[URBANTH-L]Call for Collaboration: GEST-Group, Brazil

[Angela Jancius]

 From: Joel Outtes outtes at uol.com.br

Colleagues,

GEST-The Group for the Study of Society and Territory, a researchgroup based
at UFRGS-The Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul,Porto Alegre-RS,
Brazil, is interested in establishing agreements and collaborating with
colleagues in other institutions, cities andcountries. We can either be a
South American and/or American "leg" of comparative research projects and/or
have colleagues as partners in any of our projects.

We are also willing to collaborate with other colleagues applying for NEH,
and/or NSF grants as well as other funding agencies worldwidesuch as the
European Science Foundation. For instance, I have justreceived a message
from the NSF representative for internationalcollaboration with Brazil
saying that they are prepared to fundresearch here as long as there is/are
USA-based colleagues willing toput research bids together with us at GEST.

We have several research projects, many with a strong historiccomponent. I
would like to say that I do accept new partners in these projects, where we
have several undergraduate research assistants, the so-called "estagiários
de iniciação científica" in the Brazilian research system. This is to say
that if you want to propose your ownproject, I am "here" to discuss
possibilities and if you want to become a partner in a comparative study
with any of the projects below, which are obviously in different degrees of
completion, we can also explore options together. Please find below our
description.GEST-Group for the Study of Society and Territory.GEST is an
interdisciplinary research group based at the UniversidadeFederal do Rio
Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil; composed ofprofessors, researchers,
graduate and undergraduate students. GEST members work on subjects ranging
from the History and Geography of Housing and Cities in South America to the
Spatial Dynamics of Crimein the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre-RS,
Brazil.Other research interests in the group include economic
restructuring,spatial cycles and their spatial impacts; residential and
intra-metropolitan mobility; and the grape and the colonization of the
Brazilian territory: A Geography of wine. GEST members have doneempirical
work in places such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Recife,Porto Alegre, and
Buenos Aires, and in several libraries and universities in Europe (Paris,
Oxford, Cambridge, London, Stockholm,Copenhagen, Turim), Latin America), and
the USA (Chicago, Washington, Milwaukee, New York, and Boston).

We are also interested in receiving foreign scholars to give lectures here.
We recently received Prof. Shaul Krakover who gave a set oflectures on
Spatial Cycles. We have no funds to pay travel expenses from abroad at the
moment, but we might pay your travel from any point in Brazil and we will
provide accommodation here for sure.  Please get in touch if you want to
lecture or do research here.GEST research projects include:

1. Cities Representing the Nation: Planning and Nation-Building inBrazil in
a Comparative Perspective (1855-2005).

2. At the Crossroad of Urban and Social Reform: The InternationalFederation
for Housing and Planning and the International Union of Local Authorities in
a Comparative Perspective (1913-2005).

3. The Urban and Environmental History of the Porto Alegre and Caxiasdo Sul
Metropolitan Regions, Brazil.

4. Spatial Dynamics of Crime in the Metropolitan Regions of PortoAlegre and
Caxias do Sul: A Geography of Unlegal Territories.

5. Geography of Wine: Grapes and the Colonization of Southern Brazil (c.
1875-2005).

6. Economic Restructuring and its Impacts in South America, Braziland Rio
Grande do Sul.

7. The History of Housing and Housing Policies in Brazil in a Comparative
Perspective (c. 1850-2005).

8. Intra-Metropolitan Residential Mobility in the Regions of PortoAlegre and
Caxias do Sul, Brazil (1886-2005).

9. Participative Democracy and Urban Planning in the MetropolitanRegions of
Porto Alegre and Caxias do Sul. If you would like to establish any kind of
collaboration with GESTand/or discuss possibilities, please write to me.
Please forward this message to interested parties.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours,

Joel Outtes
Prof. Dr Joel Outtes,
DPhil (University of Oxford)
Head, GEST-Group for the Study of Society and Territory
UFRGS-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
E-mail: Outtes at uol.com.br