Tecendo trajetórias identitárias: Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora em interação com a comunidade quilombola de São Pedro de Cima

Abstract

This work deals with the changes brought to the university environment from interactions with a quilombo community (or quilombola community). The Community of São Pedro de Cima (CSPC), located in the town of Divino, in the state of Minas Gerais, hosted in 2007 a group of students of the discipline Agrarian Geography, of the course of Geography, of the Geosciences Department of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), in order to conduct an educational activity proposed as a field work of quilombola community. This activity provided developments that led to the creation and implementation of university extension projects for the community which were developed for 9 years. The empirical basis of this research mentions the involvement of the researcher as a participant in the development of the extension projects that have driven these interactions. Data collected in the field work through the observation of the CSPC and the interviews with people of the UFJF involved in this trajectory were also used. Important aspects of this trajectory were treated in an attempt to demonstrate the influence of this interaction for UFJF. We were guided by the notion of collective subjectivities, created by Domingues, which includes the conscious and unconscious dimensions of these identification processes as well as its relational component. The present work focused the constitution processes of collectivities lived by students and teachers of the institution. In these collectivities, we observe vectors of insertion of discussions and practices on both the themes of quilombo and agroecology. We try to understand the impact of these issues and of the interaction in the university education process. The discussion is conducted in a way that tries to understand the importance of these practices, highlighting the role of the whole university’s extension project and elucidating the influences brought to the university environment.