Important Dates
International Candidates
Deadline applications: January 28, 2026 Results: February 20
Deadline for confirming participation and submitting new documents:
February 28, 2026.
National Candidates:
Deadline applications: January 28, 2026 Results: February 28
Deadline for confirming participation and submitting new documents:
March 10, 2026.
Everyone:
25/05/26 Online meeting of 1h30 with students to get to know each other and address questions
10/06/26 Deadline for submitting posters for discussion during the School
20/06/26 Posting of information on the website:
- 1) Proposals for cultural visits and educational institutions in São Paulo related to the course themes;
- 2) Document with information on transportation in the city;
- 3) Map with the main locations on the USP campus, including the Carolina Bori Auditorium, restaurants and prices, administration office, libraries;
- 4) School satisfaction form to be considered during the course for later completion.
25/06/26 Second online meeting of 1h30 with students before the course for final questions.
25/07 to 5/08/26 School.
15/08/26 Deadline: submission of student evaluations of the School.
10/04/27 Publication of the book.
Intro
Contemporary societies are facing a convergence of crises: mass forced displacements, war resurgence, environmental collapse, growing social inequalities, and the erosion of fundamental rights, alongside the rise of authoritarian regimes. These interconnected crises reshape forms of life, subjectivities, and possibilities for resistance. At the core of these processes, enduring colonial logics continue to structure global economies, political systems, and knowledge regimes.
It is within this ethical, political, and scientific urgency that the São Paulo School of Advanced Science on Immigration, Environmental Violence and Colonialism: Strategies and Policies for Current Dynamics of Expulsion and Resistance is established. Organized by the Laboratory of Psychoanalysis, Society and Politics (PSOPOL) at the Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo (IP-USP) and funded by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation), with institutional support from the USP Agency for National and International Academic Cooperation (AUCANI), this School aims to foster critical training and collective knowledge production on some of the most urgent challenges of our time.
The SPSAS is more than a thematic course — it is an interdisciplinary laboratory involving sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, psychoanalysis, education, environmental studies, and related fields. The School is grounded in the construction of solidary epistemologies and the pursuit of epistemic equity, recognizing the value of plural knowledge and experiences — especially those historically silenced.
Thematic Axes
Immigration will be explored not only as a geographic displacement but as a subjective and political experience marked by dehumanization and resistance.
Environmental Violence will be addressed as a product of colonial and capitalist logics, highlighting Indigenous cosmologies and proposals for ecological transition and climate justice.
Colonialism is approached as an ongoing structure that permeates economic hierarchies, racial regimes, and knowledge systems. It serves as the transversal axis of the School.
Course format
Each morning will feature a two-hour lecture by a guest professor, followed by a Q&A session. Afternoon roundtables will bring together faculty around critical questions posed by the speaker of the day, challenging the limits of their disciplines considering the course’s themes. These discussions will be recorded and transcribed for later publication.
Participants will present their ongoing research projects in poster sessions and will be encouraged to develop collective projects during the course, supported by structured mentoring sessions and by direct and continuous interaction with the course professors. These collaborative processes aim to extend beyond the event itself, fostering lasting academic partnerships and publications.
The provisional program of the course is available on the website, and additional guest participants, bibliography and a range of carefully curated cultural activities will be announced soon. The School will be conducted in English.
Program
Application Process
Candidates must be nominated by either their Academic Advisor or the Exchange Coordinator/Study Abroad Advisor from their home university.
Please follow the instructions below to nominate your candidates.
NOTE: Candidates are not allowed to nominate themselves. They may only complete the application after being nominated.
- Click here and fill out the ACCESS SYSTEM REQUEST FORM;
- Use the link received by email to log in to the nomination platform with the password provided in the message;
- Once you have access to the platform, follow the instructions starting from Step 4 below.
- Click here
- Enter the email address registered in the Mundus System;
- Access the link received and log in to the nomination platform using the access code provided;
- Once logged in, click on “Add new student” and fill in the following information:
- Full name;
- Gender;
- Major at home university;
- Student email;
- Modality (choose “short-term stay”)
- Start semester (choose “2nd semester 2026” (July to December)
- Important: in the field “Linked to Exchange Network/Program?”, select “YES” to enable the list of programs;
- Under “Exchange Program”, select "São Paulo School of Advanced Science on Immigration, Environmental Violence and Colonialism: Strategies and Policies for Current Dynamics of Expulsion and Resistance";
- After submitting the nomination, your student will receive an email with a link to complete their application.
- After being nominated by your home institution, access the Mundus System through the link received in your personal email (the same address provided by your university during nomination);
- Complete your application by filling in the required information;
- Upload the requested documents (in English or Portuguese):
- Passport (for international candidates)/National ID (for Brazilian candidates);
- Recent personal photo;
- FAPESP model CV or a concise academic CV (up to 5 pages), highlighting relevant scientific activities (including publications in high-impact international journals)
- Updated academic transcript;
- Letter of recommendation from the applicant’s academic advisor;
- Motivation letter including:
- Why the applicant wishes to participate in the School (it is recommended that the applicant describe their situation regarding the selection criteria listed below);
- A two-page summary of their current research, indicating intersections with the School’s themes.
- Proof of English proficiency: certificates or other documents (e.g., institutional letters, transcripts, publications in English, or course completion certificates) indicating the applicant’s English language level. Minimum level: equivalent to B1. It is recommended that participants have sufficient proficiency to take part in all proposed activities.
- Submit your application;
- Wait for a response from the course team regarding your selection.
Candidates selection criteria
The selection committee will evaluate applicants based on the following criteria:
- the alignment between the applicant’s academic profile and the themes of the course;
- the quality of the motivation letter, considering the clarity of the applicant’s personal, academic, and professional goals related to the event, as well as the quality of the research project;
- the academic trajectory, including educational background, participation in research groups, intellectual production, and engagement in relevant activities;
- regional diversity (25 students from the state of São Paulo; 25 from other Brazilian states; 25 international students from the Global North; and 25 from the Global South);
- among the selected participants, 10 places (5 national and 5 international) will be reserved for students enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs;
- equity regarding race, gender, and social background, with special attention to candidates from public institutions and those with limited access to international opportunities.
- Should it not be possible to fill all available positions based on the combination of the criteria above, the remaining spots will be allocated to the available candidates
- All applicants with any student affiliation to the university will be considered, but priority will be given to students who are currently conducting ongoing research
Faculty Minibio
Professor Carlos Nobre
Carlos Afonso Nobre, co-author of the Fourth IPCC Report—awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize—is a member of several major scientific academies. A full professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA-USP), he is an electronic engineer (ITA) and a Brazilian climatologist of international renown. He holds a PhD in Meteorology from MIT, served as a researcher at INPA and INPE, founded CEMADEN, and has held key positions in scientific leadership, including President of the Brazilian Panel on Climate Change and Director of CPTEC-INPE. He is Co-Chair of the Science Panel for the Amazon and leads the Amazonia 4.0 Project, which promotes a sustainable bioeconomy by integrating science, technology, and traditional/local knowledge. He was also a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Scientific Advisory Panel on Global Sustainability.
Professor Shose Kessi (South Africa)
Shose Kessi is Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cape Town and Professor in the Department of Psychology. Her work in the field of political psychology explores the complex ways in which individuals construct their identities and shape their behaviours within society, and how they join forces to drive change—whether through institutional reforms, social movements, or other forms of individual and collective action. She is co-founder of the Hub for Decolonial Feminist Psychologies in Africa, a space for research and academic work that embraces a decolonial and feminist aesthetic and praxis for psychological work in South Africa, Africa, and the diaspora. She is also the co-founder and first chairperson of the UCT Black Academic Caucus. Shose has published on the psychology of racism in higher education and other decolonial and African-centered approaches to psychology.
Professor Gabriel Feltran (France-Brazil)
Professor of Research at the CNRS, affiliated with the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) at Sciences Po. Visiting Researcher at Oxford University and Goldsmiths College (2019); Visiting Professor at Humboldt University (KOSMOS Fellow, 2017) and at CIESAS, Mexico (2015). Author of the books Stolen Cars: A Journey Through São Paulo’s Urban Conflict (Wiley SUSC Series, 2022), The Entangled City: Crime as Urban Fabric in São Paulo (Manchester University Press, 2020), and of the documentary series PCC: The Secret Power (HBO Max, 2022), which adapts his Portuguese-language book Irmãos: uma história do PCC (2018).
Professor Petronilha Beatriz Gonçalves e Silva (Brazil)
Petronilha B. Gonçalves e Silva is Emeritus Professor at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), where she is a Senior Professor in the Department of Theories and Pedagogical Practices and a founding member of the Afro-Brazilian Studies Center (NEAB). She served on Brazil’s National Education Council and was the rapporteur for the 2004 National Curriculum Guidelines on Education for Racial-Ethnic Relations and the Teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African History (CNE/CP 1/2004). Her work focuses on education, racial-ethnic relations, curriculum policy and human rights; in 2011 she was admitted to Brazil’s National Order of Merit.
Prof. Sean Jacobs (USA)
Sean Jacobs is Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in International Affairs at The New School in New York. He founded and edited (2009 - 2023) Africa Is a Country. Previously, he was on the African-American and Communication Studies faculties of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Sean has held fellowships at New York University and Harvard University and was a Fulbright and Commonwealth Scholar. Sean was born and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, where he later worked as a journalist and as a political researcher.
Professor Francesco Callegaro (Argentine-France)
PhD in Political Studies from CESPRA (EHESS), Paris. Foreign correspondent for the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for the Study of Reflexivities (LIER-FYT, EHESS), and professor at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM, Buenos Aires, Argentina), where he teaches political philosophy and sociology at the Interdisciplinary School of Advanced Social Studies, and conceptual history and psychoanalysis at the School of Humanities. His research project seeks to renew political philosophy through engagement with the social sciences, clarifying their conceptual and normative implications for a deeper understanding and critique of modernity. In recent years, he has complemented his theoretical work with political involvement at the National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy (INAES) and in collaboration with social movements linked to the popular economy, co-founding, with Alexandre Roig, the Laboratory for Research on Movements, State and Society (LIMES, UNSAM).
Professor Roberto Beneduce (Italy)
Roberto Beneduce is Full Professor of Cultural/Medical Anthropology in the Department of Culture, Politics & Society at the University of Turin. A psychiatrist and anthropologist, he founded the Frantz Fanon Center in Turin, a service dedicated to clinical, psychosocial and research work with migrants, refugees and victims of torture. At UniTo he leads courses in medical and psychological anthropology, with research spanning ethnopsychiatry, memory, violence and migration.
Professor Miriam Debieux Rosa (Brazil)
Full Professor at the Department and Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo (USP). She coordinates the Laboratory “Psychoanalysis, Society and Politics” (PSOPOL/IPUSP) and the research group Veredas: Psychoanalysis and Immigration (PSOPOL/IPUSP). Deputy Vice-Rector for Inclusion and Belonging at the University of São Paulo (2022–2026). She has been a CNPq productivity fellow and is currently developing the project Toward a Mental Health Policy in the University: The Socio-Political Suffering of Young People in the University (2024–2027). Member of the ANPEPP Working Group Psychoanalysis: Politics and Culture. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7 (France), funded by CNPq – Brazil (September 2015 to July 2016), on the theme of violence and immigration. Former President of the Inter-American Network of Psychoanalysis and Politics (REDIPPOL, 2018–2022) and current researcher in the International Network Coletivo Amarrações: Politics with Adolescents.
Professor Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky (France)
Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky is University Professor of Anthropology (India) at INALCO in Paris and a statutory researcher at CESSMA (UMR 245, Paris Cité/INALCO/IRD). A clinical psychologist, she practices at the Psychopathology service of Avicenne Hospital (AP-HP). She has served as Vice-Chair of INALCO’s Scientific Council and directs the University Diploma “Hospitality, Mediations, Migrations” (DU H2M). Her research and teaching address social exclusion and migration, particularly in India and Brazil, and migrants’ mental health.
Academics that are finishing their courses are able to subscribe themselves?
Yes. Even if the student has already graduated from a university by the time the course takes place, they are eligible to apply.
I don't have proof of English proficiency, what should I do?
We do not require specific documentation; however, we recommend a B1 level so the student can fully understand the course material. Acceptable proof includes certificates from English courses, proficiency tests like TOEFL or IELTS, or a scientific article written in English, for example.
How do postdoctoral researchers apply?
The applicant must be nominated by a professor affiliated with an institution. If there are any issues with the nomination, please contact us by e-mail.
I have been accepted into a graduate program (Master's, PhD, or Post-doc), can I apply for the course?
Yes, we accept applications from those who have been accepted but have not yet started their program.
I received a “process is closed” message, what should I do?
This is likely because the “short term” option was not selected during the application process.
Will interpretation be provided?
Unfortunately, we were unable to secure funding for interpretation services. Therefore, we recommend that students have a sufficient level of English to understand and interact during the course.
Is a residency considered a postgraduate degree?
Yes, it is classified as a lato sensu postgraduate degree (specialization) in the curriculum.
Will the event be streamed live online?
The event will not be streamed, and recordings will not be made available to the general public at this time.
If you have any questions, please get in touch by filling out the form below
Organizing & Scientific Committee
Organized by:
Funded by:
In collaboration with:
