What Happens Here Matters
History Department Hosts Fulbright Scholar
For the 2007-08 academic year the History Department at Manhattanville College will be hosting a visiting Fulbright Scholar from Brazil. Professor Janaina Amado is an expert in Colonial Latin American History. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Rio de Janeiro and her PhD at the University of São Paolo. She has taught at the University of Brasilia in Brazil and at Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University in the United States. She has also received fellowships to conduct historical research at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. and the Newberry Library in Chicago.
At Manhattanville, Professor Amado will teach a survey course about colonial Latin America and a seminar course on the literature of Latin America. She will also be lending her expertise to help the college build a new major in Latin American Studies. “I have met many students here who are very interested in the idea of this new major,” she said. “I believe that this will be a strong area for Manhattanville in the near future.” She will also be finishing a book that she has been writing about the subject of banishment, a legal punishment that was practiced between the 16th and 18th centuries. “Instead of being put in jail people were thrown out of the country in which they lived,” she explained. “I was drawn to the subject because it represented such a different idea of punishment.” Many of the banished individuals from Europe ended up in Latin American countries.
Professor Amado became interested in applying for this position with the Fulbright Institute after reading about the position in a newsletter. “It looked like very interesting work and I really identified myself with the position. I love new experiences and meeting new people, so I decided to apply. It was very exciting for me when I learned that I had been accepted. My husband and I received a very warm welcome when we arrived and we are looking forward to taking part in the academic and social life of the college.”