CES Summer School - Epistemologies of the South IV - The end of a cognitive empire: what comes next?

CES Summer School

Epistemologies of the South IV - The end of a cognitive empire: what comes next?

June 21 to 29, 2018

Curia (Portugal)

About

THE INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL “EPISTEMOLOGIES OF THE SOUTH” IS A COLLECTIVE SPACE DESIGNED TO MEET, EXPERIENCE, DISCUSS AND BROADEN THE EPISTEMOLOGIES OF THE SOUTH.

The Epistemologies of the South are an epistemological and political proposal that put into question the hegemonic centrality of the modern eurocentric matrix project and wager on the broadening of cognitive justice and social justice recognising the impossibility of one existing without the other. The South, in this context, is not a geographical place, rather a metaphor for the unjust suffering promoted by the oppression of colonialism, capitalism and hetero-patriarchy and for a plural space of epistemological creativity closely linked to knowledges forged in resistances and struggles. The South thus thought is heterogeneous and includes diverse spaces, varied experiences and an infinity of knowledges. The Epistemologies of the South recognize these differences and value them, encouraging South-South dialogues, as well as South-North dialogues.

The end of a cognitive empire, title of Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ latest book (forthcoming), points to the epistemological and political exhaustion of Eurocentric thought and the need to value epistemological, pedagogical and methodological proposals that promote the struggle against epistemicide, the destruction of knowledges not validated or made non-existent by the criteria of the modern scientific canon.

The Summer School is a crossroads for the expansion of political and epistemological imagination, which does not exhaust itself in the denouncement of capitalist, hegemonic, colonialist and hetero-patriarchal thinking. It also aims to build and think different alternatives, at different scales, that, through intercultural translation, can contribute to the reinvention of the narratives on what comes next. Articulating art, science and knowledges of resistances and struggles, the work will be collective and will bring together Boaventura de Sousa Santos, researchers from the Epistemologies of the South group, poets and musicians, as well as forty participants from all over the world.

As in the previous editions, a heterogeneous group is expected in terms of origin, knowledge, age and experience of work and struggle. This summer school will be a space of mutual exchange and co-learnings that will provide the means to imagine and draw utopias from concrete experiences and knowledges

Epistemologies of the South are based on four assumptions:

1.That the understanding of the world is much broader than the Western understanding of the world;

2. That alternatives are not lacking in the world. What is indeed missing is an alternative thinking of alternatives;

3. That the epistemic diversity of the world is infinite and no general theory can hope to understand it;

4. That the alternative to a general theory is the promotion of an ecology of knowledges combined with intercultural translation.

What distinguishes our school

The epistemological imaginary of this Summer School goes beyond the conformist scientific convention. The school is an active social laboratory where science, art, social struggle experiences, bodies and emotions come together.

We understand the course as a space for socialising, well-being, and the sharing of heterogeneous knowledges and mutual learnings between all. We recognise the centrality of production of knowledge beyond the walls of academia while seeking artistic production to challenge political imagination.

Academics, artists, other professionals, students and activists will share classes, science and social struggles workshops, art workshops, social and leisure time, conversations, reflection spaces, field trips and times planned by the participants. We propose diversity and intercultural dialogue. On the one hand, we recognise the extraordinary differences that make up the world, and secondly, we believe that shared experiences of struggle allow the creation of a South both diverse and united with a potential of resistance against colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy.

While acknowledging the operational difficulties of linguistic diversity, the Summer School refuses the hegemony of unique language and the exclusions that it promotes and is open to Portuguese or Spanish or English speakers. Translation will be partly provided by professional translators. During the moments otherwise not possible, the course will appeal to the shared responsibility of participants that can help in translation. The seminar coordinators the will be available in this collaboration.

Curia, in the Centro region of Portugal, with a natural park as landscape, is a perfect setting for a quiet and simultaneously intense week of learnings and mutual enrichment.

Objectives

In the light of the Epistemologies of the South, this course seeks to go beyond modern Eurocentric knowledge or, in the language of Epistemologies of the South, to go beyond abyssal thinking. Abyssal thinking is a metaphor coined by Boaventura de Sousa Santos on the hegemony of modern thought.

