Strengthen contact between Unicamp and high school students, instigating interest in different fields of knowledge. This is the main objective of the Science and Art on Holidays (CAF) program, which is running its 19th edition until February 3rd. The meeting, which went on hiatus during the pandemic, returns with a month of activities and the participation of 113 students from 35 public schools in the regions of Campinas, Limeira and Piracicaba. Among the works, scientific initiation projects, workshops and monitored visits will be developed in all areas of knowledge at the University, an experience that participants will present in poster format, at the end of the event.
During the CAF opening ceremony, this Monday (9), Unicamp's Pro-Rector of Research, João Marcos Travassos Romano, who represented the acting dean, Maria Luiza Moretti, recalled that the young people present there are the future and the country's hope. According to Romano, Brazil is going through very complex recent times and support for education, science, arts and institutions are essential issues for overcoming these difficulties, which involves coexistence and empathy between people.
“I hope that your meeting here at Unicamp will be a moment of hard work and awakening of interests, that it will also be an empathetic moment, of exchanging ideas and opening minds and hearts”, he commented, also remembering that the university has the primary function of training and giving wings to people. “But it’s not exclusively training to take on a profession. It is to form in the sense of giving knowledge and love for knowledge. It is very important that you take advantage of this opportunity and see the beauty of science, art, knowledge and thought”, he emphasizes.
The pro-rectors of Undergraduate Studies and Extension and Culture at Unicamp, Ivan Felizardo Contrera Toro and Fernando Antonio Santos Coelho, respectively, also participated in the CAF opening table, in addition to the municipal secretary of Education of Campinas, José Tadeu Jorge, who was rector of Unicamp in the 2005-2009 and 2013-2017 administrations. “I hope this program can help you realize that Unicamp is, indeed, an achievable dream. May this coexistence help to break down barriers and may you see that our researchers, teachers and scientists are almost all normal”, joked José Tadeu.
Science and Transdisciplinarity
The opening ceremony of Ciência e Arte nas Férias also included a lecture given by Ana Elisa Assis, professor at the Faculty of Education (FE) at Unicamp and coordinator of the Higher Interdisciplinary Training Program (ProFIS). In her presentation, the teacher addressed the difference between science and science, based on the approach of thinkers Edgar Morin and Boaventura de Sousa Santos, to argue about the importance of aspects such as transdisciplinarity and working together in scientific practice.
“Transdisciplinarity occurs when it becomes difficult to differentiate what belongs to one discipline or another. It is no longer possible to say that a subject is biological, exact or human, and we are beginning to see that separating [knowledge] by 'sciences' no longer makes sense,” he explains. “Science is the set, the sum of all knowledge, and 'sciences' are the areas that make up this set. And how do they relate? Through transdisciplinarity”, she reveals.
The teacher explained to the students that all workshops held at Ciência e Arte nas Férias will be guided by transdisciplinarity. For this reason, she concluded by presenting seven tools that can help students to have transdisciplinary thinking and make better use of the month's activities, based on the works The seven knowledges necessary for the education of the future, by Edgar Morin, and A discourse on the sciences, by Boaventura de Sousa Santos.
These seven tools include teachings on how to understand that making mistakes is part of the learning process and that social context matters when doing science; that each human being is different and that we need to take care of the Earth because we depend on it to survive; that it is necessary to face uncertainties, understanding that some things cannot be planned; that it is necessary to respect and tolerate the opinion of others and act according to human ethics.
“We are one and all at the same time. Carrying forward this ethics of the human race is part of the assumption that you and I are equal, but that our equality also presupposes a difference. This is extremely relevant because we cannot do science if we cannot establish a parameter for dialogue”, says Assis, ending his talk with a question: “If the sciences together are science and if we are all one, are we science too?”.
Watch a report produced by TV Unicamp about Ciência e Arte nas Férias:
