Mariel Camargo
Mariel Camargo, an Urban Studies major, received a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship from the Center for Latin American Studies to study Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro. To complete her thesis she needed to be conversational in Portuguese to conduct interviews. Read more about her experience as a FLAS fellow below.
What can you tell us about your background and academic interests?
I am a FLI Latina student from Dallas, TX, interested in urban global development. I majored in Urban Studies and minored in Architectural Design.
Why did you apply for the FLAS fellowship?
I applied to the FLAS Fellowship because my Urban Studies thesis took place in Rio de Janeiro and it involved qualitative methods of interviewing locals. For this reason I needed to take Portuguese classes to be conversational in Portuguese to execute my research. I was already in my first quarter of Accelerated Portuguese when I learned about the FLAS Fellowship and thought that since I would already be in Rio that summer for my summer thesis research taking an immersive Portuguese course while being in Brazil would strengthen my Portuguese while also allowing me to practice my Portuguese with my host parents and fellow classmates.
What languages and world regions have you studied with the support of the FLAS fellowship?
Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
What impact has FLAS had on your studies?
FLAS has made me appreciative of language learning by combining it with cultural experiences and has played a large role into shaping my interests to continue learning Portuguese and to be involved with Brazil after my studies.
How do language and cultural skills apply to your academic and career paths?
I hope to pursue a career in urban global development with a focus in Latin America and knowing and having had experience in Brazil not only linguistically but also culturally will help me in my career path.