Abyssal and post-abyssal thinking

An imaginary line divides the world into the realm of “this side of the line” and the realm “on the other side the line” inhibiting co-presence. The other side, more than irrelevant, is produced as nonexistent. Overcoming abyssal thinking involves transforming absences in emergencies, ecology of knowledges, and intercultural translation. These epistemological instruments will be cornerstones of this Summer School and at the end, should be broadly understood by all.

II.

Transformative Knowledge

The global sharing of experiences, knowledges and projects for social transformation will crucially broaden the discussions and perspectives in a spirit of collective enrichment. The goal is for everyone, trainers and trainees, to leave transformed and enriched. The construction of a collective that will not wither by end of the ten days of the school, rather preserving in space and time, continuing its goals, will be highly encouraged.

III.

Emancipatory Mapping of Social Struggles

Stemming from the challenge of ecology of knowledges, the School intends to build a more emancipatory mapping accommodating languages, stories, knowledges, options, resistances and struggles typically excluded from the official narratives or classified as inferior and irrelevant.

THE CHALLENGE IS BROAD: LEARN TO DREAM COLLECTIVELY AND TO EXPLORE THE UNSETTLING ALCHEMY OF ART, SCIENCE, AND STRUGGLE TOWARDS THE CREATION OF PROJECTS OF DEMOCRATISATION OF COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.

Programme

Download the programme here:

Who should apply

Applications are open to all those interested in participating in a challenging space of mutual learnings towards the decolonisation of thought and the struggle against capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy. We anticipate a heterogeneous group, composed of academics of different fields, and other artists/professionals, students and activists, from different parts of the world. Participants' involvement in social movements or other forms of activism or social struggle is highly valued.

Application, registration and tuition

I. APPLICATION

Applications run until February 15^th, 2018.

All those interested in participating in the Summer School must fill in the form below and attach a short cover/motivation letter and a short CV.

IMPORTANT

1. The cover/motivation letter can be written in English, Portuguese or Spanish and should not exceed 700 words. This letter must state the candidate's path as a student, academic, artist, activist and/or other experience considered relevant, as well as the motivation for this application.

2. The CV should not exceed 2 pages;

3. Applicants will receive a confirmation that the application was received.

4. The course is limited to 40 participants. Applicants will be notified of acceptance or non-acceptance until March 15^th.

II. SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION

4 scholarships covering the full participation in the course (registration fee, accommodation, meals and transportation from Coimbra to Curia and back).

Applications for scholarships should be submitted simultaneously with the application for the course, selecting the option "Scholarship Application", included in the course’s application form.
In this case, in addition to the short CV (up to two pages) and cover letter (up to 700 words), candidates must attach a letter of justification for the scholarship application, which should be no longer than 500 words.

APPLICATION FORM

III. REGISTRATION

Until April 20^th accepted applicants must pay a deposit of 100€. This value, non-refundable in case of withdrawal, will be deducted from the total amount of the fee if registration is completed.

After paying the deposit, participants should proceed to the registration within the prescribed deadlines. There are various types of registration modalities with different fees.

REGISTRATION - SUMMER SCHOOL

Registration and payment of deposit Deadline: April 20^th	100€
Early Bird Fee Deadline for full payment of the registration fee: May 1^st	Students: 980€ Regular: 1280€
Late Bird Fee Deadline for full payment of the registration fee: June 1^st	Students: 1280€ Regular: 1400€

The deadline for full payment of the registration fee is May 1^st(early-bird fee) and June 1^st (late bird fee).

In case of withdrawal, the registration fee will be refunded when notice of withdrawal is given at least 45 days before the course starts. Any cancellations after May 17^thwill not be subject to any refund. Under no situation will the 100€ deposit be subject to refund.

Notification of acceptance will be accompanied by guidelines for the participant regarding how to proceed with the deposit, the registration and payment of registration fee.

The organising committee will not be responsible for obtaining visas or support funds but may provide assistance. Participants may request documents necessary to travel or obtain funding, including invitation letters.

For any queries relating to these matters, please contact the organising committee at alicesummerschool@ces.uc.pt.

