At the 9th Meeting of CI-UNILA, held in Curitiba from April 6-7, the members of the commission concluded proposals of initial academic activities of the university programmed to inaugurate UNILA during the second half of 2009 through he Mercosur Institute of Advanced Studies (IMEA).

It was determined that in the second half of August an international colloquium will be held on Education and Regional Integration, with participation of specialists. The member of CI-UNILA, Paulino Motter (Itaipú), presented a preliminary proposal that was refined by members of the commission. One of the objectives of the event is to call upon the American specialist Michael Apple, a professor of the University of Wisconsin (USA) and to construct a varied program of four or five panels with different presenters and discussants. During discussion about the format of the colloquium, the members of CI-UNILA suggested names of Latin American, European, and North American inn order to make possible different view of the subject.

Professor Stela Meneghel (FURB) provided details of the structure, disciplines, and teaching staff foreseen for the International Course of Specialization in Public Policies and Assessment of Higher Education, programmed to begin between September and October and that will have regular classes and distance tutoring. The specialization will fill a gap in the area, in which there is no specialized training. "Who currently carries out assessment? Specialists in their areas, but without knowledge in the field of higher education assessment, since this type of course is not offered in Latin America", commented Prof. Meneghel. The course will have specialized Latin American professors, and there will be scholarships for 35 Latin American students who have been selected.

Professor Célio Cunha (UNB) spoke about the creation of the Centre of Education and Licenciate, suggesting that an international working group be organized in order to reflect on the area of education that, in his opinion, requires re-thinking. "What is contribution that UNILA can make? Train a new kind of teacher for Brazil. Seek to unite from the first year theory and practice, innovating in methodology", he suggested.

In regard to the chairs that will be created in the various areas of knowledge, the president of CI-UNILA, Hélgio Trindade, noted that they will be temporary with a duration of two or three years, annually changing the chair holders. "We are opting for this format in order to be able to constantly renovate the area of free creation in all fields of knowledge", he explained. The project seeks to begin with three associated chairs that organize graduate level interdisciplinary research and programs of UNILA, or in consortium with other institutions.

Initially, the following Latin American chairs are being considered, with their holders and respective founders to be invited: 1) The Celso Furtado Chair of "Economics and Development", to be founded by the Argentine economist Aldo Ferrer, of the Universidade de Buenos Aires; 2) the Amilcar Herrera Chair of "Science, Technology, and Social Inclusion", by anthropologist Hebe Vessuri, researcher of the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas; 3) the Crodowaldo Pavan Chair - "Life Sciences: Evolution and Bio-diversity" by Francisco Salzano, Senior Researcher of the Department of Genetics of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, and Member of the Academia Brasileira de Ciências; 4) the Chico Mendes Chair - "Sustainable Development and the Environment" by Ignacy Sachs, of the École des Hautes Etudes de Paris; 5) the Francisco Bilbao Chair - "Latin American Thought and Identity" by the Chilean historian Miguel Rojas Mix; 6) the Alfonso Reyes Chair - "History and Social Thought", by Enrique Ayala Mora, historian and chancellor of the Universidade Andina Simon Bolívar; 7) the Eugenio de Santa Cruz Espejo – Chair "Collective Health" by Maria Isabel Rodriguez, former chancellor of the Universidad de El Salvador; among others to be proposed by 2010.

Photo: Stela Meneghel and Paulino Motter during the Commission meeting

This article was published last April at Informativo Unila

 

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