São Paulo – The Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe) is going to offer the course “História Oral de Vida Imigrante – Comunidade e Identidade” (Oral History of Immigrant Life – Community and Identity), with the objective of presenting a methodology for study, research and creation of collections linked to the migratory process. The main focus will be on Arab immigration. The course, to be held at the headquarters of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, in the city of São Paulo, starts on the 13th and will continue until the 17th.
This will be the first activity of Icarabe’s Centre for Studies on Arab Immigration in Brazil (Al Máhjar). According to the general coordinator of the centre, Heloísa Abreu Dib, the idea is to promote an increasing number of courses, seminars and activities pertaining to immigration studies.
The goals of the course include discussing the notions of history, and individual and collective memory; understanding the importance of life stories in the contemporary context, enabling the participants to develop research in the field of humanities through the procedure of oral history, organizing action plans and projects, and underscoring the importance of personal involvement of the researcher with the community.
Specifically targeted at those interested in the subject of migratory studies in Brazil, the course counts on pedagogical coordination by the historian Samira Osman, who is a professor at the University Centre of the National Service of Commercial Education (Senac), and a researcher on immigration at Centre for Studies in Oral History of the University of São Paulo (Neho-USP). According to her, the migratory experience allows for the construction of feelings of identification and belonging to the group, which, by means of its actions, controls and influences people, establish relationships, determine values, and rules to be followed.
Besides Samira, three other professors are going to teach during the five days of the course. Educator and researcher Danilo Eiji Lopes, professor Maria Aparecida Blaz Vasques, and the researcher and coordinator of the Neho-USP, Suzana Lopes Salgado Ribeiro. At the end of the course, participants will receive a certificate of participation.
Enrolment ends on Friday (10th) and positions are limited. For further information and the full program go to the Icarabe Website (www.icarabe.org).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
