Monica Arruda de Almeida, Ph.D. arrived in the U.S. in 1994 in Brazil. Before pursuing her academic career, she was a journalist in Rio de Janeiro and then the United States. Dr. Arruda de Almeida was recently interviewed by BSFS fellow, Rocío Mondragón Reyes (SFS’19, Culture and Politics Major, Portuguese Minor).
What is your story?
Dr. Arruda de Almeida was raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Due to personal matters, she had to drop out of high school. The professor recalls the uncertainty of not knowing when she would be able to continue her studies. However, she eventually completed high school and went on to pass the Vestibular public university entrance examination. Dr. Arruda has been interested in the field of economics ever since high school. However, she chose to study journalism over economics because the communication studies program offered a schedule that would allow her to work during the day. Dr. Arruda then went to work full-time in order to cover her personal expenses while completing her degree. At age twenty-seven her life took a completely different turn when she came to the United States as a political reporter to cover the 1994 World Cup Games. After the World Cup concluded she was able to stay in the U.S. as a reporter for the entertainment industry.
What are some aspects of your experience participating in UCLA’s Masters and Ph.D. program that continue to impact your career the most?
After a year working in the U.S. as a reporter in the entertainment industry, Dr. Arruda decided to pursue a graduate degree. She applied to the Political Science program at the University of California, Los Angeles, but was denied acceptance. Realizing she did not understand the intricacies of the college acceptance process for U.S. colleges and universities, Dr. Arruda became well acquainted with the system and eventually reapplied. She was accepted to the Political Science program which allowed her to pursue both a masters and a Ph.D. in International Political Economy. Throughout her academic journey at UCLA she saw mentorship from professors as the key that kept her going, despite the long work days and rigorous academics. These mentors became parent figures and continue to support her to this day. Their support helped her succeed despite not coming from an academic background. Dr. Arruda shared that her mother only received elementary level schooling and her father was a high school graduate. However, her love of learning, instilled in her by her father, who was a proud seller of the Encyclopedia Britannica, blossomed under the mentorship of her UCLA professors.
How would you explain the connection between your background in International Political Economy degree and your current career as a professor, especially teaching courses like Latin American Economic Development?
Dr. Arruda’s career as a reporter during Brazil’s financial economic crisis in the 90’s was an experience that further prompted her to pursue a graduate degree in economics. She had seen how economic reforms at the time were grounded in ideology rather than facts. Her experience living through times of economic crisis and her keen interest in economic theory now propels her to teach economics. She began working at Georgetown in the fall of 2009 and previously taught at UCLA from 2005-2008. Dr. Arruda sees it as her purpose to bridge the gap between the complexity of economics and people who are not particularly engaged with the subject. Having lived through the consequences of living under leaders who don’t take the time to understand economic theory and who implement policies based on ideology, she considers her work preparing future policy-makers and academics to be an important mission. Dr. Arruda aims to develop individuals who can make informed decisions at both the individual level and at the national or international level when they eventually take on leadership roles.
As college students we are told this is a crucial time in our development—is there a particular experience or set of experiences from your college and graduate school years which helped determine your life’s trajectory?
The research and the hands-on experiences Dr. Arruda was exposed to throughout college, her graduate and Ph.D. studies allowed her to discover and further develop her love for learning new things. Within the world of academia, she experienced the freedom to pursue her intellectual interests and continue learning. Dr. Arruda quickly discovered that she really enjoys the intellectual freedom that universities offer, as opposed to working for a think tank or a multilateral organization. In academia, she believes that one is not as bound to the political or parochial interests that are sometimes present within those institutions.
Dr. Arruda was also enriched by her experience in the field of journalism, which taught her to use jargon purposefully, a skill that has continued to prove useful in her academic writing. In order to effectively communicate her research, she has to constantly ensure any jargon used in her writing is used purposefully and clearly. She enjoys exploring ideas within an academic environment that supports intellectual freedom. However, the skills she obtained as a journalist, including effective communication strategies, clearly remain key to her current endeavors.