Teaching social and human sciences in the collective health undergraduate course: Between challenges and opportunities for transgressions

Abstract

The implementation, from2009, of the undergraduate course on collective health (GSC) in Brazil and its progressively dissemination has brought to the surface old epistemological, practical or politicalinstitutional issues, and led to the emergence of others. Above all, it should be noted that this new undergraduate course puts once again in the center of the debate the question of the collective health identity or, rather, the specificities of its objects, actors, knowledge and practices. After all, both the pedagogical projects (student’s profile, curricular structure etc.) as its modus operandi reflect a given conception of the field. This article discusses the singularities and challenges of teaching social and human sciences in the undergraduate course in collective health, considering these elements through the analysis of a particular course or, better said, the sharing of experiences and impressions of the authors that integrate its academic staff. In the first part of the article, arguments are presented in defense of the emancipatory formation and multiuniversity knowledge, supported by the dialogue with Boaventura de Souza Santos. It is considered that such perspectives are especially welcome in undergraduate collective health, which has proved to be a useful space for experimenting new ways of acting in education and health.