PUCRS develops projects in partnership with Canadian university since 2015
During a work mission, a new international cooperation agreement was formalized between PUCRS and Canada’s York University. The goal of the partnership is to carry out the research project called Rising Above Anti-Black Racism and Structural Violence: Health Equity for Quilombola Women in Brazil, which will analyze the impact of social determinants of health in life style and conditions of quilombola women in Rio Grande do Sul, as well as to organize an international book based on the entire history of studies developed in partnership between PUCRS and York University since 2015, for the time being called Quilombolas of Brazil.Insurgent Citizens against an Oppressive Social Order.
Future initiatives and the start of a new agreement intend to continue the partnership of professor Dr. Patricia Krieger Grossi, from the School of Humanities, established with professor Simone Bohn, from York University since 2015, reinforcing the internationalization of knowledge and seeking grants for the qualification of the services directed at these communities. During this period, several researches were carried out on quilombola women and the Brazilian context, from the participation of professor Patricia Grossi in a discipline from the Political Science course, taught by professor Simone. In that opportunity, the PUCRS professor presented her research on Violence against the Rural Woman and the Social Protection Network in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Violência contra a Mulher Rural e a Rede de Proteção Social no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul).
According to professor Patrícia, the formalization of the agreement with York University in 2022 expands the possibility of professor and student mobility in different courses, as well as the strengthening of the international partnership. For the professor, this partnership bears fruit through grants for the qualification of public policies by voicing the quilombola communities’ demands, as well as the challenges in accessing different public policies.
In 2015, planning began for the project called Brazilian Quilombola Women and Access to citizenship rights: challenges to public policies, submitted to York University’s internal notice and awarded with a Seed Grant, through the Canadian University’s LAPS Internationalization Program, which studied how the process of implementation of Public Policies directed at quilombola women takes place in Rio Grande do Sul, highlighting the institutional racism this segment experiences.
In addition, a book was presented with the results of the research Mulheres Quilombolas, Interseccionalidades e Políticas Públicas, published by Faith and organized by professors Patrícia K. Grossi, Simone Bohn, Simone Barros de Oliveira and Joana das Flores Duarte, with contribution by quilombola leaders and other partners, like the GAAA, Emater, Iacoreq and Codene. Other research products were an informative booklet about quilombola women and access to public policies with information on access to rights, protection networks, violence prevention, as well as documentaries on quilombos and the ethnical-racial issue, among other contents and a quilombola app.
Currently, another research is being developed alongside York University, titled Mulheres Quilombolas, Interseccionalidades e Determinantes Sociais em Saúde, granted with resources from the 2021 Universal Internal Notice and the LAPS Internationalization Program from the Canadian university, as well as the support of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research (Seed Grant).
“These researches stand out because of their relevance, not only academic, but social and political as well. There is a committed research methodology, in other words, with the active participation of the communities which support and take part in the process of planning the research,” highlights Patrícia.
With this connection between PUCRS and York University, several professors and students also took part in international events like the Les Amériques: au singulier ou au pluriel?, the anual congress held by The Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS). In addition, PUCRS also took part in the LASA 2019 – Nuestra America: Justice and Inclusion XXXVII International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association.
Some of the most prominent aspects of this partnership are the work missions that were held to present the results of the studies in the Brazilian Studies Seminar, as well as the Center for Research on Latin America and Caribean (Cerlac) and the Brazilian Studies professorship in York University, currently coordinated by professor Simone Bohn. PUCRS also recently took part in the IFSW Online Global Conference: 2020-2030 Social Work Global Agenda, with a video called The Social Experience of Quilombolas in Accessing Public Education in Brazil.