TUITION INCLUDES PARTICIPATION IN SEMINARS; ACCOMMODATION IN DOUBLE ROOMS AT THE HOTEL DAS TERMAS IN CURIA; BREAKFASTS, LUNCHES, DINNERS AND COFFEE BREAKS; READING MATERIALS; AND TRANSFER TO AND FROM COIMBRA - CURIA.
TUITION DOES NOT INCLUDE DOMESTIC OR FOREIGN TRAVEL TO COIMBRA

Session Coordinators


Boaventura de Sousa Santos

Boaventura de Sousa Santos is Professor of Sociology at the School of Economics, University of Coimbra (Portugal), Distinguished Legal Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School and Global Legal Scholar at the University of Warwick. He is the Director of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra and Scientific Coordinator of the Permanent Observatory for Portuguese Justice. Currently he coordinates of the research project ALICE – Strange Mirrors, Unsuspected Lessons. He has published widely on globalisation, sociology of law and the state, epistemology, democracy, and human rights in Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian, French and German. Among his most recent and relevant publications are: Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide (Paradigm, 2014); Toward a New Common Sense: Law, Science and Politics in the Paradigmatic Transition (Routledge, 1995); The Rise of the Global Left. The World Social Forum and Beyond (Zed Books, 2006); Toward a New Legal Common Sense. Law, globalization, and emancipation (Butterworths, 2002). > further

Bruno Sena Martins

Bruno Sena Martins is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra. He is currently Vice-President of CES Scientific Board, executive co-coordinator of the Doctoral Programme "Human Rights in Contemporary Societies", and co-coordinator of the educational outreach activity "Ces Goes to School". Between 2013 and 2016, he was Co-coordinator of the research group "Democracy, Citizenship and Law Research Group (DECIDe)" In 2007 he was Research Fellow at the Centre for Disability Studies (CDS), School of Sociology and Social Policy. His research interests are centred on the body, disability, human rights and colonialism. He has undertaken ethnographic fieldwork in Portugal, India and Mozambique. > further

Inês Nascimento Rodrigues

Inês Nascimento Rodrigues is a postdoctoral researcher at "CROME - Crossed Memories, Politics of Silence: The Colonial-Liberation Wars in Postcolonial Times", coordinated by Miguel Cardina and funded by the European Research Council. She holds a PhD in Postcolonialisms and Global Citizenship from CES/FEUC, in which she developed an analysis of the representations of the Batepá Massacre in São Tomé and Príncipe. Her current research interests include memory studies, postcolonial theories and the debates about the representation and commemoration of the Colonial-Liberation wars. > further

João Arriscado Nunes

João Arriscado Nunes is Professor of Sociology at the School of Economics and Researcher at CES. Co-coordinator of the Doctoral Programme "Governance, Knowledge and Innovation) and was a Visiting Researcher at FIOCRUZ in Rio de Janeiro. His research interests include social studies of science and technology (namely social studies of biomedicine, health and the life sciences and public engagement with science and technology), political sociology (democracy and participation) and social theory. Co-editor of Enteados de Galileu: A Semiperiferia no Sistema Mundial da Ciência (Porto:Afrontamento, 2001, with Maria Eduarda Gonçalves); Reinventing Democracy:Grassroots Movements in Portugal (London: Routledge, 2006, with Boaventura de Sousa Santos), The Dynamics of Patient Organizations in Europe (Paris:Presses de l'École des Mines, with Madeleine Akrich, Florence Patterson and Vololona Rabeharisoa); Objectos Impuros: Experiências em Estudos Sobre a Ciência (Porto: Afrontamento, 2008, with Ricardo Roque). He was PI of the projects BIOSENSE and "Evaluating the State of Public Knowledge on Health and Health Information in Portugal". Participated in other national and international research projects. > further

José Manuel Mendes

José Manuel Mendes, a researcher of the Centre for Social Studies - University of Coimbra, holds a PhD in Sociology by the School of Economics of the University of Coimbra, where he is an Assistant Professor. His research focus is on inequalities, social mobility, social movements and collective action and, more recently, on the themes of risk and social vulnerability.He is co-coordinator with Rita Serra of the Risk Observatory (OSIRIS) of the Centre for Social Studies. He also co-coordinates, with Luísa Sales, the Trauma Centre of the Centre for Social Studies.Among his more important publications are Os lugares (im) possíveis da cidadania. Estado e risco num mundo globalizado (co-edited with pedro Araújo, Almedina, 2013) and Do ressentimento ao reconhecimento: vozes, identidades e processos políticos nos Açores (1974-1996) (Afrontamento, 2003). > further

