At Rose Cafe last Wednesday, Professor Simoes, an Agricultural Economist at the Mato Grosso do Sul State University interested in farm management and economic issues that affect Brazil, came to lead a discussion about his work. Although Professor Simoes did not end up discussing his research and academic pursuits very much, we still had a very enjoyable and informal discussion about Brazilian culture and society. To start, Professor Simoes pulled up Google Maps to remind us that Brazil’s geography is not just one big rainforest/tropical, as movies and popular conception would encourage you to believe, but consists of several geographically-distinct regions. Professor Simone’s also spoke in depth about his upbringing in Brazil and the education system. It is interesting to note how Brazil’s education system differs from ours, for example, state universities are considered most prestigious because they attract the top faculty, whereas here generally private universities tend to attract top faculty.

Another fact is that Brazilian society suffers from high income inequality. Long ago, I learned that the Gini index is a widely used measure to evaluate the degree of income inequality in a country, with 0 meaning perfect equality and 100 perfect inequality- the United States has a Gini index of around 45, representative of fairly high income inequality. After the talk, I was surprised to look up and find that Brazil is ranked 19 based on the Gini index in the World Facebook. I immediately thought about the negative press surrounding the Rio Olympics, how the city’s poor were forcibly displaced to make room for new Olympic venues, and the staggering inequality hiding beneath the billions spent for the show. As an emerging county, Brazil faces the challenge of countering corruption and balancing sustainable growth against increasing income inequality.

As a Rose Scholar, I always look forward to hearing the unique experiences and stories of our Rose Cafe visitors, hailing from countries all across the world. I feel lucky to share in this conversation, it is a humbling reminder of the great diversity of experiences we hold as an institution and as a much smaller residential community.