O curso de licenciatura interdisciplinar em estudos africanos e afro-brasileiros da UFMA: uma proposta decolonial do conhecimento

Abstract

European colonization, which began in the 15th century, left deep structural and social marks on humanity, and for decolonial thinkers, racism is one of its most enduring legacies. Coloniality, as an extension of colonialism, remains deeply rooted in various spheres, including education, which is still largely dominated by Eurocentric epistemologies. This dissertation project proposes to analyze the Interdisciplinary Degree in African and Afro-Brazilian Studies (LIESAFRO) at the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), Bacanga campus, as a decolonial initiative in the educational field. Created in 2015, the program is grounded in dialogues with thinkers from the Global South, especially with the plurality of the African Continent, offering an emancipatory and diverse curricular approach. Its goal is to train teachers for the final years of elementary and secondary education in the field of Humanities, with a specialization in History, promoting antiracist educational practices aligned with the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Education of Ethnic-Racial Relations. The study seeks to understand how the program responds to the historical and social demands of the Brazilian Black Movement, particularly regarding the implementation of Laws 10.639/2003 and 11.645/2008, which make the teaching of Afro-Brazilian, African, and Indigenous history and culture mandatory in basic education. From a decolonial perspective, the research investigates how LIESAFRO contributes to building an antiracist education and to valuing peripheral knowledge, breaking away from the hegemonic paradigm of Eurocentric knowledge.