You are here: Home / NEWS / Professors on sabbatical end the first edition of the program with several achievements

Professors on sabbatical end the first edition of the program with several achievements

by Richard Meckien - published Mar 16, 2017 02:10 PM - - last modified Mar 22, 2017 04:14 PM
Rights: Original version in Portuguese by Mauro Bellesa.

Diretor e 1ª Turma de Professores Sabáticos
IEA's director Paulo Saldiva with professors Flavio Ulhoa Coelho, Dária Gorete Jaremtchuk, Rodolfo Nogueira Coelho de Souza, Maria de los Angeles Gasalla, Lúcia Maciel Barbosa de Oliveira and Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo

The first edition of IEA's Sabbatical Year Program was marked by the enthusiasm of the six participating professors. In addition to producing articles, chapters of books, music and communications at international meetings, they have assiduously attended the Institute, participating in various activities not necessarily related to their research. The sabbatical period ended in February, but several of the professors intend to maintain academic ties with the IEA.

The vast production of the group is a direct consequence of the intense work of data collection, methodological detailling and theoretical reflection undertaken by the researchers. But the results are not only those that have already been produced. Research projects will also give rise to new articles, books, two theses and an opera.

Perhaps the most unusual contribution of this first edition is the composition of an opera by professor Rodolfo Nogueira Coelho de Souza, from the Department of Music of USP's Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences, and Languages and Literature (FFLCRP). During his sabbatical period he wrote the libretto of the work in partnership with a researcher from UFPR, and composed part of the music.

Lúcia Maciel Barbosa de Oliveira, from the School of Communications and Arts (ECA), and Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo, from the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, carried out research related to the future elaboration of their theses to become full professors at USP.

Oliveira's project addresses emerging cultural dynamics in the city of São Paulo. She had the opportunity to do the necessary bibliographical survey, to know the performance of diverse urban culture groups and to write an article for a specialized journal.

For Araujo, the program served to deepen the aspects of interdisciplinarity through specific literature and analyses of meetings held by the IEA on the subject. His project discusses archeology as a paradigm of interdisciplinarity. He has presented the first results of the work at a world congress in Japan.

Besides being present in the methodology used by Souza in the composition of the opera, mathematics plays a central role in the research of Flavio Ulhoa Coelho, from the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics (IME), who has already written some chapters of a book on the influence of philosophical and social issues in the evolution of algebraic thinking. Another planned work is an article in partnership with a UFABC researcher on the importance of highlighting this philosophical and social influence in teaching algebra to students in elementary education.

In Maria de los Angeles Gasalla's research, the social aspects are foreseen in the uncertain future of fishing communities due to ocean warming because of global climate change. During the sabbatical period, the professor of USP's Oceanographic Institute (IO) produced several texts and participated in meetings in South Korea, Thailand and Madagascar.

The uncertainty about the professional future was not part of the plans of Brazilian visual artists who self-exiled themselves in New York in the 1960s and 1970s at the invitation of American institutions. However, they ended up facing immense difficulties in working, exhibiting and living with the local artistic community. This is the theme of Dária Gorete Jaremtchuk's research. Throughout 2016, the professor of USP's School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (EACH) published an article for a specialized journal and presented papers at meetings in Brazil and the United States.

It may be said that the sabbatical year of the six researchers officially ended in February, but the studies will continue for a long time with the production of new works, including articles that will be submitted to the IEA's journal Estudos Avançados and developments in new projects. Of course, several of these future activities will have the hallmark of living together among the six in the Institute, a fact highlighted by all as one of the best benefits provided by the program.

Photo: IEA-USP Archive