Meredith Watts and Simone Ferro have been conducting research on Northeast Brazilian cultura popular for nearly decade. This blog is a continuing record of field notes and reflections beginning with their 2015 visit to the Bumba-meu-boi festival in Sao Luis (Maranhao). For earlier research see our websites at http://www.meredithwwatts.com (under “Brazil Research”) and http://www.simoneferro.com.
There are two research trips in 2015-2016. The first is a Study Abroad class of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to Salvador (Bahia), Sao Luis (Maranhao), and a brief stop in Rio de Janeiro. The second research trip is a longer visit to Sao Luis for most of the academic year 2015-2016 (roughly September to July) to do the last phase of research for a book on Northeast Brazilian festival culture.