Summer in Brazil

Brazilian Portuguese Language and Society  

São Paulo, Brazil 

Four-Week Program: June 9 – July 5, 2026 
Six-Week Program: June 9 – July 19, 2026 
 
Application Deadline: Friday, February 6, 2026 

Funding Deadline: February 6, 2026 (Stone Center Summer Intensive Language Study). 

APPLY NOW

Non-Tulane Students should inquire about funding through their home universities. Note that six-week program meets all requirements for FLAS Eligibility.

Tulane students can apply to internal Tulane Summer Intensive Language Study funding to offset the cost of study with either program. More information is available on the Graduate and/or Undergraduate Resources pages.
NOTE: Program and funding require SEPARATE applications.

Please contact sclassum@tulane.edu with any questions about the program or application process. If we cannot answer your question directly, we will forward it to the appropriate member of our faculty or staff.

Sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx studies at Vanderbilt, program caters to graduate and undergraduate students who wish to elevate their Portuguese fluency through immersion in Brazilian language and culture. With language classes at the intermediate and advanced levels, it allows students to study with experienced faculty while living in shared apartments with local roommates in the São Paulo neighborhood of Perdizes.  

Participants enroll in Tulane credit-bearing courses organized in conjunction with our partner institution CET. They engage with Portuguese language through art, film, and literature while developing a deeper understanding of the current cultural, social, and political landscape of São Paulo.  

Outside of the classroom, participants explore São Paulo and its surroundings through organized excursions to museums, landmarks, and historic sites, and set off on personal adventures with friends and classmates.  

With a population of more than 20 million people, São Paulo is the largest metropolitan area in the Southern Hemisphere and the most important industrial center in Latin America. Though founded in 1554 by Jesuit missionaries (on the anniversary of the conversion of St. Paul, from whom the city takes its name), the city truly blossomed in the late 1900s when coffee became a major Brazilian export. By the middle of the twentieth century, the city had overtaken Rio de Janeiro in population and GDP, and it remains an economic powerhouse and an international leader in industries from heavy manufacturing to technology to international banking and global trade. The economy has given rise to a dynamic, multicultural population with immigrants from all over the world. For example, though the largest percentages of the population identify as of Portuguese, Italian, or African descent, the city is also home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.  

The diversity of the population leads to a vibrant, eclectic social and cultural scene. Especially since the early 2000s, the city has invested in energizing its streets and neighborhoods, which now boast an array of trendy restaurants, bars, and clubs. Thanks to the Clean City Law restricting outdoor advertising, one can appreciate both the city’s innovative architecture and the explosion of street murals that have cropped up to replace the signage. For more than a century, São Paulo has been a leading city for the fine arts: It boasts globally renowned centers like the São Paulo Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, and Municipal Theatre, as well as a wealth of smaller galleries and venues. The town also has much to offer sports fans: it is home to four major soccer teams alone and has major centers for swimming, tennis, volleyball, basketball, and auto racing. Add to this the special events like the Parada do Orgulho Gay, the largest gay pride parade in the world, and there is always something exciting to do or see.  

The city’s temperate climate makes it easy to enjoy all it has to offer. Though transected by the Tropic of Capricorn, the city, which is known as the “Cidade de Garoa,” or the city of drizzle, enjoys moderate temperatures because of its situation on a plateau in the Brazilian highlands. Average temperatures range between 58 degrees during the winter and 69 degrees during the hottest summer months.