Page 2 – elisa's notes

September 7th, 2025

Published September 7, 2025

(PT/BR) vou fingir que não faz quase um mês (!) que chegamos em philly e começar a contar a partir das aventuras dessa última semana, que basicamente giram em torno de nyc com o victor para ver o show do oasis. depois de comprarmos ingressos pra Manchester e não ir, pra São Paulo e não ir, foi muito bom poder ver eles e, principalmente, ver o vic tão feliz vendo eles. conseguimos, por chegarmos mais cedo, o upgrade pra pista premium e eu nem sabia, mas uns dias antes descobri que o show de abertura ia ser do cage the elephant?! f***. e depois, estar em nyc com o victor foi especial também, ainda que não tenhamos curtido tanto pois eu tinha que ler um livro de 500 páginas e o victor trabalhar já que segunda não era feriado no Brasil que nem aqui (labor day – meio estranho tá? sou muito mais nosso primeiro de maio, dia do trabalhador. tem que respeitar!!!!!!). pero fomos na Brooklyn Bridge, no Dumbo, ficamos 1h30 na fila da pop-up do oasis (e não tinha mais roupa da adidas-eu quis me matar) comemos um hamburguer que o vic queria muito experimentar, tacos extremamente apimentados, bagels (to meio viciada, comprei pra fazer em casa de café da manhã de final de semana kkkkkk).. é sobre isso!

eu fiquei bem feliz essa semana nas aulas, por conseguir falar, mas falo sério que a língua ainda é uma barreira com a qual tenho que me acostumar nesse início, até fluir melhor. queria falar pros meus colegas tipo “pessoal eu pareço burra em inglês mas se vocês me ouvissem falar em português iam achar que eu sou inteligentíssima” mas tá tudo bem. são sensações diferentes e eu acho que viver isso sempre vai trazer um engrandecimento e um amadurecimento.

daí uma loucura: conversei com uma pessoa que achei que ia poder me orientar mas não pôde e elu passou um contato de um amigo que tava querendo doar um sofá. dirigi uma van e agora temos um love seat (é menor que um sofá mas pelo menos é confortável pra quem só sentava na mesa de jantar há dias).

começou a temporada da nfl, go birds, e eu e o victor começamos nossa jornada com vitória, mas há de se dizer que a vitória mais importante do fim de semana foi a do carlitos. com todo o respeito, que se dane aquele pecador.

vamos por mais e até domingo que vem.

(EN/US) I’m going to pretend it hasn’t been almost a month (!) since we arrived in Philly and start telling you about the adventures of this past week, which basically revolve around NYC with Victor to see the Oasis concert. After buying tickets to Manchester and not going, and to São Paulo and not going, it was great to be able to see them and, especially, to see Vic so happy seeing them. We got an upgrade to the VIP section because we arrived early, and I didn’t even know it, but a few days before I found out that the opening show was going to be Cage the Elephant?! omg!! And then, being in NYC with Victor was special too, even though we didn’t enjoy it as much because I had to read a 500-page book and Victor had to work since Monday wasn’t a holiday in Brazil like it is here (Labor Day – strange, okay? I’m much more into Worker’s Day on May 1st!! You have to embrace your tradition baby!). Pero, we went to the Brooklyn Bridge, to Dumbo, waited 1h30 in line for the Oasis pop-up (and there were no more Adidas clothes – I wanted to kill myself), we ate a burger that Vic really wanted to try, extremely spicy tacos, bagels (I’m kind of addicted now, I bought some to make at home for weekend breakfast lol)…

I was really happy this week in class, being able to speak, but I’m serious, the language is still a barrier that I have to get used to at the beginning, until I can fluently speak better. I wanted to tell my classmates like, “guys, I know I sound stupid in English, but if you heard me speak Portuguese, you’d think I was incredibly intelligent” but it’s okay. These are different feelings, and I think experiencing them will always bring growth and maturity.

Now, listen to something crazy: I talked to a professor who I thought would be able to be my advisor; they couldn’t BUT they gave me the contact of a friend who was looking to donate a sofa. I drove a van and now we have a love seat (it’s smaller than a sofa, but at least it’s comfortable for someone who’s only sat at the dinner table for days).

