Cultural frontiers of the Graduate Program in Society, Cultures and Frontiers

Abstract

This paper reports on the experience of master's and doctoral students from Unioeste's Foz do Iguaçu campus, from the Society, Culture and Borders Program, on a technical visit to the Avá-Guarani Indigenous Reserve in São Miguel do Iguaçu. The visit was part of the subject "Society, Culture and Borders: Fundamentals and Interdisciplinary Approaches", taught by Ukrainian professors Yuliia Felenchak and Andrii Holod. Faced with the cultural boundaries that exist between whites and Indians, it was possible, through the visit, to contrast the social stigma that accompanies indigenous culture with the reality they live and defend. Various subjects were discussed, from education and culture, such as the dancing and singing done in the Casa de Reza, to the time frame, overpopulation for the small space allocated to them and the invasion of the reserve by farmers. The visit was enriching and allowed cultural boundaries to be crossed, so that teachers Andrii and Yuliia, as well as all the students, could understand, in practice, a little of the reality of the indigenous village in Brazil.

Keywords: experience report; culture; indigenous reservation; borders.