On 24 November, the Director of International Relations at the Office of International Relations (SINTER), Fernanda Leal, attended the II Foro Internacional de Educación Superior – Construyendo Políticas Públicas para la Educación Superior [International Higher Education Forum – Developing Public Policies for Higher Education].

The event is an initiative of the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Republic of Paraguay, within the Plan de Acción Educativa [Educational Action Plan] 2018-2023, with the support of the European Union through the Technical Assistance “Apoyo al Sector Educativo en Paraguay” [Support to the Education Sector in Paraguay].

The Director of International Relations at UFSC was invited to present Panel 3: Aportes para Proyectar a la Educación Superior de Paraguay al Mundo [Panel 3: Contributions to Project the Higher Education of Paraguay to the World] in the forum.

The forum is aimed at authorities of higher education institutions, researchers, academics and representatives of international relations; authorities of State bodies and entities; advisory bodies of the Ministry of Education and Sciences; references from the MERCOSUR Educational Sector and Civil Society Organizations.

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) resumes its academic mobility programs in partnership with Leiden University, the oldest university in the Netherlands and one of the top 100 in the world.

The partnership between UFSC and Leiden University comprises two exchange programs:

•    Brazilian Culture to Leiden students, aimed at undergraduate Latin American Studies students at Leiden University;
•    LExS Platinum Award, aimed at UFSC master’s students in the humanities field.

In the first semester of 2023, UFSC will receive two undergraduate students from the Latin American Studies program at Leiden University through the Brazilian Culture program. The students will have the opportunity to attend courses in Brazilian literature, arts and culture, as well as in Latin-American politics and society and the Portuguese language.

In order to participate in the LExS Platinum Award program, UFSC master’s students must apply following the rules set out in a Call for Applications to be launched by SINTER. The program offers a two-semester scholarship and allows students to  transfer course credits to UFSC and to receive a master’s degree from both institutions.

The Call for Applications and further information about the LExS Platinum Award program will be published soon on this website.

This post is available in Brazilian Portuguese only. Please access the website in Portuguese to read it.

On 20 November, Black Awareness Day was held in Brazil. The date is attributed to Zumbi dos Palmares’ death, murdered by “bandeirantes” in 1652. Zumbi was the leader of the “Quilombo dos Palmares” and became a symbol of the black movement resistance.

Brazil still carries the traces of colonialism and over 300 years of slavery. The abolition of slavery, in 1888, did not prevent the oppression and racial inequality from being ingrained in the Brazilian society. The black population is the target for structural racism.

The Black Awareness Day, therefore, is a date for reflection and resistance. We must remember that freedom was not merely granted by the Golden Law, but conquered by the struggle of the black movement. As a university community, we must defend the right to racial quotas and fight any form of racism in the academic environment. 

In the internationalization field, it is necessary to recognize that many of the inequalities existing today are a reflection of the perpetuation of racism and colonialism that have historically been present in university international  relations. It is necessary to trace the evidence of coloniality behind contemporary practices and policies in order to deconstruct dominant assumptions and to enable internationalization to be a means of building a more just and equal world.

UFSC takes an antiracist stance and, as part of its institutional actions to combat the structural racism that exists in Brazilian society, it has produced a video on the subject. SINTER has provided English subtitles for this video, so we would like to share it with you so you can learn a little about the reality and struggle of black people in Brazil.

Access novembronegro.ufsc.br and check out the university’s program for this month.

Watch the video here.

This post is available in Brazilian Portuguese only. Please access the website in Portuguese to read it.

Visit from Middlebury College.

On 8 November, SINTER, together with the Labor Sociology Laboratory (LASTRO) at UFSC, welcomed Carlos Velez, Dean of International Programs at Middlebury College, and Sílvia Lorenso, Director of the Middlebury School in Brazil.

On 9 November, SINTER held an online meeting to discuss virtual exchange possibilities between UFSC and Florida State College at Jacksonville. Professor Kátia Madruga, Virtual Exchange Coordinator at UFSC, Professor Carolina Parrini, Pedagogical Coordinator at NILT/SINTER, Fernanda Leal, Director of International Relations at SINTER/UFSC, and representatives of Florida State College at Jacksonville attended the meeting.

Meeting with Florida State College at Jacksonville representatives.

This post is available in Brazilian Portuguese only. Please access the website in Portuguese to read it.