SIETAR Brasil 2026: I Will Be There and I Am Bringing the Books.
Calling all Portuguese speakers!
Whether you are living abroad, in your home country, or in Mars if they have internet there. This one is for you.
On October 22 and 23 I will be at the SIETAR Brasil 2026 Conference in São Paulo, taking part in a panel and bringing copies of Maternity Abroad and Parenting Unpacked with me. Yeahhh baby!
And there is another reason I am particularly excited about this conference: Ruth Van Reken will be a keynote speaker.
If you work in intercultural communication, you probably know Ruth as the co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds (click here for her book), one of the most foundational books in the field. She will be in the room. And so will I.
This is a conference I have wanted to attend for a long time. The questions at the heart of my work are questions that belong in intercultural conversations. What happens to identity when you move between countries. What do we carry from one culture into another. And what happens when the expectations we grew up with no longer tell us how to live.
The conference theme this year is Interculturality in Motion: Identity, Education, Inclusion and Ethics in a Plural and Interconnected Era. Which is, honestly, just a longer way of saying everything this blog has been writing about for the past two years.
What is SIETAR Brasil 2026?
The SIETAR Brasil 2026 Conference brings together professionals, researchers, educators and others interested in intercultural relations and the challenges of working and living across cultures.
It takes place on October 22 and 23, 2026 at the School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo, ECA-USP, in São Paulo. It is a hybrid event with both in-person participation and online attendance via Zoom.
The official language is Portuguese although some sessions will be held in English.
Whether you work directly with intercultural issues or have experienced what it means to build a life between cultures, the programme offers an opportunity to engage with these questions alongside people working in the field.
Before you ask…
How to register
In person at ECA-USP, São Paulo:
R$150 for non-members. R$100 for SIETAR members. R$50 for ECA-USP undergraduate and graduate students.Online via Zoom:
R$50 for non-members. Free for SIETAR members.
The books I am bringing
Maternity Abroad
Written for the mother who became a parent in a country that did not know her norms, her language, or what she expected from the people around her. It has reached readers in over fifteen countries across five continents. The first forty pages are free at maternityabroad.com.
Parenting Unpacked
Written for the parent who is still inside it. Getting through the day. Functioning perfectly on the outside and wondering somewhere underneath all of it who they are becoming. The first forty pages are free at parentingunpacked.com.
Why I would love to see you there?
If you work with immigrant families, teach intercultural communication, research identity and migration, or have spent years building a life across borders, I would love for you to take a look at the programme.
You do not need to be an academic or an intercultural specialist to find these conversations relevant. You might simply be someone who has lived between cultures and wants to understand that experience better.
I will not be there in person this time. But I will be on the panel virtually and I would love to see you in the Zoom room.
Come find me and the books.
Check the full programme and register here. 💛
Jessica Gabrielzyk
