be a communication nemesis. When talking to someone in person, you have lots of body language...
The IRB and participatory research
This evening I finally completed my “IRB” (Institutional Review Board) application which specifies how I will be protecting my human “subjects” from potential harm for my proposed research project. Ostensibly, this is a very good process to undergo because, in the past, researchers have abused and manipulated people under...
Recife Antigo
This Sunday, my host professor and his family gave my family and I a wonderful tour of Recife Antigo. Technically, “Recife Antigo” is a manufactured name designed to market the part of the Bairro Recife located on the island of Recife, which contains the original Dutch settlement from the...