Brazil-Ireland Relations and the Irish Studies Centre at UFSC: Cultural Diplomacy and Sustainable Activity

Abstract

In 2026, Núcleo de Estudos Irlandeses (NEI) – the Irish Studies Centre – at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) will celebrate 10 years of sustainable academic and cultural activity in the field of Irish Studies. That this sustainability has in part been made possible by the partnership with Irish diplomacy in Brazil makes this commemoration of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Brazil and Ireland resonate in a very particular way for NEI. This article highlights the activities of NEI, and the cultural diplomacy exercised by the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland in support of and in interaction with it. Founded in 2016, NEI aims to explore the literature, theatre and culture of Ireland in continuous dialogue with Brazil. It achieves this by two main means: (1) courses taught at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in its Department of Foreign Languages ​​and Literature (DLLE), and in its Postgraduate Programmes in English (PPGI) and Translation Studies (PGET); and (2) organization of monthly meetings, academic events, artistic productions, publications and mobility of professors, researchers, students, writers and artists from Brazil, Ireland, and other countries in the global Irish Studies community. This strong, continuous and wide-ranging interaction fosters and strengthens the internationalization of Brazilian universities, and the dissemination of Irish literature, history and culture in Brazil.