CDEA will be located on the 6th floor of Building 5, at PUCRS
Photo: Bruno Todeschini – Ascom/PUCRS
Monday, Apr 10 saw the opening of the first Center for European and German Studies (CDEA) in Latin America and Southern Hemisphere, a partnership between PUCRS and UFRGS. At 3 pm, the Center’s plaque was unveiled on the 6th floor of Building 5 on the Main Campus, with the presence of the President of PUCRS, Br. Evilázio Teixeira; the President of UFRGS, Rui Vicente Oppermann; of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Georg Witschel; and the Vice president of the German Academic Exchange Service (Daad), Joybrato Mukherjee.
In his speech, Teixeira acknowledged more than 30 agreements and partnerships between PUCRS and educational institutions from Germany, and mentioned the affective bonds between the two countries – Brother Norberto Rauch, who was the President of PUCRS for 26 years, was of German descent (he was born in the District of Sinimbu, in Santa Cruz do Sul) and studied Experimental Physics at the University of Cologne, in Germany. He believes that the center will foster the production of knowledge and conduction of research for the solution of several problems affecting our society today, and will be a turning point in the history and culture of our State. “We are very happy to be home to the CDEA at PUCRS. Thank you for believing in us”, said he.
Dr. Oppermann emphasized the important connection between both institutions. “We have had a partnership for more than 20 years, and we are very proud to be at PUCRS unveiling a plaque, which will make this partnership last forever”, said he. According to him, both universities are recognized for their excellence and for their historical relationship with Germany, which will earn the Center a tremendous degree of success.
Photo: Camila Cunha – Ascom/PUCRS
Ambassador Georg Witschel, explains that the CDEA will play an essential role in education and cooperation between the two countries. “This is a shared responsibility project. This cooperation will encourage the scientific and cultural exchange between both countries, and is an important bridge between Europe and Latin America”.
At 5:30 pm, at the theater of Building 40, the agreement was signed, in the presence of hundreds of people. In addition to the aforementioned authorities, other important figures attended the event, such as the acting Governor of the State, José Paulo Cairoli, and the Mayor of Porto Alegre, Nelson Marchezan Junior, among others. After that, there was a round table on the Role of CDEA UFRGS and PUCRS, mediated by the Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Law of PUCRS, Ingo Sarlet.
Photo: Gabriel Bessa – Ascom/PUCRS
The Center will be headed by the Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Law of UFRGS, Claudia Lima Marques, and Draiton Gonzaga de Souza, PUCRS’ Associate Dean of the School of Humanities, will serve as its Vice President. Relying on € 250,000 to be provided by the Ministry of External Relations of Germany every year, CDEA will increase the chances for the implementation of a new specialization program at PUCRS and a new line of research in European and German Law, in cooperation with the Research Line in Legal Integration of UFRGS. Another benefit brought by the institute, will be on the promotion of the German language, which will be strongly encouraged both at PUCRS’ Language Center (Lexis) and at the Modern Languages Department of UFRGS. CDEA might bring with it an increase in the number of exchange scholarships and grants for students and faculty, as it may also serve as a supporting tool for research into Germany-related topics in both the European and global context.
Cláudia Marques, the Center’s director, claims that the project is meant to bring benefit to students, professors as well as national and international partners: “No doubt, our institutions and their 20 graduate programs in the area of Humanities have received international recognition for their competence, excellence and experience”, states she. Souza claims that “we’ll become a an interinstitutional, interdisciplinary and international center of excellence, as we’ll bring together researchers from several areas to develop their projects”. The center’s actions are geared towards globalization, sustainable development and cultural diversity.
