I grew up in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and as a young adult I moved to the US in order to pursue my higher education. I received my PhD in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University, and am currently an Assistant Professor in Government at Bowdoin College. My research and teaching interests span topics in Development, Post- and Decolonial Studies, Political Ecology, Indigenous Thought, Critical Theory, and Social Movements. I also have a parallel interest in the politics of humanitarian interventions, and in Feminism and Queer Theories. My work focuses generally on Latin America and the Global South (broadly construed to include people of color in the North).

My book project, based on my dissertation research, examines the construction of the Belo Monte dam in the Brazilian Amazon to explore (1) how development continues to reflect a modern worldview that is in part responsible for the current ecological crisis, and (2) what compelling possibilities are offered by the alternative ways of living that development disavows. Under the Research tab, you will find a detailed description of my dissertation and a list of my writing projects.

Under Teaching, you will find a statement of my pedagogical approaches, along with sample syllabi of courses I have taught. You can reach me at tzille (at) bowdoin (dot) edu.

(Banner photo: Xingu River, Altamira, Brazil. Photo by the author)