Leire Mesa

Leire Mesa, Basque Country 1987. Circus artist dedicated to creation, generator of actions and synergies for circus, theater and various rebellions. The circus is her discipline as a stage language and the Trapeze her circus specialty. Her work with the body has gone through dance, gestural theater and she is currently studying with Alexander Sasha Gavrilov to enhance her vertical capacity. Her beginnings in circus training, in different spaces of non-regulated education, lead him to act and travel around the world. She was co-founder of the theater-circus company of Atropecias del País Vasco street. Travel to Bristol to study at the official school Circomedia. In England he works with the company Nofit State in the show Bianco. And later, as a result of her collaboration with the director Firenza Guidi, she made her first solo show, I Live, with her. In 2015 he presents his thesis Twisting the Balance as a work itinerary, research and methodology, within the program of the Master NPP of the DOCH University in Stockholm. The project is born from the need to twist his circus practice in interaction with other artistic, social and political forms. He founded the Cie Twisting the Balance. He works for the Circus Company Animal Religion in Sapiens Zoo, creates the INK community project in Alby (Stockholm), collaborates in the Political Circus show of Metro to Madina in Lebanon. She recently completed a postgraduate degree at the University of KKH (Stockholm) in architecture/cities/utopias, creating the exhibition INK and the performative piece Witches, Bitches on the Beaches. At the same time she is working in the organisation of the Encuentro Voz Láctea: Magdalena Tarahumara and as part of the artistic advisory group for the organization of the Subcase festival in Stockholm

Maria Paula Meneses

Maria Paula Meneses is a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra. She is also a member of the Centre for Social Studies Aquino de Bragança, in Mozambique. Among the research topics which she currently works on are postcolonial debates, legal pluralism, with particular emphasis on the relations between the State and the 'traditional authorities' in the African context , and the role of official history, memory and 'other' stories in the rescue of a broader sense of belonging in the field of contemporary identity processes, especially in the African geopolitical context. Maria Paula Meneses has taught at the University of Seville (Spain), SOAS (UK), Bayreuth (Germany), Universidade Federal Fluminense (Brazil), among others.Among her published works are: O Direito por fora do Direito: as instâncias extra-judiciais de resolução de conflitos em Luanda (co-edited with Julio Lopes, Almedina, 2012); Epistemologias do Sul (co-edited with Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Cortez, 2012); Law and Justice in a Multicultural Society: The Case of Mozambique (co-edited with Boaventura de Sousa Santos and João Carlos Trindade, CODESRIA, 2006). > further

Mick Mengucci

Musician, performer and multimedia engineer. Italian, residing in Lisbon, since 1998, mixes scientific skills with his music, poetry and art. He works as entertainer and singer in bands and coordinates artistic projects mixing spoken word with multimedia interaction. Gives workshops in schools, around poetry slam, digital arts and musicality in collaboration with other artists and human beings through the Lab.I.O. – Laboratory for Interaction with orality. Mick was finalist in the first slam he participated to (second poetry slam ever organized in Portugal by the “Festival do Silencio” organization in 2010) and then won many m onthly editions of Slam LX and two editions of Slam Sul. Apart from that he started the regular events of poetry slam in Portugal with a group called Poetry Slam Lisboa, now not active anymore, and the with Lab.I.O. Slam. > further

