Coordination

Juliana Lugão is a journalist who holds a master’s degree in Literature from PUC-Rio and a Doctorate in Literary Studies from Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), both of which were funded by CNPq. Between 2021 and 2025, she conducted research in the Postgraduate Programme in Literary Science at UFRJ, funded by FAPERJ. During her doctoral studies and postdoctoral research fellowship, she was a visiting researcher at the Walter Benjamin Archives in Berlin, with fundings by CNPq, DAAD and FAPERJ. She has published work focusing primarily on literary translation, interartistic and interdisciplinary relations in literature, and the work and manuscripts of the German author Walter Benjamin, including translations of his work.

juliana.lugao@fu-berlin.de
Rua Morgado de Mateus, 615
04015-051 São Paulo, Brazil

Sofie Steinberger studied Regional Studies of Latin America at the UzK and is currently a PhD student at the Historical Institute of the UzK and the University of Meknes. From 2017 to 2020 she was a Fellow of the a.r.t.e.s. EUmanities Program (Horizon 2020: MSCA) and spent 18 months doing research in Spain and Morocco. She has been active in various areas of scientific coordination and historical-political education. Among other things, she coordinated the UzK Forum “Ethnicity as a Political Resource”, worked in youth education, for the Academy for Conflict Transformation in Bonn, and is currently curating an exhibition for the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne. Since August 2022, she is part of the team of the Maria Sibylla Merian Centre Conviviality-Inequality in Latin America in Cologne (UzK).

ssteinb1@uni-koeln.de

Universität zu Köln Albertus-Magnus-Platz | 50923 Köln, Germany

Isabela Maia holds a bachelor’s degree in Languages and Literature from Universidade Estadual Paulista / FCLAr (2017) and a master’s
degree in Literary Studies from the same institution (2020). She is a doctoral candidate in Literary Studies at the UzK, affiliated with the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne and the Luso-Brazilian Institute at UzK. Currently, she is an academic assistant on the Mecila team.

imaiape1@uni-koeln.de

Universität zu Köln Albertus-Magnus-Platz | 50923 Köln, Germany

Our Events and Outreach Coordinator has a degree in Social Communication from ECA-USP, and a postgraduate (lato sensu) degree in Business Administration from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas. She worked in the publishing market before turning to corporate communications when she joined the communications team of the Câmara de Comércio e Indústria Brasil-Alemanha. She joined Mecila’s team in São Paulo in 2018.

+55 11 55740399 | 118
melanie.metzen@fu-berlin.de
Rua Morgado de Mateus, 615
04015-051 São Paulo, Brazil

Roberta Hesse is a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at USP, holds a master’s degree in Social Anthropology from USP, and a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from USP. Currently, she is also an associate researcher at “Centro de Estudos Ameríndios (CEstA/USP)”. She carried out one research internships and an academic exchange year at the University of Cologne. She has also worked with project management at the Associação Anna Laura. Since April 2022, she has been part of the Mecila team as a fellows assistant.

+55 11 55740399 | 118
roberta.hesse@fu-berlin.de
Rua Morgado de Mateus, 615
04015-051 São Paulo, Brazil

Mirka Slowik de Martinez holds a Licenciate in Literature from Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) in La Paz, Bolivia, and Master of Arts degree in Romance Philology from FU Berlin. She has worked from 2010 until 2016 as a German Teacher at Goethe-Institut La Paz, from 2017 until 2022 at Goethe-Institut Berlin, and as a teacher trainer from 2013 until 2016 at Goethe-Institut La Paz and Goethe-Institut São Paulo. In 2022 she received a scholarship as a literary translator from the Literary Colloquium Berlin (LCB). She is a passionate in language learning and world literatures. She joined the Mecila coordination team as Administrative Assistant in December 2022.

mirka.slowik@fu-berlin.de
Freie Universität Berlin
ZI Lateinamerika-Institut
Projekthaus
Boltzmannstr. 1
Raum 006 | 14195 Berlin, Germany

Carolina Santarossa holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Freie Universität Berlin and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Communication (Journalism) from the University of São Paulo. At the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (IAI) in Berlin, she coordinates Mecila’s activities related to the subproject Medialities of Conviviality. Her professional trajectory includes experience in the field of international cooperation and science communication at institutions such as the DFG, the Humboldt Forum and the DWIH-SP.

Santarossa@iai.spk-berlin.de 
Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut – Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Potsdamer Straße 37
10785 Berlin, Germany

Lucas da Cunha is a Social Sciences student pursuing a bachelor’s degree at USP. In 2023, he was a visiting student at the Université d’Ottawa in Canada for one semester. He worked as a research assistant in the “Religions in the Contemporary World” research nucleus at CEBRAP. In June 2024, he joined the Mecila team in São Paulo as an intern.

lucas.cunha@fu-berlin.de
Centro de Difusão Internacional – USP
Av. Prof. Lúcio Martins Rodrigues, 310
Butantã, São Paulo – SP, Brazil

Vitória Zandonadi is an undergraduate student in Social Sciences at USP. In the first semester of 2023, she had the opportunity to participate in an academic mobility exchange program at Sciences Po, on the Reims campus in France. Currently, Vitória is developing a research project in Urban Anthropology. Since June 2024, she has been part of the Mecila team as an intern.

+55 11 55740399 | 118
vitoria.zandonadi@fu-berlin.de
Rua Morgado de Mateus, 615
04015-051 São Paulo, Brazil