The NFL season has begun, go birds, and Victor and I started our journey with a victory, but it must be said that the most important one of the weekend was Carlitos’. With all due respect, screw that sinner boy.

“Vamos por mais” and see you next Sunday.

Statement of purpose

Published August 29, 2025

My name is Elisa Venzon, and I am from Brazil, where I earned my Master’s degree in History and graduated as a History Teacher at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. In the Fall of 2025, I began the PhD program in the History Department at Temple University.

The path of discovering my intellectual interest dates back to 2019, when I found myself absorbed in readings about the criminal justice system and penal institutions, motivated by an abolitionist perspective on prisons. What started as a personal interest developed apart from my studies, made me later understand that what kept me most excited was not the history of crime itself, but the history of prisons, the critics towards them, and the way they establish a relationship with justice systems, media, activists, the urban space, and society in general. For my undergraduate thesis, I studied the restorative justice program Justice for the 21st. Century (Brasil, 2005-2008), and used the discourse analysis as both theory and methodology to read the program’s documents and understand the socio-political paths that led the legal community to think, propose, and execute alternatives to the retributive criminal justice system.

In 2025, I completed my master’s thesis on the final years of the Casa de Correção de Porto Alegre and its role in the prison system of Rio Grande do Sul state, regarding the discussion and debate within the local society. By characterizing prison as a social institution, I understand it as a non-natural apparatus for regulating and organizing human conduct while establishing and (re)producing political, economic, and social relations between intra and extramural. This notion, combined with the concept of representation, guided the research and enabled the creation of a logical, rational, and meaningful narrative about the socio-spatial dynamics inside that house of correction.

Since the beginning of 2017, I have focused on experiencing all opportunities that History led me to. First, I joined my University’s museum as part of their educational section, at the same time I enrolled in an extension project as a translator of African women’s biographies from English to Portuguese. I was also part of a scientific research about the remission of prison sentences by reading; a volunteer teacher to 9th-grade students; and, eventually, the Editor-in-Chief of Aedos, the students’ journal from my Postgraduate History Program. Although I truly enjoyed all of these projects, my main goal is to have a career that allows me to continue the research I’ve been doing in the last five years, regardless of the place or institution. Because I have a specific goal but a broad path that can guide me to it, besides being an academic professor, I would like to get closer to Public History practices to expand my future possibilities. Although they are not synonymous, I believe Oral and Public History are embedded in each other’s theory and practice, in addition to the value both of them can bring to enhance my studies in the social history of carceral institutions.

If you are interested, please contact me at elisavenzon@gmail.com.

Querida leitora,

Published August 27, 2025

or dear reader.

My name is Elisa, I’m 28 years old and I was born and raised in south Brazil. A city called Porto Alegre (in a poor translation Happy Port [kkkkk!!]) was my home until the beggining of this august. I recently (like, literally two weeks ago) moved to Philly to pursue a PhD degree in the History Department of Temple University. Besides being an enthusiast of prison’s history, the criminal justice system and all of the in-betweens, I am a sports fan (Gremio and Coxa are my soccer – or should I say football!! – teams back in Brazil but I’m into nba and nfl and ice skating and even curling?), an avid consumer of romcoms, a food and drink person and, of course, a swiftie.

As my professor of Oral History assigned the class to do it and my friends and family in Brazil would probably benefit as well – since I’m not the best in updating everyone -, I’ll try to make this a somehow both personal and academic blog. Please, if you don’t want to read my nonsense and/or my thoughts on starting this 6-year journey, feel free to jump right to the section of notes “on oral history”. On the other hand, if you’re family and brazilian friends and only want to know my news, you should also skip to the notes “as a portoalegrense philly girl”. If you want to be friends, have some coffee while reading whatever I chose to write or just laugh (with me or at me), welcome to this safe space. I can’t promise regularity, useful or joyful readings but I will definitely do my best.

Thank you and welcome!

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elisa's notes Posts

September 7th, 2025

Statement of purpose

Querida leitora,