Graduate Certificate in Afro-Luso-Brazilian Studies in Ann Arbor United States | University of Michigan Ann Arbor

The RLL's Graduate Certificate in Afro-Luso-Brazilian Studies provides an interdisciplinary curriculum at an advanced level, spanning humanities, social sciences, and arts. This program examines three key regions under the Afro-Luso-Brazilian umbrella: Brazil, Portugal, and five African nations where Portuguese is spoken (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé & Príncipe). These Lusophone territories remain deeply connected through shared colonial histories and the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which fostered vibrant cultural syntheses while perpetuating persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities. Within our evolving postcolonial landscape shaped by global capitalism, the Portuguese-speaking world - particularly Brazil - offers compelling contexts for analyzing diverse cultural, historical, economic, and geopolitical developments. This certificate program immerses students in sophisticated scholarship about Brazil and broader Lusophone societies. Drawing from multiple academic disciplines that mirror the cultural wealth of Portuguese-speaking nations and the diverse specializations of RLL and LSA faculty, the program delivers an intellectually stimulating, historically grounded curriculum with rigorous methodologies, offering courses in both Portuguese and English to students from various academic backgrounds.