Karyn Mota
Biography
Biography
Karyn Mota grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a Brazilian woman of color with African roots tracing back to Southern Bahia and lineage from the Amazon region, she takes pride in her Afro-Indigenous heritage.
A journalist, she is working on her Ph.D. dissertation entitled Unpacking the Pages: Symbolic Reparations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mota holds a master's in Africana studies and Portuguese and Brazilian studies from Brown through the Open Graduate Education program and also completed her master's in Communications from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio. Mota has served as a visiting research fellow at Brown, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Université Paris 8.
She has presented her work at academic conferences in Brazil, the U.S., Portugal, Israel, France, England and Greece. Her research interests include contemporary Brazilian literature and culture, Africana studies, Latin American and Caribbean studies, Communications and Digital Humanities.
Education Background
M.A. in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, Brown University (2022)
M.A. in Africana Studies, Brown University (2022)
M.A. in Communications, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio (2018)
B.A. in Communications, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio (2014)
Publications
Book Chapters
“Rewriting Clarice Lispector in the Digital Age.” After Clarice: Reading Lispector’s Legacy in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: Legenda, 2022
“Clarice Lispector na Era Digital: ‘Em todas as frases um clímax’”. El Arte de Pensar Sin Riesgos: Cien Años de Clarice Lispector. Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 2021
Selected Conference Presentations
2024 BRASA (Brazilian Studies Association) XVII International Conference, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. 3-6 April. “Representation of Black Masculinity in Conceição Evaristo's Canção Para Ninar Menino Grande.”
2024 MLA (Modern Language Association) Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA. 4-7 January. “A Portrait of Black Women as Slavery Actors.”
2023 XLIV Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana, Universidad Nacional Y Kapodistríaca de Atenas, Athens, Greece, 5-8 July. “’Mulher Negra: Um Retrato’ – Mulheres Negras como Atores Centrais na História da Escravidão da América Latina e do Caribe.”
2022 AILASA (Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia) Conference, Hosted virtually by Griffith University, 7-9 July. “Repairing the Legacy of Slavery through Contemporary Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Narratives: ‘There can be no atonement if there is no repair.’”
2022 BRASA (Brazilian Studies Association) XVI International Conference, Hosted virtually by Georgetown University, 10-12 March. “Contemporary Afro-Brazilian Literature and the Arts: Symbolic Reparations and the Rehumanization in Sylvia Wynter.”
Teaching
2024, Fall
Graduate Instructor of Record, Africana Studies, Brown University
AFRI0720: More Than Words: Contemporary Afro-Brazilian Fiction and Culture
Invited to develop an undergraduate seminar for the Department of Africana Studies focusing on Brazil's Black legacy through contemporary literature and cultural expressions. Using Black feminism to explore Brazil's national identity, the expansive curriculum includes fiction, graphic novels, film, music, and visual arts, alongside theoretical and critical readings.
2024, Spring
Graduate Instructor of Record, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
POBS1800G: Jogo Bonito: Soccer and Brazil
Coordinator, Clube da Escrita (Writing Center)
Writing Instruction, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
2023, Fall
Graduate Instructor of Record, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
POBS0400: Writing and Speaking Portuguese (team-taught)
Coordinator, Clube da Escrita (Writing Center)
Writing Instruction, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
2020-21
Graduate Instructor of Record, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
POBS0105: Accelerated Portuguese (team-taught 2 times)
Writing Fellow, Clube da Escrita (Writing Center)
Writing Instruction, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
2019-20
Graduate Instructor of Record, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
POBS0110: Intensive Portuguese (team-taught 2 times)
Writing Fellow, Clube da Escrita (Writing Center)
Writing Instruction, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Brown University
Awards
2024 Jon M. Tolman Award, XVII BRASA Congress
2023 Manning Graduate Fellowship VI, Endowed Fellowship, Brown University
2018 Judaic Studies Research Award, Brown University