Mila Suzano Fernandes Lima is a graduate student in the PhD program in Latin American Studies at the Stone Center at Tulane University. She holds a Licentiate in Arts degree with a major in Portuguese and English, which was completed in Centro Universitário Fundação São José in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she was born and lived for most of her life. With a solid foundation in the studies of languages, education, and literature, she was led to the studies of Brazilian poetry, which was carried out through fields such as comparative literature and music. After completing her postgraduate studies in linguistics and working as an educator in Brazil for several years, Mila had the opportunity to dedicate her studies to music by completing her Master of Arts degree in Music, with an emphasis on Vocal Performance, at the Greatbatch School of Music at Houghton University. Besides working as the Teacher Assistant in the Music History and Lyric Theatre classes, she was granted a scholarship that allowed her to further her research in Brazilian popular music intersected with religion, feminist, and political studies, as well as to perform Brazilian music.

Nicolas Barnum is from Birmingham, Alabama. He received his B.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies from Rhodes College and his M.A. in Latin American Studies from Tulane University. He is currently a Ph.D student in Latin American Studies at Tulane University where his research focuses on contemporary issues of language revitalization and policy in Mesoamerica with a particular emphasis on Mayan languages. He also researches Mesoamerican writing systems and the early Colonial history of New Spain through the lens of decolonization.