University of Arizona Faculty Awards 2026

Antonio José Bacelar da Silva, Professor, School of Global Studies, and Arthur Ituassu, Professor, Department of Communication, PUC-Rio (Brazil)

Antonio José Bacelar da Silva, professor in the School of Global Studies, and Arthur Ituassu, professor in the Department of Communication, PUC-Rio, have developed an innovative model of international collaboration that connects students across borders through shared teaching and research. Their partnership between the University of Arizona and PUC-Rio culminated in the co-taught course Digital Media and Democracy in Latin America, which brought together graduate and undergraduate students from Arizona and Brazil to examine digital media, populism, and democratic governance through collaborative, project-based research.

A defining outcome of the course was the co-edited volume The Digital Radical Right in Latin America (2018–2023): Bolsonaro, Bukele, Kast, Hernández, and Milei, published through Editora PUC-Rio in partnership with the Center for Latin American Studies. Students served as co-authors and participated in every stage of the publication process, from research and analysis to manuscript development and revision.

“Their collaboration puts into practice a model of global exchange that is deeply integrative, equitable, and intellectually rigorous,” wrote Marcela Vásquez-León, director of the Center for Latin American Studies. 

By incorporating international engagement directly into teaching and research, Silva and Ituassu have expanded opportunities for students to participate in global scholarship regardless of their ability to study abroad.