The visiting professorship strengthens the focus of Brazil Studies at LAI. Named after the historian and literary critic Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, who formed an academic bridge between the humanities and social sciences, it emphasizes the interdisciplinary and international nature of LAI. Holanda worked with numerous scholars in Berlin during the early 1930s. The visiting chair is being funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), Freie Universität, and LAI.

The historian Jurandir Malerba of the prestigious Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), who was the first scholar appointed to the visiting chair, will teach and do research at LAI for two semesters beginning in April 2012. His work focuses on the history of Brazil in the 19th and 20th centuries, dealing in particular with the Brazilian intellectual history, the construction of nation and national identities, and the theory of history. He will be teaching courses in the master’s program "Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies" as well as undergraduate modules offered in "Portuguese-Brazilian Studies."

The focus of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the ADLAF Brazil Working Group is on "Brazil - Land of the Present." Interest in Brazil as a focus of research has grown considerably in recent years in Germany. However, existing analyzes show that Latin American Studies in Germany do not do justice to the global importance of the economy, politics, and culture of Brazil. At the meeting the most promising prospects and remaining challenges in Brazil will be analyzed in lectures and discussions. The public meeting will be held in German, English, and Portuguese.