Although Brazil has its tradition of journalistic thinking, this essay shows that the discipline of journalism theory has, in this country, an intellectual nucleus based in the United States and Europe. It is true that both academic cultures provide foundations, but they do not claim to provide explanations about the society in which Brazilian journalism developed. This argument is corroborated by the analysis of the bibliographic references used by Brazilian courses. Considering that the impetus for the de-Westernization must come from scholars in emerging countries, this essay argues that the curriculum could be a key element to incite this transformation.