Felipe Cruz

Born and raised in São Paulo, I have now lived in the United States for a decade, both in Florida and Texas. I completed my undergraduate education at Florida State University, where I majored in History, specializing in Latin America. I then started my graduate studies at the University of Texas-Austin, where I have researched topics such as Sandinista propaganda, popular participation in the Brazilian Independence, and the underground urban art of hot air ballooning in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, which has culminated into my Master's report and an upcoming article. During my first two years at the University of Texas-Austin I have conducted six months of field research in Brazil, including participant-observer ethnography, oral histories and extensive archival research. Currently, I am conducting research work for my dissertation on the history of aviation, meteorology and airmindedness in Brazil, and their impacts on state building and frontier exploration.