São Paulo – Aswan University is looking to select four professors of Portuguese language and literature until April 25. Those selected will have a monthly allowance to teach in the university between October 2017 to June 2019. The university is located in the city of Aswan, south of Egypt, at 950 km from Cairo.
The university created a Portuguese language and literature course in 2015 and in May of this year the first group will graduate. Since the beginning, Brazilians have been part of the group of professors. Besides teaching, those selected are encouraged to do research during their time in Egypt and attend events focused on the topic.
To register, it’s required to have a major or master’s degree in Language, Literature, Portuguese language or other similar areas. The professor also needs to have basic fluence in English and be available to learn Arabic and Arab culture during their stay. The university prefers people with teaching experience and asks the candidates to be able to respectfully deal with a different culture.
Besides teaching, the professors will have to prepare, elaborate and correct tests, cooperate with other professors, write a report at the end of the teaching period on the classes and research developed, take part in the development of learning material and represent the Portuguese Language Department in academic activities.
The monthly allowance will be of EGP 3,600 (USD 200). The professors will also have their transportation to the university covered, a room in the teachers’ home at campus and a certificate for the internship. Egypt has a low cost of living.
Maged ElGebaly, coordinator of the Portuguese Language Department at Aswan University, is an enthusiast of the participation of Brazilian in the local education system. “It’s a daily exchange of experience and knowledge, a mutual support between two peoples facing the new reality presented by globalization, with daily challenges and learnings,” he says.
The course is part of the Faculty of Al-Alsun of Aswan University. According to ElGebaly, the presence of professors from Brazil in the university in these last three years allowed the students to access the Brazilian diversity, since they came from different regions of Brazil.
According to him, it was also an opportunity for the internationalization of Brazilian researchers. “To research and publish jointly within an epistemology of the South gives the internationalization process another flavor, new ideas, it’s a South-South dialogue,” says the Egyptian, mentioning the relations between developing countries.
Aswan University is in a historic and strategic place, since it’s close to Sudan and ports of the Red Sea. “It’s meeting point between Arabs and Africans, on the banks of the Nile River, it’s considered Africa’s cultural capital,” says ElGebaly, recalling that the place is a crossing point of goods to African markets.
To register for the posts in the Aswan University, send resumes with a letter of intention to aswanportugues@gmail.com. Candidates will be called to an interview via Skype and the results will come after July 20.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
