Michelle De Sa e Silva

Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva is an assistant professor in International and Area Studies in the Department of International and Area Studies. She is also Co-Director of the Center for Brazil Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

Prior to coming to OU, she was Head of Graduate Programs and Professor at Brazil’s National School of Public Administration (Enap). She had also been Coordinator General for International Cooperation at Brazil’s Ministry of Human Rights (2011-2014). Before that, she was a UNESCO staff member for six years. In addition to Brazil, Dr. Morais has worked in countries like Angola, Colombia, Mozambique and Russia. She received her PhD from Columbia University and her MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, The Netherlands. In 2015, she did a year of postdoctoral research at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Her research agenda has been mostly focused on issues of international cooperation for development, policy diffusion, and international comparative education.

Dr. Morais is the author of the book Poverty Reduction, Education, and the Global Diffusion of Conditional Cash Transfers (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).

Professor Morais teaches undergraduate and graduate classes on international development, human rights and public policy.