Globalizing Brazil: Politics, Prosperity, Poverty
Discover Rio de Janeiro, a highly urbanized, coastal city that exhibits a five-hundred year history of globalization. The focus of the program will be the political economy of globalization within a historical perspective. Brazil today is at the forefront of emerging issues in the global economy. The program, which has a strong research focus, provides an opportunity to study the problems of trade agreements and access to rich-nation markets; biofuels and energy self sufficiency; environmental programs that mitigate the costs of development; property rights and capital market reforms; education and the problem of investing in human capital; transnational criminal enterprises; and the accountability of elected and appointed officials.
The course allows students to visualize the causes and consequences of globalization by focusing on the development of Brazil. Brazil is an illustrative case of the possibilities and pitfalls of becoming strongly and directly reconnected to the world economy in the 1990s after decades of controlled isolation. The readings, lectures, and guest presentations focus on three themes: 1) How globalization, across the board, creates pressures for macro-policy reforms that the domestic political system alone is incapable of supplying. 2) How the definition and enforcement of property rights contribute to the long record of inequality in Brazil, and what is required to overcome this legacy; 3) How the acute lack of second- generation reforms in Brazil have stymied economic progress and have rigidified poverty.Students will come to understand how global conflict is managed and how the many forces of global society come together to influence policy decisions at the highest level. UCLA students are required to complete Global Studies 1, 100A, and 100B prior to the start of this program. Students from other schools should have taken substantial coursework on topics in globalization prior to participating in the program. For more details, visit the curriculum page.
Scholarships: Merit-based scholarships of $1,000 from the UCLA International Institute are available for ten outstanding UCLA Global Studies Majors or Minors participating on a Global Studies summer program. Global Studies Majors/Minors must have a 3.50 overall GPA for their academic studies at UCLA. Students who are waitlisted for a Glbl St 110A/110B are not eligible to apply. Interested students should complete this scholarship application by March 26. Please follow the instructions listed on the form. All questions about the scholarship should be send to undergraduate@international.ucla.edu . Since scholarships are limited in number, we recommend that UCLA students interested in the program's scholarship also apply for financial aid by the necessary deadlines.
Financial aid is available to qualified UCLA students. All other students should inquire about financial aid at their home institution. For more information on financial aid, click here.