A Portrait of Brazil in the Twentieth Century: The Universe of the "Literatura de Cordel" is Curran's most recent project. The book, in effect, is the English version of a major work published in Brazil in Portuguese in 2011, Retrato do Brasil em Cordel. Curran returns to Portrait for several reasons: primary is his strong feeling that the amazingly broad view of Brazil in the twentieth century seen in the thousands of booklets in verse from the Cordel represents a major aspect of Brazilian culture in that century. Second, because there are many important bodies of folk-popular verse in the Western tradition, all distant relatives of the Greek and Roman epic traditions, and because Brazil's folk-popular poetry is one among them. And because a very large reading public interested in such things does not know Portuguese, this volume in English strives to make the tradition available to such readers. Finally, the book in two volumes represents the cumulative efforts of research and writing of Professor Curran in a career of forty-three years of scholarly research and teaching. It reveals a unique portrait of Brazil and its people, informative, instructive, and mainly, entertaining.

"Coming of Age with the Jesuits" chronicles a young man's formative years from 1959 to 1968 studying on the undergraduate level at Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, and for the Ph.D. at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. Between junior and senior year Curran had his first educational experience in Latin America studying at the National University of Mexico and traveling to Guatemala. This would lead to an increase in his love of languages and area studies and a future teaching career committed to the same at Arizona State University. The book is not an academic treatise on the Jesuits or their method of study, the "Ratio Studiorum," but rather a chronicle of the experiences in their schools by a young man introduced to Jesuit ways and discipline followed by serious study along with college fun and travel. Students from the 1960s will surely recall, relate to and enjoy similar moments in their own days with the Jesuits. The book chronicles as well the on-going process of growing up of a small town farm boy experiencing the big city, college, foreign travel and the next step of serious study with more precise career goals on the graduate level.

Travel and Teaching in Portugal and Spain-A Photographic Journey is another in the series Stories I Told My Students. It follows the pattern of books listed above on Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, and Colombia. The book tells the tale of travel in Portugal and travel and summer teaching in the Arizona State University summer program in Spain in 1987. The format of the book combines notes from the travel diary, vignettes on the history of the places visited, and in particular notes, on major literary figures like Luis de Camoes or Miguel de Cervantes. Major universities like the University of Coimbra in Portugal and the University of Salamanca in Spain are highlighted. Emphasis is also given to places and figures of the Catholic tradition, like the Cistercian Monastery of Alcobaca in Portugal and the stories of Santa Teresa de Jesus, San Juan de la Cruz, and Ignacio de Loyola in Spain. All are represented in the 256 photos in the book. Cities and places in Portugal are Lisbon, Belem, Sintra, Nazare, Batalha, Fatima, Leiria, Coimbra, O Porto, Viana do Castelo, and Guimaraes. In Spain one sees Malaga, Cordoba, Mijas, Sevilla, Merida, Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra, Leon, Avila, Madrid, Segovia, Burgos, El Escorial, and Valle de los Caidos. A side trip to the sanctuaries of Spain and France emphasizes Zaragoza, Barbastro of Opus Dei fame, Lourdes in France, and Loyola in the Basque Country. The book is written in a colloquial style, the author "conversing" with the reader, perhaps over a "Vinho Verde" from Portugal or a "Clarete" from La Rioja in Spain. One discovers adventures in travel time in Portugal, in Malaga, and Madrid for classes and social life, and travel in other parts of Spain, all accompanied by a nice overview of history and culture.

A Portrait of Brazil in the Twentieth Century: The Universe of the "Literatura de Cordel" is Curran's most recent project. The book, in effect, is the English version of a major work published in Brazil in Portuguese in 2011, Retrato do Brasil em Cordel. Curran returns to Portrait for several reasons: primary is his strong feeling that the amazingly broad view of Brazil in the twentieth century seen in the thousands of booklets in verse from the Cordel represents a major aspect of Brazilian culture in that century. Second, because there are many important bodies of folk-popular verse in the Western tradition, all distant relatives of the Greek and Roman epic traditions, and because Brazil's folk-popular poetry is one among them. And because a very large reading public interested in such things does not know Portuguese, this volume in English strives to make the tradition available to such readers. Finally, the book in two volumes represents the cumulative efforts of research and writing of Professor Curran in a career of forty-three years of scholarly research and teaching. It reveals a unique portrait of Brazil and its people, informative, instructive, and mainly, entertaining.

