With the aim of stimulating transdisciplinary discussion and critical thinking, the five thematic Study Groups of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IdEA) at Unicamp presented this Friday (5) a summary of their activities at the 1st IdEA Seminar, held in the auditorium of the Institute of Geosciences (IG), between 8:30 am and 5 pm. The year-end event was opened by the rector, Paulo Cesar Montagner, and by the coordinator of IdEA, Marco Aurélio Cremasco, who also announced the launch of the electronic journal. "Between Ideas", now available on the institute's website.
“Today we are delivering the results of these groups,” said the coordinator of IdEA. According to Cremasco, the magazine “Entre Ideas” also includes the discussions of the groups, as well as a text by resident scientist Débora Tajer on contemporary masculinity. For the professor, IdEA practices “free democratic thinking,” and the first and most immediate contribution of the study groups is the connection between different areas, in addition to bringing reflection on important themes to the community. This year, the themes addressed were mental health and violence, the legacy of Conrado Silva, neglected diseases, philology and knowledge, and school coexistence.
According to the rector, the dynamics and concept practiced by IdEA allow for the debate of important societal issues in a “freer and less rigid” way. “IdEA is part of our way of doing things well,” declared Montagner at the event's opening session. “I have followed the work of this concept at Unicamp since its inception. A project like this, with its less bureaucratic dynamics and the ability to bring together researchers of different backgrounds, without the constraints of a research line, becomes an important interface for identifying relevant issues that the world needs to understand better. Today's event is the culmination of a project that has been maturing,” said the rector in an interview.
Monthly meetings
Celebrated as spaces for intellectual convergence, the groups debate contemporary themes that "cross the boundaries" between science, art, humanities, and public policy. Professor Rosana Teresa Onocko Campos began the seminar program with the presentation of the lecture "Mental Health as a Possible Grammar for Violence in the Contemporary World." Following this, the other groups presented their discussion results: "Conrado Silva: Listening to New Music"; "Neglected, but Persistent: Challenges in Research, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Socially Determined Diseases in Brazil"; "Philology" inter scientias"Public policies for coexistence in education networks: foundations, challenges and transformations."
Upon assuming management of IdEA, Cremasco recounts that he revived the transdisciplinary study groups. “In the neglected diseases group, we have not only people from medicine, but also from chemistry, biology, and sociology. This happens in all the groups, which meet at least once a month.”
Proposals
According to the coordinator, the concept for IdEA began in 1984 with a proposal from professor and former rector Carlos Vogt, which already included the suggestion of an artist-in-residence program and the idea of promoting interaction with students, professors, and researchers. In 2010, the Center for Advanced Studies at Unicamp was created, which also began to bring in resident scientists. “IdEA was born in 2017 from the confluence of these two residencies. At that moment, the thematic study groups emerged,” says Cremasco.
There is a coordinator in each group, who must be a Unicamp professional, a technician or professor with expertise in the subject. “In addition to having members from the University itself, there is the freedom to seek external partners for the discussion, with the commitment to deliver a product, such as the seminar and the journal.” IdEA currently has eight formed groups. “Our limit is ten groups, therefore we are open to proposals,” concludes Cremasco.
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