A very interesting programme which I found in the Brazil Women's World is the mini course. Senior Scholars were given a four hour slot to teach about any subject of their choice. We had to send in three readings related to our topic in advance and students and other participants had come prepared having read these before the commencement of the course. I did a course on Women's Movement in India. Twenty eight students had registered for this course. I was given a Portuguese translator to help the students but I did not need to use her services much as all students and faculty that joined the course were familiar with English. This was good for many people here do not speak English. I found the group very vibrant and we had a lot of discussion about Brazilian Women’s movement and other issues and comparing them to India. There was a comparison of trafficking in Brazil and India, issues of Liquor, domestic violence, rise of religiosity, fundamentalism and many other issues came up. This was a great programme and not only did participants benefit much in interacting with a scholar from a different culture and country but I too learnt a lot about Women's issues in Brazil. I am going to try this in India at a future date when I have some big Conference.
