The 1st International Meeting of the Unicamp Latin American Observatory took place this Thursday, with the aim of promoting the insertion of the University as a center for thought and interpretation of historical, political, social, economic, cultural, educational and scientific phenomena on the Latin continent -American. “University, democracy and society” was the theme of the event held at the Convention Center, with an organizing committee made up of professors José Alves de Freitas Neto (IFCH), Miriam Gárate (IEL), André Kaysel (IFCH), Nora Krawczyk (FE ) and Mônica Zoppi (IEL).
The Latin American Observatory (OLA) arises with the proposal to give visibility to teaching, research and extension activities related to Latin American themes, create a reference space on such themes, consolidate the circulation of teachers and students and boost interaction and cooperation with other universities as part of Unicamp's internationalization strategy among its most common audience, which are Latin Americans.
“Unicamp has a history of professors who came from other Latin American countries since its founding until today, but despite standing out in the rankings, it still did not have a space in which they could bring together joint and multidisciplinary reflections on topics related to the continent ”, says José Alves de Freitas Neto, from the organizing committee. “Even though international public policies are currently quite unfavorable to the Latin American scenario in terms of questions regarding integration, we assume that, more than ever, institutions have a role in ensuring this integration.”
The IFCH professor considers that creating OLA means recognizing and giving value to this culture and the knowledge and identities of universities in Latin America, at a time when the political scenario on the continent as a whole is quite complex. “The theme chosen for this first meeting is 'University, democracy and society' because there are no consolidated democracies if we do not have free and autonomous universities in terms of organization and, mainly, in terms of freedom of thought and teaching.”
For rector Marcelo Knobel, who gave full support for the creation of the Observatory, the idea is to begin greater integration work with Latin America, with negotiations already underway for partnerships with institutions such as the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Los Andes (Colombia), Chile and Catholic Church of Chile. “It’s an opportunity to return to Unicamp’s origins, which for a long time welcomed people from different regions of the continent who were experiencing complicated situations. I arrived here with my father in 1976, when the UBA closed, and I bring with me all the difficult experience of migrating, but we came to a place where we were well received and established our lives. That makes a difference. Among all the issues – training, research, access, inclusion – we have to resume the discussion about the identity of higher education in Latin America and how we can move forward, despite these difficult times”, he said at the opening ceremony, in Spanish.
Conference
The opening lecture of the seminar was given by Patricia Funes, professor of Latin American social history at UBA, who dealt with the relations between universities, democracy and society on the continent. In her opinion, the creation of the Unicamp Observatory is auspicious news. “In principle, because there is an internationalization process and it is a good idea to invite students from Latin America who study here to participate in the Observatory. Secondly, because there are a series of common themes on the continent that require solidary partnerships, which come together in a synergistic way, this being an excellent start to making joint projects viable.”
Regarding the political moment, the UBA professor believes that it is difficult, especially in South America, as she considers Mexico to be the opposite case. “It is a seriously regressive process, in which the State cuts funding for science and technology when the first generations of young people who had not had university students in their families were able to enter university. These policies in which the conviction prevails that university studies are not a privilege, but a right, are being questioned due to mercantilist aspects, with lobbies from private institutions. Personally, I am very concerned about this situation, but I also believe that the synergy of public universities can overcome these challenges and conflicts.”
Professor Mariano Laplane, director of International Relations at Unicamp, sees the materialization of the idea of the Latin American Observatory as extremely timely. “It is a worthy effort to focus the research and teaching activities of professors who work at the University around the theme of Latin America. Nuclear to give visibility and also to give density and open important spaces for cooperation with other universities in the region – which are going through a difficult time: in addition to questions regarding the budget, we see the questioning of the very legitimacy of the knowledge they produce. This is a source of perplexity, anguish and even panic.”
Activities
Freitas Neto informs that the aim of the OLA committee is to organize a series of activities bringing together both scientific and cultural aspects, in addition to being in dialogue with society as a whole. “OLA is a transdisciplinary network that involves teachers from different units. The activities, possibly monthly, will have different focuses, such as reading and study groups, as we want exchange students to come and present their realities to us. We already have an event at IEL in May about Ricardo Piglia, an important Argentine writer; in June, we will offer a course for teachers in primary and secondary education; and, for August, an exhibition of Latin American films is planned. We will also have panels on important daily topics in Latin America, such as the crisis in Venezuela, which Brazilians miss.”
See more on the topic in the RTV Unicamp report.
