Alexandre da Trindade – ad988@cam.ac.uk
I am a Brazilian doctoral student at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, working with Professor Susan L. Robertson and hold a Master’s degree in Global Prosperity at University College London (UCL). My research examines the role of higher education, which goes beyond the traditional functions of teaching and research and contributes to the development of alternative futures (e.g., Buen Vivir, human flourishing), social justice, democratic societies and emancipated individuals. I am a founding member of CLAREC and a member of the “Knowledge, Power and Politics” (KPP) and the “Decolonizar a América Latina e seus Espaços” (¡DALE!) research groups. I hold a degree and an MBA in marketing from the ESPM/SP in Brazil, and has almost twenty years of professional experience working with innovation and technology projects in large companies and through international partnerships and networks.
My academic experience over the last four years builds on almost twenty years of professional experience working with innovation and technology projects in large companies in Brazil and through international partnerships and networks. Four years ago, I decided to follow a new professional path offering more promising social contributions. This new journey began with an MA in Global Prosperity at University College London (UCL) and continues through the Doctoral degree in Education that I am currently undertaking at the University of Cambridge. Although it is a complex and challenging process involving changing areas of knowledge and language, and developing relationships within new environments and with new communities and groups, it has been extremely rewarding. The complete shift of perspective and the critical re-evaluation of the world this new path has required has enabled me to investigate and assess where and how I can best contribute.
In recent years and in line with my research project, which aims to discuss the social role of the university, I have been engaged in transforming and democratising the spaces of the academy I access. I have promoted debates, projects and practices that can contribute to changing the relationship between the university and the outside world, especially marginalised communities and social movements from peripheral regions. In 2019, my colleagues from the Faculty of Education in Cambridge and I founded the Cambridge Latin American Research in Education Collective (CLAREC), aiming to create a space for Latin American perspectives and make visible the region’s knowledge production. In so doing we made a positive contribution to the current debates in education research concerning the diversification and decolonisation of academia.
A highlight among the initiatives we promoted was a two-week series of events entitled “Paulo Freire 100th Anniversary: Celebrating His Legacy in Education”, which involved around 1,260 participants from all over the world and included 14 initiatives, such as lectures, reading groups, seminars and cultural workshops, organised by 16 partner entities, including research groups, social movements and collectives from Brazil and the United Kingdom. The events and the installation of the bust of Paulo Freire at the University of Cambridge, which was also part of the cultural and academic programme, had significant visibility within and outside the university community and were recognised as an inspiring collective initiative. In this sense, engaging with the Dialogue Society and participating in this extraordinary project will significantly enhance my academic development, just as I hope to make significant contributions based on the perspectives and experience I gained outside and, more recently, within academia.
Despite my brief time at the university, I have entered into a very active academic life organising conferences and seminars at the University of Cambridge and presenting papers at international conferences such as the 37th EGOS Colloquium 2021 and the Cambridge ESRC DTP Annual Postgraduate Conference. I was also part of the organizing group of the Education Axis at the World Social Forum 2022 that was held in Mexico. In addition, my first relevant experience as an author of an academic publication is underway, writing an article for the Special Issue “Paulo Freire – Global Educator” of the Globalisation, Societies and Education Journal, for which I am editor along with Professors Susan Robertson and Carlos Alberto Torres.
Cambridge Latin American Research in Education Collective 