Rafael Ioris

Rafael R. Ioris

Professor

What I do

I am Professor of Latin American History and Politics at the University of Denver and author of books, book chapters and numerous articles in Brazilian and international periodicals dealing with the history of themes linked to the Brazilian and Latin American development process, Brazilian foreign policy and Brazil-USA relations. Currently, my main research is focused on Modern Brazilian Political, Diplomatic, Cultural and Intellectual Histories.

Specialization(s)

Latin American Modern History, Cold War History, Latin American Politics, Brazilian History, Brazilian Politics, Development Studies.

Professional Biography

I am a Professor of Latin American History and Politics and an Affiliated Faculty at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. I am also an affiliated faculty at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and a Research Fellow at the Washington Brazil Office, at the Institute of Studies on the United States in Brazil, at the Cold War Study Group and at Research Committee of the National Truth Commission at the Institute of International Studies at the University of São Paulo.

I am the author of several articles, books, and book chapters on the history of development in Brazil and other parts of Latin America and on the course of US-Latin American relations, particularly during the Cold War. Namely, I have authored Qual Desenvolvimento? Os Debates, Sentidos e Lições da Era Desenvolvimentista. (Paco Editorial, 2017), Transforming Brazil: A History of National Development in the Postwar Era (Routledge, 2014), and Culturas em Choque: a Globalização e os Desafios para a Convivência Multicultural. (Annablume, 2007). I have also co-authored and co-edited Frontiers of Development in the Amazon: Riches, Risks, and Resistances. (Lexington Book, 2020) and of Amazonia no Seculo XXI: Trajetorias, Dilemas e Perspectivas (Alameda, 2022). I am also a regular contributor to multiple media outlets in Brazil and the United States on topics on US-Latin American/Brazilian relations, Brazilian foreign policy, and US politics.

My research agenda speaks to a larger intellectual agenda dealing with the dissemination of industrial projects in late-developing societies. I am presently working on the history of US-based developmental ideologies and multilateral developmental programs implemented in Latin America in the second half of the twentieth century. Closely associated with my research interests, my pedagogical philosophy seeks to answer some of the big questions involved in the broad patterns of development undergone by late-coming societies. My teaching experiences span into different fields and settings and I have taught both in Brazil, the United States, France and China.

The list of courses I regularly teach includes colonial and modern Latin American survey history courses, an introduction to Latin American studies through movies, a comparative history of Latin American development, the Making of Modern Brazil, Cities in Latin America, and U.S-Latin American relations. I also regularly teach a graduate course with a colleague at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies on the Global Emergence of Brazil as study-abroad summer course in Rio de Janeiro.

I have been the recipient of various prestigious research funds, such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the French Foreign Ministry, the National Research Council of Brazil, the Research Foundation of the state of Sao Paulo, the UNC-Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Rockefeller Archive Center. I have presented my work in various important universities across the world, such as Brown University, University of Cardiff, El Colegio de Mexico, Universidad de Los Andes, the University of Paris, the University of Bordeaux, the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Fluminense Federal University (UFF), the University of Brasilia (UnB), and the University of Sao Paulo (USP), where I was a Visiting Professor at the Institute of International Relations (IRI).

I have also been an Invited Visiting Professor at the Graduate Program of the Institute d'Hautes Etudes en Amerique Latine at the Sorbonne University, in Paris, as well as at the Graduate Program in International Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, in Beijing, and at the Graduate Program on Law and Politics at the University of Bordeaux.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Latin American History, Emory University, 2009
  • MA, International Relations, University of Brasilia, 1998
  • BA, Social Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, 1994

Professional Affiliations

  • Latin American Studies Association
  • INCT/INEU Instituto de Estudos dos Estados Unidos
  • Brazilian Studies Association

Research

During the 1960s and 70s, Brazil underwent an accelerated process of transforming its economic, political and cultural spheres. Many of these experiences unfolded under the aegis of updating its material and ideational spheres along clear Capitalist lines, wherein the United States was seen both as a model to be emulated as well as an unreliable partner whose policies and traditions were not applicable to the Brazilian realities. This investigation seeks to examine how different projects of development and narratives surrounding them impacted and were conversely impacted by the context of interactions between historical characters in both countries at the height of Cold War in Latin America.

Featured Publications

Ioris, Rafael. “¿Capitalismo Para Quién? Las Relaciones Entre Ee, Uu, Y Brasil En El Curso De La Modernización De América Latina En La Guerra Fría.” In El Americano Imposible: Estados Unidos Y América Latina--Entre Modernización Y Contrainsurgencia. edited by Francisco Rodriguez-Jimenez, Lorenzo Delgado Gomez Escalonilla, and Benedetta Calandra. 132-162 Madrid, Spain: Silex Ediciones. 2024.
Amazonia No Seculo Xxi: Trajetorias, Dilemas E Perspectivas. Edited by Antonio Augusto Rossoto Ioris and Rafael R. Ioris. Sao Paulo, Brazil: Alameda. 2022.
Rossotto Ioris, Rafael. Qual Desenvolvimento? Os Debates, Sentidos E Lições Da Era Desenvolvimentista. São Paulo: Paco Editorial. 2017.
Rossotto Ioris, Rafael. Transforming Brazil: A History Of National Development In The Postwar Era. New York, USA: Routledge. 2014.
Rossotto Ioris, Rafael, and Antonio Rossotto Ioris. Frontiers Of Development In The Amazon: Riches, Risks, Resistances. Edited by Antonio Augusto Rossotto Ioris, Rafael Rossotto Ioris, and Sergei V Shubin. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. 2020.
Rossotto Ioris, Rafael, and Antonio R Ioris. “The Brazilian Developmentalist State In Historical Perspective: Revisiting The 1950S In Light Of Today's Challenges.” Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research 19, no. 1, (2013): 133-148.

Awards

  • 2021 Rocky Mountain Conference on Latin American Studies Edwin Leiuwen Teaching Award, Rocky Mountain Conference on Latin American Studies
  • 2022 Faculty Career Champion, University of Denver
  • 2016-17 Friends of the Princeton University Library Research Grants, Princetion University Libraries
  • Annual Provost Scholarship Awards, University of Denver
  • Institute of Advanced Studies on Latin America, Sorbonne University