Raquel Lima

Raquel Lima was born in 1983 (Lisbon). Graduated in Art Studies from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, she works at the Centre for Comparative Studies of the same university. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Programme Post-Colonialisms and Global Citizenship (CES-FEUC) at the University of Coimbra. Her research focuses on literature, oral tradition, subalternities, diasporas and feminisms. She has collaborated in several artistic structures as cultural manager in the area of contemporary dance, theatre, music, literature, architecture, performance, cinema and visual arts. In 2011 she founded the Pantalassa Cultural Association for artistic mobility in the Lusophone space. She writes poetry to be spoken, having participated in several national and international events dedicated to the word and to spoken-word, in Italy, France, Poland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, Spain, Holland, Sao Tome and Principe, Sweden and Switzerland. She published her poems in fanzines, poetic anthologies and collections of experimental literature, such as Edições Côdeas, 3,2,1, SLAM !, Fazedores de Letras, Poetas do Povo, the feminine fanzine PPKDanada and anthology Crazy Tartu. As a trainer of Poetry workshops, among others, is the Slam São Tomé, under of the artistic residence 'Portugal Contemporâneo com São Tomé and Príncipe', the project 'Palabra Dita e Feita' in Lisbon and Porto, the 1st Lusophone Poetry Slam within the IV Biennial of Lusophone Cultures and the 'Poetry and Gender' Workshop in Tartu, Estonia (2015) and São Paulo, Brazil (2017). Between 2012 and 2017 she was General Coordinator of PortugalSLAM - Platform and International Festival of Poetry and Performance. > further

Renan Inquérito

Brazilian, Master in Geography by Unicamp and PhD candidate at Unesp, he began his trajectory as a teacher in rural settlements, moving on to teaching at elementary, middle and high schools and college. Artistically, he has been in the hip-hop movement since 1997, when he founded the rap group Inquérito, with which he recorded 5 albums throughout his career. With three published poetry books his work blends art and education with a hip-hop and literature angle. In his master's dissertation “Cada Canto um Rap, Cada Rap um Canto” [Every Song a Rap, Every Rap a Song] (Unicamp, 2012), told the story of Brazilian regionalities through rap. He co-authored the Rap Opera Global script with the sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos, with whom he also conducts research and is preparing a book.> further

Sara Araújo

Sara Araújo is a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra and one of the coordinators of the Summer School. Sara Araújo holds a PhD in Sociology of Law with a thesis on legal pluralism and Epistemologies of the South. Member of the coordinating team of the Alice project, currently transformed into the Research programme in Epistemologies of the South. She is also a member of the collective that coordinates the Popular University of Social Movements (UPMS) in Europe. She was part of the Permanent Observatory for Portuguese Justice (2003-2005), member of the research team of the Centro de Formação Jurídica e Judiciária de Moçambique (2005-2006) and associate researcher at the Centre for African Studies-Eduardo Mondlane University (2008-2010). Co-editor of the book A dinâmica do pluralismo jurídico em Moçambique (2014) and has published several articles in scientific journals on justice in Mozambique and decolonialisation of State and law. Coauthor of two chapters of the book Retratos da justiça moçambicana: Redes informais de Resolução de conflitos em espaços urbanos e rurais (Ed. André Cristiano José, 2016), author, among others, of chapters in the following books: A ciência ao serviço do Desenvolvimento? Experiências de países africanos falantes de língua oficial portuguesa (Ed. Teresa Cruz and Silva and Isabel Casimiro, 2015), In Search of Justice and Peace. Traditional and Informal Justice Systems in Africa (Ed. Manfred Hinz and Clever Mapaure, 2012); and Pluralismo Jurídico. Os novos caminhos da contemporaneidade (Ed. Antônio Wolkmer, 2010). Her research interests included legal pluralism, transformative constitutionalism, post-abyssal judicial cartographies, human rights and interculturality, popular education, ecology of knowledges and ecology of justices. Experienced in fieldwork in Portugal, Mozambique and Timor Leste. > further

Teresa Cunha

Teresa Cunha was born in Huambo, Angola and lives in Coimbra, Portugal. She has a PhD in Sociology by the University of Coimbra with a comparative thesis on 'A feminist and post-colonial analysis of East Timorese and Mozambican women's power and authority strategies'. She is working in a post-doctoral project with the following title: Women InPower Women. Democracy, dignity and good-living in Mozambique, South Africa and Brazil. is a senior researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of Coimbra University. She is a professor at the College of Education in Coimbra, senior trainer of the Council of Europe and president of the NGO 'Action for Justice and Peace'. She has studied Philosophy, Theology, Sciences of Education and Sociology. Her research main interests are: feminism, post-colonialism and Indian ocean, human rights; women and post-conflict; security and memory, feminist economies. She has published the following books: Ensaios pela Democracia. Justiça, dignidade e bem-viver; Elas no Sul e no Norte; Timor-Leste: Crónica da Observação da Coragem; Feto Timor Nain Hitu - Sete Mulheres de Timor; Vozes das Mulheres de Timor; Andar Por Outros Caminhos; Raízes da ParticipAcção. She also published several scientific articles and book chapters in different countries and languages. > further

