My Profile

Doctor Graí_a Castanho is a professor and a researcher at the University of the Azores, Portugal. As an academic she holds a bachelor degree on the Teaching of English and Portuguese; a Master's degree from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on Curriculum and Instruction; a Doctoral degree from University of Minho on Teaching Across the Curriculum; a Post-Doctoral Program from Harvard University with a research on Literacy in Mozambique; and a second Post-Doctoral Program from Lesley University on Multiculturalism. She got her Laughter Yoga Teacher Trainer Certificate from the Laughter Yoga International University. She is a co-founder of the World Laughter Yoga Symposium, a worldwide anual event that occurs on a cruise, each year to a different destination, bringing joy, laugh and wellness around the globe. Currently she conducts a research on the role of Laughter in the learning process among elementary school children. She is the author of "Laughing Literacy", a new concept that means the ability to use laugh as a tool to improve communication and peace in the world. Laughing Literacy is a major contribution towards the advocacy of Laugh as a Human Right and a Universal Language.