Ana Maria Vieira Fernandes
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Brazil
Dr Ana Maria Fernandes holds a Bachelor’s degree in Tourism (PUC-Campinas), a Master and Ph.D. in Human Geography (UNICAMP, Brazil) with a internship at University of Barcelona (2014). She worked as Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Tourism & Hospitality at TU Dublin on Festspace (2020-2022), a HERA funded project on Festivals, Public Space and Cultural Inclusion, where she conducted research on the deterritorialization of immigrants’ Intangible Cultural Heritage in Dublin, Ireland. She was also involved in a research project funded by the Department of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (TU Dublin, 2022): “Diversity & Intercultural Inclusion in Hospitality”, focused on investigating cultural differences migrant workers faced in hospitality services within TU Dublin. She is Head of the Faculties of Tourism and Gastronomy at the Pontifical University of Campinas (Brazil) and her research interests lie primarily in the geographical approach of tourism, cultural heritage, arts festivals & events, and urban regeneration.
“COIL creates opportunities for students to experience international collaboration in meaningful and accessible ways. At the Faculty of Tourism at PUC-Campinas, this experience helps our students to develop intercultural communication, teamwork, and global citizenship skills while reflecting on tourism through diverse perspectives. One of the greatest joys of COIL is seeing students realize that learning can transcend borders, languages, and cultures. Doing COIL has shown me that internationalization is not only about mobility: it is about connection.”