Secretaria de Relações Internacionais | Office of International Relations

“75th NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo” booths.

The 75th NAFSA (Association of International Educators) Annual Conference & Expo was held between 30 May and 2 June 2023 in Washington, DC, USA.

NAFSA is one of the world´s most important associations dedicated to international education and exchange, with more than 10,000 members and international educators from over 3,500 institutions in more than 160 countries.

Each year, NAFSA holds the Annual Conference & Expo, which allows for interaction and networking among more than 400 institutions involved in higher education from around the world.

This year’s theme – “Inspiring an Inclusive Future” – included discussions on the internationalization of higher education from a more inclusive perspective. Among the speakers there were Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad and writer and activist Baratunde Thurston.

Leaders of 29 HEIs from Brazil on the booth Study and Research in Brazil – 75th NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo

The Director of International Relations, Dr. Fernanda Leal, represented UFSC at the booth “Study and Reseach in Brazil”, which was divided among 29 Brazilian institutions. The participation in the Conference was made possible thanks to the partnership between the Higher Education Secretariat (Sesu) of the Ministry of Education (MEC); the Brazilian Embassy in Washington / Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE); and two associations of which UFSC is a member: Brazilian Association of International Education (Faubai) and the Coimbra Group of Brazilian Universities (GCUB).

Representatives of MEC and the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C. in the Brazilian booth

For our Director, Fernanda, “The event was a great opportunity for UFSC to strengthen existing international partnerships and create others. Over the four days of the event, we held meetings with universities from several countries such as Canada, Spain, the United States, Lithuania, Portugal, France, Mexico, Romania, India and Indonesia. Based on the dialogues established, we are negotiating the formalization of international cooperation agreements and other partnerships that involve projects such as Erasmus+, from the European Union, and the Virtual Exchange. The Brazilian booth, enabled by the joint efforts of important agents of higher education in the country, was a milestone of the resumption of Brazil and Brazilian universities in the international higher education scenario. For the Brazilian context, the theme of the event, “Inspiring an inclusive future”, can be interpreted as a call for the development of more active and cooperative perspectives of internationalization in the country, whether at the governmental or institutional level. In addition to the meetings, we had the opportunity to actively participate in the Latin America and Caribbean Forum during the Conference, moderating one of the working tables. The Forum addressed issues such as the deconstruction of stereotypes of Latin America, the quality of the institutions and the internationalization initiatives existing in the region, and it was an opportunity to demystify a bit of Latin American higher education for the international community, with a view to encouraging international cooperation”.