Coordination

Marina, our project assistant, holds bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Social Sciences from the USP. She worked at Reporter Brazil’s educational program Escravo, nem pensar! (2010 – 2014) and was a project assistant at the Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (2016-2020). Marina holds an international certification in Social Programs and Projects Management and has been part of Mecila’s team in São Paulo since 2021.

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

Puo-an Francisca Wu Fu has a Master of Arts degree in European literatures from the HU Berlin (Humboldt University of Berlin) and is a current doctoral candidate in romance-language literature at the University of Potsdam. Prior to joining Mecila’s Berlin Office, she worked as a translator and interpreter, as well as in the International Affairs Office of the Excellence Cluster “Image Knowledge Gestaltung.”

She was the Centre’s Administrative Assistant in Berlin during the Preliminary Phase and joined Mecila’s academic staff in 2020.

puo-an.wu@fu-berlin.de
Freie Universität Berlin
ZI Lateinamerika-Institut
Geschäftstelle Boltzmannstr. 1
Raum 006 | 14195 Berlin, Germany

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

Émerson Leite Neves is an undergraduate student at USP, majoring in Social Sciences. He is currently focusing on urban anthropology and has been carrying out a research into contemporary consumer eating habits, with an emphasis on class issues and social markers of difference. His main interests include anthropological theory, urban ethnographies, contemporary society, and symbolic representations.

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

Iris Brochsztain is an undergraduate student in Social Sciences at the USP. During 2023, she participated in the Etnographic Laboratory for Technological and Digital studies (LETEC-USP) and, in 2024, she joined the Global-South and East Anthropology group (CANIBAL-USP). Currently, Iris is developing a research abouth the relation between ethnic minorities and states. Since June 2024, she has been part of Mecila’s team.

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

Kristoff Kerl studied history, German studies, social sciences and educational sciences at the University of Cologne and at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Cologne. After completing his PhD, he received fellowships and research grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Tel Aviv University, the University of Edinburgh, Harvard University, the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. and the German Historical Institute in London. His research interests include the history of antisemitisms, the history of gender and sexuality, the history of (ecstatic) bodies, and the history of Western countercultures.

kkerl3@uni-koeln.de

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

Nina Sarah Leibbrandt is an undergraduate student in Political Science at the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science (OSI) of the FU Berlin. As part of her studies at the FU Berlin, she is currently working on her bachelor’s thesis about negotiating criminal justice during peace processes.

She joined Mecila’s Berlin Office in 2023.

n.leibbrandt@fu-berlin.de
Freie Universität Berlin
ZI Lateinamerika-Institut
Geschäftsstelle Boltzmannstr. 1
Raum 006 | 14195 Berlin, Germany