Category Archives: Phd student

Teófilo Reis

My name is Teófilo Reis. I’m a philosophy PhD student at CUNY Graduate Center and a sociology PhD student at Unicamp, in Brazil. In my research, I address race and racism from a philosophical and sociological point of view. I am especially interested in theoretical approaches to anti-racism, the history of racist thinking, and black political thought. Since 2019, I’ve been teaching philosophy courses at The City College of New York.

Contact: teofilo.reis@gmail.com

Juliana Valente

Juliana Valente is a PhD student in the cultural anthropology program at the CUNY Graduate Center. She received her master’s in social anthropology from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil, and her Bachelors in sociology and education from Vassar College. Over the last few years, Juliana has worked at an NGO in Brazil with youth who committed crimes. Her current project is focused on issues related to human rights, crime, violence and youth in Brazil.

Contact – jvalente@gradcenter.cuny.edu

Samantha Barthelemy

Samantha Barthelemy is a John Jay College-CUNY doctoral student in Criminal Justice and Adjunct Lecturer and a Senior Research Fellow at the National Network for Safe Communities, focusing on the prevention of violence in her native Brazil. Barthelemy occupied leadership positions in Rio de Janeiro’s government, where she served as Program Director and Senior Advisor in the Education, Urban Planning, and Public Security Departments. She developed and implemented violence reduction strategies in high-risk urban contexts and represented Rio in internationally and in Brazil, the United States, Europe, India, and the Middle East. Barthelemy also worked as a consultant for UNESCO, UN-Habitat, and the private sector and as a journalist for the United Nations. In 2013, she was awarded the “High Social Impact Brazilian” distinction, granted by the Lemann Foundation. Barthelemy holds a BA in International Relations and Political Science from Tufts University and a Dual Master of International Affairs in International Security Policy from Sciences Po-Paris and Columbia University (SIPA).
Samantha Barthelemy, M.I.A.John Jay College, CUNYCriminal Justice Doctoral.

Contacts – sbarthelemy@jjay.cuny.edu

Rafael Davis Portela

Rafael Davis Portela

I am a Ph.D. student in the History department, where I research the role of transnational capital in urban development in Latin America. I am also a member of the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies–CLACLS, and Adjunct Professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where I teach courses on Latin American History. I am into digital tools, and anything related to teaching interests me.

  • Research Interests: History of Capitalism; Urban History; Transnational History; History of Transportation; Riots and Rebellions in Latin America.
  • Degrees Conferred: M.Phil in History, The Graduate Center; M.A. in Social History, Universidade Federal da Bahia; B.A. in History, Universidade Federal da Bahia.
  • Major Field: Latin American History
  • Minor Field: Urban History / History of Capitalism

Contact: rdavisportela@gradcenter.cuny.edu

Fernanda Blanco Vidal

Fernanda B. Vidal

Fernanda Blanco Vidal is a doctoral student from Environmental Psychology at the Graduate Center (CUNY) interested in forced displacement, people`s relationship to land and water and political suffering. She is Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Psychology, City College of New York where she teaches a course of her creation “Psychology of People in Places – From Climate Changes to Gentrification. She holds an M.A in Sociology from University Federal of Bahia focus on people`s forced displaced by dams and published the book “Longing yes, Sadness no – Social Memory, Psychology and Forced Displacement”. Prior to pursuing a doctoral degree, she has worked with communities and social movement that fights against dispossessions such as Gamboa de Baixo (Fishman community in Salvador), the MST (Landless Workers Movement), Cascalheira (affected by technological disasters) among others and she has worked as Coordinator and Faculty member in two colleges in Salvador. She has been working with social memory and narratives, social and political subjectivity, social movements in Latino America.

Email: fblancovidal@gradcenter.cuny.edu