Meet the Brazil Team

Associate Professor of Latin American History

Courtney teaches, researches, and writes on Brazilian history, particularly on social and cultural history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Her writing has focused on regionalism, race, gender, international events, abolition, national identity, social movements, and foreign presence in Brazil. Her 2022 book Region Out of Place: The Brazilian Northeast and the World (1924-1968) analyses how Brazilians understood the meaning of belonging to the northeastern region in the early- to mid-twentieth century. Courtney is co-editor of Empty Spaces: Confronting Emptiness in National, Cultural, and Urban History, with Allegra Giovine and Jennifer Keating, and has published articles in Past & Present, Slavery & Abolition, and the Luso-Brazilian Review. Her current research focuses on mothering and other mothering in times of exile. She is carrying out a microhistory of the people and networks that came together to raise Anita Benário Prestes – born in a German women’s prison to the militant Olga Benário Prestes and raised by the family of her father, the Brazilian communist leader Luis Carlos Prestes.

Courtney has well developed links with institutions across Brazil. She has served as mentor and co-I for Brazilian Visiting Fellows from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and University of São Paulo, and has secured funding to work with UNESP and scholars from the Nucleus of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous Studies at the University of Paraiba.

Associate Professor in Sociology & Criminology and Head of Global Engagement ,School of Social Policy & Society. Prior Co-Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration & Superdiversity (IRiS).

Angelo undertakes ethnographic research in the areas of difference, intersectionality and social inequalities to contribute to debates on Migration, Labour as well as on ‘Modern Slavery’. He has carried out extensive research on how differences of ‘race’, class and gender, rooted in colonial histories, are constantly being re-created and negotiated in the everyday making of inequalities faced by marginalised and criminalised populations (i.e migrants, informal workers, sex workers, and traditional populations) experiencing various forms of precariousness, inequality, exploitation and violence in Brazil, Europe, and Western Africa.

Angelo has cultivated extensive networks and collaborations with esteemed institutions such as UNICAMP, USP, UNESP, UFSCar, UFPel, UFAL, UFPB, UFPA, UEPA, UNIMONTES. He is currently coordinating with UFSCar, UFMA, and UFPA an Abdias do Nascimento Visiting Programmes (CAPES-funded), which offer the opportunity for Brazilian scholars to come to Birmingham to engage in joint research in racialised inequalities, sustainability, social inclusion, and environmental justice.

He is Permanent Member of the Laboratory of Work, Professions and Mobility (UFSCar/Brazil). And has been Co-editor of the on-line material of the journals Theory, Culture & Society and Body & Society (2015-2022), and Regional editor (Brazil) of the Global Dialogue – International Sociological Association’s academic newsletter (2014-2022). Author of the book 'Lives in Motion: Notebooks of an Immigrant in London' (WhyteTracks, 2014) and 'Moving Difference: Brazilians in London' (Routledge, 2020).

Erica supports the implementation of the University’s international strategy, specialising in the development of international collaborations and management of key strategic partnerships in Brazil, Europe and the US. Erica played a leading role in setting up the University of Birmingham Brazil Institute and has led multiple successful funding applications to support the internationalisation of Brazilian institutions. She is experienced in setting up institutional international partnerships, including UoB's flagship strategic BRIDGE alliance with the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and, more recently, the University's Twinning partnership with Ivan Franko National University Lviv, for which she secured UKRI funding. Erica is the institutional Project Manager for EUniWell and was part of the writing team for EUniWell's successful Erasmus+ and Horizon applications. She has extensive experience in student mobility as a former Study Abroad Manager, and as Chair of the British Universities Transatlantic Exchange Network (BUTEX). She is a recipient of the AUA Award for Excellence and is also experienced in Distance Learning partnerships.

Mary works to support the work of the Brazil team by managing internal funding opportunities, promoting external opportunities to colleagues, and liaising with key partners in Brazil to help facilitate the University's Brazil engagement strategy. She manages the Brazil Visiting Fellows scheme, seed funds and outgoing and incoming delegations to Brazil. Recently she worked on the launch of the Brazil Institute both on campus and in country. Aside from her engagement in Brazil she also works on North America and specifically the BRIDGE partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Gisele supports delivering the University of Birmingham Brazil Institute’s strategic commitments and strengthening the University’s international profile, particularly in relation to Brazil and the broader U21 network. She works closely with UBBI directors, BG Head of Global Partnerships, affiliated academics, and faculty across all Colleges to develop partnerships, manage projects, and support collaborative initiatives that promote global research and engagement.

Before joining UBBI, she was nominated for the Leitorado programme of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, collaborating closely with the Embassy of Brazil in London. During the Leitorado programme, she worked at the University of Birmingham in the Department of Modern Languages, teaching Portuguese for UG and PG levels, where she also developed the Portuguese course for the Languages for All programme and has supported the development of the newly implemented Digital-first teaching framework.

In her current role, Gisele contributes to enhancing the University’s presence in strategic regions through targeted engagement with priority institutions and networks, by facilitating research partnerships and supporting capacity-building efforts between the University of Birmingham and Brazilian institutions, contributing to the advancement of sustainable development and academic exchange.