Institutions' history of cooperation includes several research initiatives and academic mobility
Photo: Uni-Bonn
The partnership between PUCRS and Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Germany has gotten stronger over the years. New projects and connections in different areas make the German institution one of the strategic partners within the Institutional Project of Internationalization (PUCRS-PrInt).
Both universities developed several academic exchanges until 2001. Then, in 2006, School of Humanities professor, Dr. Roberto Pich, did postdoctoral research at the German institution. The relationship between the universities got stronger with research and mobility projects for professors and students that resulted in the international cooperation agreement in 2013.
Professor Roberto Pich / Photo: Bruno Todeschini
Since 2001, the partnership between the universities involved several professors from Uni-Bonn, such as Ludger Honnefelder, Theo Kobusch, Christoph Horn, Michael Schulz and Christian Rode and other professors from the Graduate Program in Philosophy of PUCRS. In several moments, such as in 2006-2007 and 2011-2012, Dr. Roberto Hofmeister Pich, as an Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung fellow, did postdoctoral research at Uni-Bonn.
In 2015, under the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Dr. Pich carried out research on the reception of Aristotle’s political thought in Latin America, in partnership with Dr. Christoph Horn. Pich has also cooperated with Dr. Michael Schulz, professor at the Institute of Philosophy of Uni-Bonn, in projects on the philosophy of religion in Europe and Latin America.
Recently, as the first fellow of the CAPES/Uni-Bonn Chair, Roberto Hofmeister Pich served as a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Philosophy of Universität Bonn (2018-2019) and Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (2019-2020). With that, Prof. Pich became the Ambassador of the University of Bonn since 2019.
The University of Bonn is in more than one cooperation project within the PUCRS-PrInt priority area World in Motion: Individuals and Society. In addition to the mobility of faculty and students, PUCRS develops a number of activities with the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies.
Several work missions at the German university also resulted in cooperation projects. One of such visits included Dr. Draiton Gonzaga de Souza, Dr. Monica Ryff Vianna and Dr. Roberto Pich, in 2019. On the occasion, Dr. Draiton Gonzaga de Souza met with Dr. Michael Schulz and Dr. Christoph Horn to discuss ongoing research projects and organize visits by professors and managers from Universität Bonn to PUCRS.
During the same period, a delegation from Universität Bonn, including the Vice President of International Affairs, Dr. Stephan Conermann, visited PUCRS to meet managers and researchers from different areas. On that occasion, researchers discussed and initiated various mobility activities, including grants and work missions, within the scope of PrInt, and plans for expansion of graduate programs.
In terms of student mobility, Philosophy student Gabriela Nascimento Souza completed her doctoral research internship in 2020, under the advising of Professor Eduardo Luft. On top of that, student Marcos Lentino Messerschmidt did a training program at Universität Bonn in 2019, under the advising of Professor Ricardo Timm.
Since 2019, when the Resolution that regulates the association of foreign academics as Associate Foreign Professors came into force, PUCRS has had seven associated researchers from countries around the world. The partnership between PUCRS and Universität Bonn resulted in the association with Professor Michael Schulz in the Graduate Program in Philosophy.
The activities developed by the Associate Foreign Professor are defined by mutual agreement by Prof. Schulz and by the School of Humanities. These may include academic research activities together with PUCRS researchers, face-to-face or online graduate courses as well as graduate student advising.
Photo: Uni-Bonn
* Oct 2019: 1st Journey of Research into Migrations: Historical and Conceptual Perspectives and Analysis of Contemporary Phenomena. The event was attended by Dr. Christian Rode and Associate Foreign Professor, Dr. Michel Schulz. The meeting was integrated into the International Cooperation Project “Migrations: Historical and Conceptual Perspectives and Analysis of Contemporary Phenomena”, which is coordinated by Professor Antonio De Ruggiero and is under the priority area World in Motion: Individuals and Society.
In addition to allowing students to follow the discussion on the topic of Migration, the event advanced efforts from multidisciplinary research coordinated by PUCRS and Universität Bonn researchers and professors. It was attended by students and faculty from more than one graduate program and celebrated the productive and consolidated partnership of PUCRS with the Institute of Philosophy from Uni-Bonn.
* Nov 2021: Humboldt-Kolleg “Slavery, Freedom, Sustainability, and Pandemic: Debates on Brazilian and African Societies in Historical and Contemporary Perspective”, at PUCRS. The event was organized by Dr. Roberto Pich and featured several faculty members and researchers of PUCRS. It served to renew the joint actions with the Cluster of Excellence Beyond Slavery and Freedom: Asymmetrical Dependencies in Pre-Modern Societies” by Uni-Bonn.
* 2019: III Colloquium of Philosophy of Religion: PUCRS and Universität Bonn – “The Religion and the Others: Ethical-Theological and Ethical-Philosophical Perspectives on Immigrants and Foreigners”. The event featured Dr. Christian Rode and Dr. Michael Schulz from Universität Bonn. At the Colloquium, different perspectives on immigrants and foreigners were presented. Topics included the representation of Amerindian indigenous cultures by Europeans in the 16th – 17th centuries, the mediation of principles of natural law and justice regarding the relationship with the different and the foreigner, the perception of the other and the foreigner in religions and, in particular, in Christian theology, as well as the meaning and importance of virtue and the duty of hospitality.
* Oct 2019: Dr. Christian Rode gave lectures to students and faculty of the Graduate Programs at the School of Humanities, including the lecture entitled “Time, Modality and Anselm’s Argument”. The conference was open to the academic community and gave students the chance to hear the interpretation of Anselmo de Cantuária’s theistic arguments, based on reference works such as Monologion and Proslogion.
