Rio de Janeiro
Aerial panorama of Botafogo Bay and Sugar Loaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Image credit: marchello74 / Shutterstock.com

New Global South Visiting Professor appointed

Marcio Goldman, Professor in Social Anthropology at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, has been appointed as the latest Global South Visiting Professor at TORCH (The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities). 

Professor Goldman specialises in ethnographic research on Afro-Brazilian religions, popular culture and theories of democracy. He is the author of How Democracy Works: An Ethnographic Theory of Politics (2013).

The Global South Visiting Professorship, which sits in TORCH, is part of a wider aim to diversify the curriculum in Oxford's humanities departments. The scheme is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and is part of TORCH's 'Humanities & Identities' series.

Professor Goldman said: 'I am looking forward to joining the Oxford academic community and working with Ramon Sarro and Elizabeth Ewart from Oxford's School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography. I am grateful for the opportunity to be included in conversations on curriculum diversification and look forward to sharing my research and experiences with students, academics and staff.'

Ramon Sarro, Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of Africa, is sponsoring Professor Goldman's term at the University. He said: 'I am pleased to see Professor Goldman join us here in Oxford. He is one of the leading voices in Brazilian anthropology and his research and expertise will be invaluable at this pivotal time in the University's diversification efforts.'

Through the Visiting Professor scheme, academics from countries in the Global South (including, but not limited to, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Malaysia, Philippines, Mauritius, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and across Southern Africa and the Caribbean) are hosted by a University of Oxford academic for one term.

The TORCH Global South Visiting Professorships also provide role models and increase awareness around diversity and inclusiveness across the wider University. The scheme builds on and reinforces existing links between Oxford (including TORCH), Mellon and universities in the Global South.

Professor Goldman will be based at Oxford's School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography during Trinity Term 2018.