Organisers

Boaventura de Sousa Santos bsantos@ces.uc.pt
S ara Araújo sara@ces.uc.pt
Bruno Sena Martins bsenamartins@ces.uc.pt
Teresa Cunha teresacunha@ces.uc.pt
Rita Kacia Oliveira (Executive Coordinator) ritakacia@ces.uc.pt

Important dates

Deadline for applications

~~October 18^th_,~~ 2017 to February 15th, 2018

II.

Notification of acceptance or non-acceptance of the application

until March 15^th_, 2018

III.

Deadline for payment of early-bird registration fee

May 1^st_,2018

IV.

Deadline for payment of late-bird registration fee

June 1^st_^,2018

Deadline for deposit payment
(to be discounted in the total amount of the registration fee)

April 20^th_, 2018

Where

The Summer School will be held at the Hotel das Termas - Curia, Termas, Spa & Golf, located in the village of Curia, in the Centro Region of Portugal, about 2 hours from Lisbon, 1 hour from Porto, 45 minutes from Aveiro and 30 minutes from Coimbra. The organising committee will assure the transport from Coimbra, where the Centre for Social Studies is located, to Curia. The meeting point will be at the Centre for Social Studies on June 21st, 2018 from 10h00-12h00.

Partnerships

^{Project funded by FCT - Portugal (with national funds and co-financed by the ERDF through the Competitiveness and Innovation Operational Program COMPETE 2020) through the project PTDC / CVI-ANT / 6100/2014 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016859}

Centre for Social Studies (CES)

The Centre for Social Studies was created within the School of Economics at the University of Coimbra four years after the Revolução dos Cravos (Carnation Revolution) of 25 April 1974, and has been headed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos since its foundation. When it was first created, it was clear that Portugal needed to know more about itself and to learn about Europe, given that it was involved in closer integration. Its interests, however, extended further than this. Once the European nation with the widest contacts outside Europe, Portugal was in a favourable position to serve as a port of transit for Europe and the non-European world. From the outset, some researchers have concentrated on studying Portuguese society and some on European affairs, whilst others have focused on Latin American and African contexts, with Asia also emerging as a field of study at the end of the 1990s.

The CES is, nowadays, an academic institution dedicated to research and advanced training in the social and human sciences. It has an extensive body of researchers working in various areas, including sociologists, economists, jurists, anthropologists, historians, specialists in education, literature, culture and international relations, geographers, architects, engineers and biologists.

In recent years, the scientific work of the CES has expanded significantly. Its body of researchers has grown continuously, the number of research projects has increased, international cooperative networks have been extended, work involving collaboration with outside entities has grown and the main mechanisms for disseminating scientific results are flourishing.

The research projects and international scientific networks in which its researchers have participated over the past decade confirm the dynamism of the Centre for Social Studies, which, in 1997 and in 1999, and more recently in 2005 and 2010, received recognition of its scientific merit when it was evaluated as Excellent (the highest classification) by an international panel, within the framework of the Evaluation Process for Research Units of the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education. In February 2002, the CES was awarded the status of Associate Laboratory by the Ministry of Science on the basis of two central premises: firstly, its proven capacity to develop innovative research into different aspects of Portuguese society as well as into changes currently taking place throughout the world, with an emphasis on semi-peripheral and southern hemisphere societies, particularly in the Portuguese-speaking countries, and, secondly, the Centre’s involvement in matters of public interest, namely public policies and new forms of regulation, relations between academic knowledge and citizen participation, and, finally, the legal system and the reform of the administration of justice.

The University of Coimbra is located in the Centro Region of Portugal, city of Coimbra. With a history dating back to the end of the XIII century, the UC is the oldest university in Portugal and one of the oldest in Europe. On June 22nd, 2013 it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Previous Editions

This is the fourth edition of the Summer School Epistemologies of the South. The first edition took place in 2014 and was founded on a broader political and intellectual initiative, the project ALICE – Strange Mirrors, Unsuspected Lessons: Leading Europe to a new way of sharing the world experiences.

