MARGUERITE ITAMAR HARRISON

Marguerite Itamar Harrison teaches interactive language courses in Brazilian Portuguese as well as interdisciplinary courses in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies. In addition to Elementary Portuguese and Intermediate Portuguese, some of the topics courses she teaches at Smith are The Brazilian Body: Representing Women in Brazil’s Literature and Culture; Brazil x 5: A Journey through Its Multicultural Regions; Brazilian Poetry and Performance Art; and Shifting Landscapes in Brazilian Film.

Having grown up in a Brazilian-American household in both the U.S. and Brazil, she is bilingual in Portuguese and English. Her translations of contemporary Brazilian fiction have appeared in such literary journals as Brasil/Brazil and Amazonian Literary Review. Before receiving a Ph.D. in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Brown University, she earned a Masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Brazilian Art, and her subsequent research has continued to draw from, and often unite, the disciplines of literature and the arts. She is currently working on a book-length study of women artists in Brazil. Issues of race, class, and gender feature prominently in her research and teachings on Brazil. Her scholarship also focuses on contemporary Brazilian fiction, visual culture, and cultural politics.

In addition to being a part of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, she also participates in the Latin American Studies Program as well as the Women’s Studies Program at Smith. She serves as Study Abroad Adviser for Brazil and Portugal.

Phone: 413-585-3361
Building: Wright Hall 206
E-mail:mharriso@email.smith.edu