Culture, Literacy, and Education
Location: Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre, Brazil
Dates: June 28 - July 18, 2009
Application Deadline: THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN CANCELED.
This year the three-week program combines study of education, history, culture, and language. The participants conduct their explorations in Brazil—a country with a complex, multiracial culture with a history of social and political activism in all aspects of community, including education—which provides an ideal setting for examining the intricate relationship among education, history, culture, and language.
The first week of the program is being offered in southern Brazil in Porto Alegre, one of the most vibrant and flourishing economic and cultural capital cities in Brazil. As one of Brazil’s most sophisticated cities and home of the World Social Forum, Porto Alegre has become an icon in terms of public education in Brazil and for the world. In addition to visiting the rich cultural and artistic venues, we visit both public and private schools, interact with students and educators, and learn about alternative pedagogical practices. Faculty from both the Federal University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS) meet with us to discuss their projects in the arts and culture, literacy, second/foreign language education, and the Popular Education Model which has been so successful that it has made Porto Alegre the city with the highest literacy levels in Brazil.
The second and third weeks of the program, conducted with the cooperation of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), are situated in Rio de Janeiro, a spectacular city with an enormous share of natural and cultural riches. In lectures, site visits, and seminars, the Brazilian faculty collaborates (in English) with faculty from NYU in a framework of problem posing that is a pedagogy with historical roots in Brazil. During this period there will be an optional trip to Salvador, Bahia, where we explore and experience a different Brazilian culture.
The problem-posing method was developed by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and critical pedagogists going back to the 1920s and the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory and is best known for its use with adult literacy students in Brazil. The method leads students of any academic discipline, any level or experience, to base new learning on personal experience in a way that encourages rigorous, critical reflection and learning. Focus is on active participation. This method lends itself well to combining theory with practice, and students in the program will be using this critical framework for focusing on various content areas of study.
6 Points. Offered through Teaching and Learning
Courses
Students register by advisement in 6 credits in the following courses according to program and degree requirements:
E27.2275.099: Language and Literacy Acquisition and Development (3 points)
E25.2055.098: Integrated Arts in Childhood Education (2 points)
E25.2070.098: Curriculum in Childhood Education (3 points)
E23.2145.099: Humanities and Social Studies (3 points)
E11.2300.099: Independent Study: Texts and Teaching for Diverse Learning Needs (1-3 points)
E23.2300.099: Independent Study: Texts and Teaching for Diverse Learning Needs (1-3 points)
E29.2005.099: Intercultural Perspectives in Multicultural Education (3 points)
E29.2039.099: Advanced Individual Projects in MMS (1-3 points)
E29.2300. 099: Independent Study (1-3 points)
E53.2802.098: Field Study and Seminar in International Education (4 points)
E53.2300.097: Independent Study in International Education (3 points)
Faculty
Fernando Naiditch, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching and Learning, New York University
Accommodations
Students live at conveniently located hotels in both Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre. In Rio, the hotel is located in the famous Copacabana neighborhood only a few blocks away from the beach. The area is filled with restaurants, night clubs, music clubs, and a huge shopping area. The hotel is modern and features laundry facilities, a swimming pool, and a sauna. During the optional weekend in Salvador, the hotel is located in Ondina, overlooking the beach. There is a swimming pool, fitness center, sauna, restaurant, bar, and convenience store as well as laundry facilities in the building.
Field Trips
In both locations, the program includes field trips to museums, theatres, samba schools, community music groups, and other significant cultural and historical sites, including schools for all ages of children and adults, intergenerational learning programs, community health projects, and NGOs involved in human rights projects.
Costs
Tuition: $1,149 per point (6 points), plus registration fees
2008 Program and activities fee: $625
2008 Accommodations fee: $1,200
2009 Fees: TBA
For More Information
Office of Academic Initiatives and Global Programs, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development, New York University, 82 Washington Square East, 5th floor, New York, NY 10003; (t) 1-212-992-9380; (f) 1-212-995-4923; steinhardt.global@nyu.edu
Fernando Naiditch, Department of Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, & Human Development, New York University, 239 Greene Street, New York, NY 10003-6677; (t) 1-212-998-5093; fn231@nyu.edu