Seeking to re-think and renovate socio-scientific knowledge in light of the Epistemologies of the South, proposed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos, with the objective of developing new theoretical and political paradigms of social transformation, ALICE ran from 2011 to 2016, was coordinated by Boaventura de Sousa Santos and financed by the European Research Council (ERC), one of the most prestigious and highly competitive international financial institutes for scientific excellence in Europe.

Please direct all queries to:

alicesummerschool@ces.uc.pt

Reach us at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra:

+351 239 855570

FAQS

1. Who can participate?
Applications are open to all those available to participate in a challenging space of mutual learnings towards the decolonisation of thought and struggle against capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy. A heterogeneous group is expected in terms of origin, knowledge, age and experience of work and struggles, composed of academics of different areas, artists and other professionals, students and activists. Involvement in social movements or other forms of activism or social struggle is highly valued.

2. What are the working languages at the Summer School?
While acknowledging the operational difficulties of linguistic diversity, the Summer School refuses the hegemony of one language and the exclusions that it promotes and is open to Portuguese or Spanish or English speakers. Translation will be partly provided by professional translators. During the moments otherwise not possible, the course will appeal to the shared responsibility of participants that can help in translation. The seminar coordinators the will be available in this collaboration.

3. Will I have access to the Summer School’s Reading materials before the beginning of the course?
Yes. You will have access to the materials online a month prior to the beginning of Summer School, at the least.

4. When and where will the Summer School be held?
The Summer School will be held between June 21 and June 30, 2018, at the Hotel das Termas - Curia, Termas, Spa & Golf, Anadia, the village of Curia, about 30 minutes from Coimbra and Aveiro. For detailed information see Where and Important dates.

5. Where will Summer School participants be accommodated?
Participants will be accommodated in a shared room at the Hotel das Termas - Curia, Termas, Spa & Golf, in Anadia, about 30km from Coimbra, Portugal. The rooms are spacious, with two beds, and absolutely comfortable for two people. If we are expressly requested accommodation in a single room, if there is availability at the hotel, we will make a single room reservation. Please note that in this case you will be charged an extra fee of 375€.For more information see Where.

6. Will I have access to the internet during the Summer School?
Yes. The Hotel das Termas - Curia, Termas, Spa & Golf has wireless network.

7. Will I be entitled to a certificate of participation?
Yes. All participants will receive a certificate of participation.

8. Until when can I apply and what is the deadline for payment?
Applications run until February 15^th, 2018. Up to April 20^th, 2018, accepted candidates must pay a 100€ deposit. Those who complete full payment of the registration fee by May 1^st, 2018, will benefit from a reduced rate. The deadline for payment is May 1^st, 2018 (early -bird fee) or June 1^st (late-bird fee with increased costs).

For more information see Application, Registration and Tuition and Important dates .

9. Does the registration fee include accommodation?
Yes. Registration includes participation in the seminars; accommodation in double rooms; breakfasts, lunches, dinners and coffee breaks; reading materials and transportation from Coimbra to Curia. Tuition does not include travel to and from Coimbra. If we are expressly requested accommodation in a single room, if there is availability at the hotel, we will make a single room reservation. Please note that in this case you will be charged an extra fee of 300€. For more information see Application, Registration and Tuition.

10. Does the registration fee include meals?
Yes. Registration includes participation in the Summer School, accommodation in shared double rooms at the hotel, lunches, dinners and coffee breaks, social programme and the course materials. For more information see Application, Registration and Tuition.

11. Will I receive a confirmation when payment is completed?
Yes. You will receive a confirmation the moment you register, including details for making a payment. As soon as you complete the fee payment you will receive a transaction confirmation.

12. Can I request documentation for visa purposes and support funding?
The organising committee will not be responsible for arranging visas nor support funds, however, it may assist in obtaining the necessary documentation for your trip, through the preparation and submission of letters of acceptance and/or certificates. For issues related to these matters, please contact us: alicesummerschool@ces.uc.pt

13. Do I need insurance?
Each participant must have a personal insurance coverage, including medical assistance in the case of emergency. We recommend that you also purchase a travel insurance. Please make sure you bring your insurance policy papers with you.

CONTACT
alicesummerschool@ces.uc.pt

+351 239855570 (Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra)