Who are we?
We are the Portuguese-speaking community at UMass Amherst. Our group is extremely diverse. Some of us learned to speak the language in the United States, at home, school, or college. Some come from states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Others migrated here from different parts of the Portuguese-speaking world (Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, etc).
What unites us is our desire to speak the Portuguese language and to learn more about the culture, history, and traditions of the people whose language is the third most spoken in New England. Our connection to the Portuguese language and its traditions is bigger than a simple academic enterprise. It is part of our identity and something we want to celebrate in our everyday life.
Quem somos nós?
Nós somos a comunidade de falantes de português da UMass Amherst. Nosso grupo é bastante diverso. Alguns aprenderam a falar português nos Estados Unidos, em casa, na escola ou na universidade. Uns vêm de estados como Massachusetts, Rhode Island, e Connecticut. Outros imigraram para cá de diversas partes do mundo lusófono (Brasil, Portugual, Cabo Verde, Angola, Moçambique, etc).
O que nos une é a vontade de falar a língua portuguesa e de aprender mais sobre a cultura, a história e as tradições dos povos cuja língua é a terceira mais falada na Nova Inglaterra. Nossa conexão com a língua portuguese e suas tradições é maior que uma simples curiosidade acadêmica. Faz parte de nossa identidade e do que queremos celebrar em nosso cotidiano.
Inauguration Event - Lídia Jorge Chair in Portuguese Studies - April 4, 2022
We are honored to officially inaugurate the Lídia Jorge Chair in Portuguese Studies on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 with the presence of the celebrated writer who is visiting UMass Amherst for the first time.
Lídia Jorge (1946-present) is one of the most representative writers of the post-Revolution Generation in Portugal. Her books (fiction, theater, children's literature, essay, and poetry) have won international recognition and have been translated into over twenty languages and published in many countries. She has been awarded a variety of literary awards, including the FIL Prize in Romance Languages in 2020, one of the most important literary prizes in Latin America.
The inaugural lecture entitled Lídia Jorge's Fiction and the Promise of Democracy will be delivered by Ana Paula Ferreira, Professor of Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota. Professor Ferreira has written extensively on Portuguese women writers, feminism, and colonialism/postcolonialism. Since the mid-1990s she has published articles and edited a collection of essays on the fiction of Lídia Jorge while also developing a project on the forgotten link between Portuguese women and the late empire. Her recent book Women Writing Portuguese Colonialism in Africa (Liverpool UP, 2020) traces the agency of women as cultural producers since the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twenty-first.
Please check the video here:
https://www.facebook.com/spanportumass/videos/314176796864813
Open House Information
During Open House, Portuguese advisers will be available at different times to answer questions about the Portuguese program:
- Placement tests - if you already speak Portuguese, you can receive up to six credits by taking the Portuguese Placement Test.
- Study Abroad - we offer study abroad opportunities in Portugal and Brazil. Contact us for more information!
- Minor in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
- Major in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
- Portuguese language studies
To schedule a time to talk to one of the Portuguese advisers send a message to either Luiz Amaral (@email) or Patricia Ferreira (@email).