Catalytic Communities Online Lectures 2021

About the Talks

Since 2010, Catalytic Communities (CatComm) Founder and Executive Director, Theresa Williamson, Ph.D, has given lectures at universities across the world on a range of topics related to favelas and issues of sustainable urban development in Rio de Janeiro. This is one of the ways that we disseminate information, support research efforts and build awareness of important issues affecting Rio’s favelas. Honoraria from these talks are also key to guaranteeing CatComm’s efforts on the ground—100% of proceeds are fed into our activities in support of Rio’s favela organizers.

Williamson is available for three online options: a one-hour lecture + Q&A, a two-hour workshop, or a six-hour package. The six-hour package is planned by her university hosts and can include a mix of classroom talks (in English or Portuguese), workshop, chat with study abroad programs, student groups and researchers—whatever fits the schedule. There is also an option to show our award-winning 2012 film, Favela as a Sustainable Model, or the 2018, 2019 and 2020 follow-ups, or discuss our media strategy as implemented through RioOnWatch, Williamson’s own trajectory, or CatComm organizing strategies. All honoraria are paid to Catalytic Communities, a 501[c][3] nonprofit, to further efforts on behalf of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. These talks are in fact critical to the work we do in Rio.

Few are in Williamson’s position to offer multiple real-time perspectives, from community organizers, academics and advocates, on the current transformations unfolding in Rio. Her presentations incorporate the very latest in breaking news and community responses. Audience members are left with a thorough understanding of the context which is shaping Rio de Janeiro today and the organizations and institutions involved.

An insightful presentation that can be tailored to audiences from a variety of fields. Past talks spoke to students and faculty from departments of Urban Studies or Planning, Journalism and Communications, Environmental Studies, Anthropology, Portuguese, Latin American and Brazilian Studies, Public Policy, International Development, Social Justice, Criminology, Social Entrepreneurship and Nonprofit Management.

Past Talk Titles

• How Covid-19 Lifts the Mask on Rio’s Favelas: Neglect as Public Policy, Favela Responses and What’s to Come
• The Potential of Community Land Trusts in Rio’s Favelas
• Rethinking the Future of Housing Worldwide: Favelas as a Sustainable Model?
• Aberration or ‘Favela Chique?’ Problematizing the Aesthetics of ‘Slums’
• Telling the Story: Mega-Events and Urban Change in the ‘Divided City’ of Rio de Janeiro
• Whose Narrative? What Happens When Rio’s Favelas Speak for Themselves?
• Post-Olympic Rio de Janeiro: What’s Next for Rio’s Favelas?
• RioOnWatch: How Hyperlocal-to-Global News Is Changing the World
• Realizing Favelas As a Sustainable Model and Example of Insurgent City Planning: Rethinking Our Assumptions in Sustainable Development
• Community Organizing and Keys to Resistance in Pre-Olympic Rio de Janeiro
• Inspired by Favelas: Catalytic Communities, Case Study in Adaptive Organizing

Note that talks can be customized and even developed from scratch in response to your faculty and students’ course and research topics, based on Theresa’s years of work with hundreds of favela communities across Rio.

For more details on the lecture topics, click here.

Inquire About Booking Dr. Williamson at Your University Here