Coming of Age with the Jesuits chronicles a young man's formative years from 1959 to 1968 studying on the undergraduate level at Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, and for the PhD at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. Between junior and senior years, Curran had his first educational experience in Latin America studying at the National University of Mexico and traveling to Guatemala. This would lead to an increase in his love of languages and area studies and a future teaching career committed to the same at Arizona State University. The book is not an academic treatise on the Jesuits or their method of study, the Ratio Studiorum, but rather a chronicle of the experiences in their schools by a young man introduced to Jesuit ways and discipline followed by serious study along with college fun and travel. Students from the 1960s will surely recall, relate to, and enjoy similar moments in their own days with the Jesuits. The book chronicles as well the ongoing process of growing up of a small-town farm boy experiencing the big city, college, foreign travel, and the next step of serious study with more precise career goals on the graduate level.

Adventures of a "Gringo" Researcher in Brazil in the 1960s or In Search of Cordel is an entertaining and informative account of Professor Curran's first foray in Brazil. In this book he tells two stories: the research to collect cordel and, perhaps more importantly, the travel and the adventures of the year in Brazil. The two are inseparable and complement each other. Chapters include Recife and the Northeast, Travels to the interior of the Northeast, research in Brazil's colonial capital of Salvador da Bahia, research and tourism in Rio de Janeiro, trips to the interior of Rio, including Ouro Preto, Congonhas do Campo, and a memorable trip on a wood-burning stern wheeler on the Sao Francisco River in Minas Gerais and Bahia, and finally, research in the Amazon Basin, including both Belem do Para and Manaus. The account is not in academic language but in a colloquial, conversational style. Curran writes as one sitting down with the reader and telling tales of his travels, and perhaps with the author and reader enjoying a caipirinha, or a Brazilian draft beer choppe as they talk.

"Peripecias de um Pesquisador 'Gringo' no Brasil nos Anos 1960, ou, A Cata do Cordel" e um relato divertido e informativo da primeira estada de pesquisa do Curran no Brasil. Neste livro o autor conta duas estorias: a pesquisa sobre o cordel e talvez mais importante, as viagens e a peripecias daquele primeiro ano no Brasil.Os dois relatos sao inseparaveis e se complementam. Os capitulos incluem: Recife e o Nordeste, Viagens ao Interior do Nordeste, Pesquisa na Capital Colonial do Brasil - Salvador da Bahia, Pesquisa e Turismo no Rio de Janeiro, Viagens ao Interior desde o Rio de Janeiro includindo Ouro Preto, Congonhas do Campo e uma viagem memoravel em um "gaiola," ou seja, vapor de roda, no Rio Sao Francisco em Minas Gerais e Bahia, e finalmente, pesquisa na Bacia Amazonica, incluindo Belem do Para e Manaus. O relato nao esta em linguagem academica mas em um estilo coloquial de conversa. Curran escreve como se estivesse fazendo um bate-papo com o leitor relatando estorias de suas viagens, e talvez, com o autor e leitor gozando uma caipirinha ou um bom choppe enquanto o autor conta suas estorias.

Brazil's folk-popular poetry - "a literatura de cordel," - is perhaps the most important and vibrant variant of poetry of the masses in western culture. But not many people in the English-speaking world know much about it.

Written by one of the most educated scholars on the subject, Brazil's Folk-Popular Poetry - A Literatura De Cordel goes back to the craft's origins in Portugal in the 17th and 18th centuries and tells the story of how it developed and found a place in the hearts and minds of the people of Brazil.

Get ready to discover: How Spain and France influenced the poetry. Beautiful narrative poetry from forgotten poets who deserve to be rediscovered. How the "cordel" spread from northeastern Brazil to the Amazon region, to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in the South, and later to Brasilia. Why these poems are still relevant today. And much more! Become a fan of a poetry that documents religious beliefs, views on national politics, and thoughts on morality.