Some students may pass by the flag of Brazil that hangs on a Donarumma office door without a second thought, but this flag represents national pride to the professor inside the office.
Brazilian Marcos Pedlowski, Ph.D., is serving as an economics professor at Fairfield this academic year. He is a Fulbright Scholar that the university is sponsoring.
In Brazil, Pedlowski works as an associate professor at the Northern Fluminense State University (UNEF).
UNEF and another university in Brazil joined Fairfield and Washington and Lee University in Virginia on an international exchange.
“It’s more difficult for me to teach in Brazil, since I trained in the United States at Virginia Tech,” said Pedlowski.
Because of this program, many students from Fairfield have had the opportunity to study abroad in Brazil.
Meghan Collins ’07 recently returned from the Study Abroad program in Brazil.
“It’s great that Fairfield is trying to give students the opportunity to link the United States and an important developing country, like Brazil, through the exchange program and sponsoring teachers to come here to teach for a year,” she said.
This program is also what inspired Fairfield to sponsor Pedlowski.
Katherine Kidd, a former Fairfield faculty member, said she heard about Pedlowski’s expert research in the Amazon and thought he would a perfect candidate for Fairfield.
Fairfield then applied to have Pedlowski as a scholar in residence.
In the fall, Pedlowski co-taught a class, Global Environmental Regimes, with Dina Franceshi of the economics department.
Pedlowski said he enjoys teaching theoretical courses because they don’t require correct answers.
“They’re all about how well you can argue,” Pedlowski said. “Actually, I get a lot out of the courses because the students have given lots of thoughts.”
Franceshi said Pedlowski brought a different dynamic to the class.
“He could offer an international perspective from a developing world,” Franceshi said.
Students agreed.
“What makes him stand out is the fact that not only did he speak about specific topics which we were covering in class, but he also gave great advice on lots of other things, including life in general,” said Melissa Lopes ’07, a former student of Pedlowski. “He is a very knowledgable man with a lot of expertise on almost every subject.”
Brian Lynch ’07, a Mirror staff writer and former student of Pedlowski’s, agreed.
“When I think of what I learned at Fairfield, he will definitely stand out among the rest, because he was there for the same reason we stayed in the class,” Lynch said. “To learn.”
Global Environmental Regimes also stood out for students because it had people from the Institute of Retired Professionals.
“Having Marcos in the class was great because they benefited a lot from his input especially since he had a different perspective,” said Anne Spencer, an IRP student.
Franceshi said one of the benefits of co-teaching is that students get to experience something different than “the norm.”
“Co-teaching allows students to get the chance to see several boring professors at the same time,” Pedlowski said.
This semester Pedlowski is co-teaching “Land Reform and Social Justice in Latin America” with Edward Dew of the politics department. He is also teaching “Applied Field Research.”
Pedlowski has plans to research and lecture in Colorado, Michigan, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua before the end of his time in the United States in May.
He is excited to return to teaching in Brazil and perhaps start some interesting projects with his own plot of rainforest in Parana, Brazil.
Although he is excited to return to Brazil, he will take back many insights he gained through his experience teaching in the United States.
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