acknowledgements

The Illinois Portuguese Language Connection is a collaborative initiative between three of the largest universities in the state of Illinois: Northwestern University, The University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2017, this cultural project received the "Best educational initiative in the United States" award from the Association of Teachers of Portuguese- AOTP, the largest association of Portuguese teachers in the United States.

After crossing a challenging period, due to the global pandemic of Covid, we are returning to face-to-face meetings with the aim of combining our forces to celebrate the diversity and wonders of Brazil, this Country of continental dimensions that serves as an element of integration to our group.

The event focuses on creating opportunities for cultural enrichment to college students of Portuguese attending one the participating institutions. Students are the main reason for our event. It is their desire to connect, to learn more about the language and culture of Brazil, and to satisfy their academic curiosities that motivates us to prepare, with all dedication and care, a variety of activities to bring a little bit of this Brazil to Illinois.

To transform this event into the great success it represents nationally, we rely on the work of many partners and volunteers, both from inside and outside our universities, who support our initiative both with material contributions and giving academic support. Among these partners, we want to make the following acknowledgement:

Incobrasa Industries Ltd

Consulate General of Brazil in Chicago

Luso-Brazilian Association of Students of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign

Department of Spanish and Portuguese of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Center of the European Union of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign

Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University

Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Northwestern University

Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Chicago

The University of Chicago College

Center for Latin American Studies, University of Chicago

A special thank you to all those who, despite not have been able to attend the event or been explicitly mentioned, have contributed, for almost a decade, to the success of our initiative.

All the best,

Raquel (Host), Ana Clotilde (co-host) and Ana Lima (co-host)