Visiting Scholars Program

Ana Laura Becker Aguiar is a Visiting Scholar (not in residence) with the OU Center for Brazil Studies and a PhD candidate in Law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). She holds an M.S in Gender from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), an M.A. in International Law and Human Rights from the UN-mandated University for Peace (Upeace), and a B.A in International Relations from the University of Brasilia (UnB). Ms Becker Aguiar has worked in international organizations such as the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Inter-American Development Bank, and Unesco.

In 2013, she became a Social Policy Analyst for the Federal Government, where she worked for the Ministry of Citizenship and the President’s office. More recently, she joined the research team of Dr. Michelle Morais, assisting with her research on human rights bureaucrats. Ana Laura’s doctoral research focuses on the permeability of international law to the demands of the Brazilian women´s movement, especially by looking at negotiations at the IV United Nations Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.

Fabio Rezende Braga is a visitant scholar at the OU Center for Brazil Studies and a doctoral student in Human Rights at the Law School, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). He holds a Master's Degree in Social Environmental Law at PUC-PR (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná). His doctoral research addresses vulnerability and social justice in Law, looking at vulnerability as resistance from a broader construction of citizenship. The concept of vulnerability is innovative in the field of Law and brings theoretical elements that could help reshape the way the legal system looks at inequalities.

Ana Claudia Farranha - Visiting Scholar from March to September 2022. Graduated in Law (UFES -1991), Master in Political Science (UNICAMP - 1999), and Ph.D. in Social Sciences (UNICAMP - 2006). She is an Associate Professor at the Law School of the University of Brasília (UnB). Ana Claudia is also a professor at the Graduate Program in Law at UnB (PPGD) and a Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies in Government and Public Administration (CEAG/UnB).

Member of the Executive Committee of the Brazilian Network of Women Scientists (RBMC) and former director of the Brazilian Society of Public Administration (SBAP/2021). The main research topics are Public Policy Analysis; Rights of Access to Public Information, racial and discrimination issues; Law and Public Policy. She will develop the research project “Rights of access to public information in Brazil and the USA: an institutional context for black people”, with a grant from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAP/DF)

Elaine Licio is a Visiting Scholar for the Spring 2022 school year. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brasilia University (UNB, 2012), a MA in Public Affairs and Government from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (EAESP/FGV – 2002) and a BA of Laws from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC/SP - 1997), Brazil). 

Elaine has been a public policy and government management specialist in the Brazilian government since 2002 and is currently working at Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), Brazil. Her studies focus on social policies and intergovernmental relations. While at OU, she will conduct field research to understand United States welfare policies mobilized to face Covid-19 pandemic, especially those related to cash transfers. 

Marcelo Reis was the Visiting Scholar for the 2018-2019 academic school year. Marcelo’s academic history has been focused on studying international relations and law. Marcelo has earned Bachelor's degrees in international relations (University of Brasilia- 1998) and legal studies (Federal District University- 1999) as well as LLM degrees in International Law (Groningen University, the Netherlands-2002, UniCEUB-2005). 

While at OU, Marcelo conducted research in collaboration with local professors that resulted in the paper “Revisiting the Brazilian aversion to the state-investor clause: state capitalism and treaty-shopping” (title translated). He is now a PhD candidate in law at University Center of Brasília and works at the Special Secretariat for Foreign Trade and International Affairs at the Brazilian Ministry of the Economy.