Description

The Liberal Arts study abroad program in Sao Paulo, Brazil is targeted to students with at least two years of college-level Spanish or one year of Portuguese or the equivalent who want to improve their Portuguese language skills and knowledge of contemporary Brazil while at the same time being able to matriculate in a broad range of course offerings in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Participants should be interested in living in a large, cosmopolitan South American city.

Academic Program
The program in Sao Paulo was established in 1973 and has been administered by CIEE since 1989. The program begins with an Intensive Language and Culture Program (ILCP), held in Salvador da Bahia for the fall semester and in Sao Paulo for the spring semester. In the fall semester, students enroll in a three-credit language course and a three-credit interdisciplinary culture course prior to the regular semester. In the spring semester, students enroll in an intensive, four-credit language and culture course prior to the regular semester. The ILCP prepares students for the regular semester by giving them the opportunity to focus intensively on Portuguese language acquisition, while learning about Brazilian contemporary society. The regular semester offers a combination of direct enrollment classes at a Brazilian university, CIEE Portuguese language courses, and specially designed CIEE courses about Brazilian issues and realities. This program is ideal for those who want to better understand Brazilian society and culture and improve their Portuguese language, or for advanced Spanish speakers who would like to learn Portuguese.

Academic Culture
While U.S. students are accustomed to a very structured academic system, Brazilian professors generally leave students on their own to determine the intensity of their work. This approach is geared towards the student who is motivated, self-sufficient, and deeply interested in the subject matter. It is a more rigorous, autonomous academic system.

Some U.S. students could misperceive that the workload is light and that there are very few assignments. However, students are given bibliographies for courses with the expectation that they read as many of the listings as possible and select those titles that best meet their needs and interests. In some courses, the entire grade is based on a term paper or critical analysis of a particular article, with the expectation that the paper be based upon a fairly extensive reading from the bibliography. This relative freedom places a great deal of responsibility on the student.

The CIEE academic year program coincides roughly with the North American academic year, taking place from late June to late June of the following year, and the CIEE calendar year program coincides with the Brazilian academic year, taking place from early January to early December. Academic year students have a two-month break between fall and spring semesters and are encouraged to travel independently throughout other parts of Brazil and Latin America. Calendar year students have a break of four weeks between the Brazilian first and second semesters (the North American spring and fall semesters). Housing is not included during these breaks and is the responsibility of the student.