INTERDISCIPLINARY DEGREE IN AFRICAN AND AFRO-BRAZILIAN STUDIES: A PIONEERING DEGREE IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The Law no. 10,639/2003 made the teaching of Afro-Brazilian and African history and culture mandatory in Brazil. In this context, in order to the theme integrates curricular practices effectively, it is essential to decolonize the markedly Eurocentric curriculum. In this article, we aimed to reflect on how the African and Afro-Brazilian Studies Degree (LIESAFRO), a pioneering initiative in Brazil implanted in 2015 at the Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA), conducts teacher training in interaction with African countries such as Cape Verde and Mozambique, in a South-South perspective of dialogue between knowledge and practices and in exchange with basic education institutions. We used as theoretical-methodological framework authors such as Quijano (2007, 2009), Walsh (2010, 2017) and Gomes (2017). We concluded that the LIESAFRO/UFMA integrates the Afro-Brazilian and African history and culture in a structural way in its teaching, research, and extension activities and carries out teacher training from an emancipatory and anti-racist perspective.