CHAUTAUQUA – Week Six of the 2014 Chautauqua Institution season kicks off today and ends on Aug. 3, celebrating the weekly themes with lectures, art and live performances. The morning lectures, on “Brazil: Rising Superpower,” will take place at 10:45 a.m. from Monday to Friday in the Amphitheater, while the afternoon Interfaith Lecture Series, “Brazil: the Interplay of Religion and Culture,” follows at 2 p.m. in the Hall of Philosophy.

The host of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, the Federative Republic of Brazil is South America’s largest country, and the fifth largest in the world. Lecturers this week chart its history, politics, culture and growing influence in global affairs.

Brazil is a richly spiritual society formed originally from the interplay of the Roman Catholic Church with the religious traditions of African slaves and indigenous peoples. This confluence of faiths during the Portuguese colonization of Brazil led to the development of a diverse array of syncretistic practices characterized by traditional Portuguese festivities, experienced as a form of fusion. In the 21st century secularism and evangelical Protestantism have also become predominant expressions. This week will explore the rich intermingling of all these traditions. Speakers include:

Dr. Kenneth P. Serbin is professor and chair in the Department of History at the University of San Diego. His research spans the fields of Brazilian social, cultural, political, and religious history as well as the history of science, technology, and medicine.

Tuesday lecturer Kelly E. Hayes is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Indianapolis. She earned a Ph.D. in the History of Religions at the University of Chicago and has been conducting field research on religion in Brazil since 1997.

Dr. Rachel Elizabeth Harding is Assistant Professor of Indigenous Spiritual Traditions in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Denver. A native of Georgia, a writer, historian, and poet, she is a specialist in religions of the Afro-Atlantic diaspora and studies the relationship between religion, creativity, and social justice activism in cross-cultural perspective.

John S. Burdick is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Syracuse University. He has conducted research in Brazil for the past 30 years on the influence of religion on movements for social and cultural change.

Friday lecturer Dr. Jeffrey Lesser is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Brazilian Studies and Chair of the Department of History at Emory University. His newest book, Immigration, Ethnicity and National Identity in Brazil (Cambridge University Press, 2013) examines the immigration to Brazil of millions of Europeans, Asians, and Middle Easterners beginning in the 19th century.

At the top of Week Five will be the original inter-arts production, Go West!, a collaboration of Chautauqua Institution’s resident theater, opera, symphony, dance, music and visual arts programs. Directed by Andrew Borba, Go West! investigates the American impulse to pioneer. The one-night-only performance takes place at 8:15 p.m. today in the Amphitheater.

In addition, Chautauqua Theater Company concludes its second main stage production, The May Queen, with performances at 2:15 p.m. today and Sunday and at 8 p.m. on Sunday. All performances take place in Bratton Theater. Then, Chautauqua Dance presents “Dance Innovations” at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Amphitheater. In addition, Chautauqua Opera Company stages The Ballad of Baby Doe at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in Norton Hall.

Live symphony performances from the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra take place at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Then, at 8:15 p.m. Friday, the Pat Metheny Unity Group Bruce Hornsby Campfire Tour takes the Amphitheater stage.

Day tickets are available for purchase at the Main Gate Welcome Center Ticket Office on the day of your visit. Morning tickets grant visitors access to the grounds from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $22. Afternoon tickets grant access from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. for $14. Combined morning/afternoon passes allow access from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and cost $36. Evening passes grant access from 4 p.m. to midnight and cost $40. Two evening performances per week are designated as Community Appreciation Nights, with tickets discounted to $20. For tickets call 357-6250.