PAPER The Drum Beat - 21 - COLOMBIA - Escuela de Comunicación Social - Universidad del Valle
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| The Drum Beat - 21 - COLOMBIA - Escuela de Comunicación Social - Universidad del Valle By Adelaida Trujillo-Caicedo Citurna Producciones en Cine y Video Bogotá, May of 1999 adelaidatrujillo@cable.net.co 16. Colombia: Escuela de Comunicación Social - Universidad del Valle The Escuela de Comunicación Social , School of Social Communication, Universidad del Valle, Cali, was created in 1975 as the Department of Communication Sciences. The main purpose was to offer the region the first academic programme in communication, defined since then as one of the fields of major development and impact in contemporary society. The school, created by one of the most outstanding public universities in Latin America, has built a solid presence in the continent due to its impact on the development of regional media, but most essentially because of its involvement in contemporary thinking regarding processes of information and culture, and education. This has gone hand in hand with teaching and learning processes, as well as communication practice. The School has received special recognition in the field of academic research , which has emphasized the following fundamental lines of thought: cultural consumption, tradition and modernity, mass media and contemporary sensibilities (sensibilidades contemporáneas). In 1977, the School begins its Pregraduate Academic Programme in Social Communication and Journalism (Pregrado Académico en Comunicación Social-Periodismo). In 1992, it created the Centre for Production and Consultancy in Communication (Centro de Producción y Asesoría en Comunicación), and strengthened its extension activities in communation, participation and social mobilisation. In 1993 the School of Social Communication was created, and in 1994, the postgraduate academic courses (Programas Académicos de Postgrado) were inaugurated. These are: Especialization and Master in Communication and Culture (Especialización y Maestría en Comunicación y Cultura) , and in 1995, the Especialization in Audiovisual Practices (Especialización en Prácticas Audiovisuales). The School of Social Communication has contributed to the development and consolidation of the local and regional public service media : Regional Television Channel - Telepacifico, the Universidad del Valle's television broadcaster -UV-TV, the Universidad del Valle's radio station - Univalle Estéreo, the University Agency for Cultural and Scientific Press, AUPEC ( Agencia Universitaria de Periodismo Científico y Cultural), and the Community Radio Network in the Pacific Coast ( Red de Radioemisoras Comunitarias del Litoral Pacífico Colombiano). Professor Maria Victoria Polanco, director of the School of Social Communication for four years until this March, was appointed World President of AMARC in 1998, due in part to the School's extension activities in community radio since 1988, in close association with UNESCO and UNICEF. Mission and Objectives: The mission of the School of Communication and the objectives of the Academic Programme summarize what is unique about the School: its approach to social change; the cultural definition of communication it handles; and the awareness of its responsibility in forming communicators that have the tools to understand their potential as changemakers. The main objectives of the Academic Programme are: 1. To form social communicators that have the capacity, not only to understand the problems and processes of communication, but also to offer solutions that coincide with social needs and social demands. ...social communicators who:
3. To enable the connection between the study of communication techniques and practice with a critical formation in social sciences, through the production of concrete communication processes. 4. To include the formation of journalists in a context of social communication , so the profession is able to respond accordingly to the growing complexity of information systems and practice in the country. Definition For the School of Communication, communication is "not the space of a discipline. Communication is seen as being in the centre of a philosophical, aesthetic and sociological reflection, focused on the crisis of contemporary reason and modern society. The fields of interest for communication are the new issues in social sciences - urban cultures, social identities, new and old information technologies, social movements, modernities and their crises, religiousness, all these as the different points from where to think, in a transdisciplinary way, about communication processes in today's societies...." Challenge When asked what the most difficult challenge is today for the School of Social Communication, Fernando Calero, Vice -chancellor of the University and professor in the School stated: "...I am worried about the impact of globalization, fragmentation of media and the simultaneous growth of monopolies in the ownership of mass media, particularly in Colombia. This is a critical point of discussion that we, the academics, the universities, may be underestimating in importance due to the fact that we tend to concentrate our efforts in marginal and alternative communication, maybe because of the awareness of the importance of culture. Now let me clarify, I am not saying this is not crucial, of course it is, but in a country like ours, where media determine the future of public opinion in such an irresponsible manner, we have to be in the centre of the discussion. The University has to find the right balance between worrying about what happens in the communities, but cannot isolate itself frm the mass media. Schools like ours cannot stay in the background, as the great majority of communication faculties, less interested or committed to social change, take the lead. I am also very worried about the fact that even global communication policies are interpreted from a perspective of marginal communication. In Colombia, for example, the Universities have to re-take the lead in the discussion of the role of the media in the armed conflict....this is absolutely urgent..." Note: in the Latin American region there are a number of Communication faculties or Schools that share a similar vision, in terms of social responsability, with the Universidad del Valle. These include the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, with close links to the Fundación Social, ANUAC in Mexico City, the Universidade de Sao Paulo and the Universidade de Campinhas in Brazil , as well as the Universidad de Lima in Perú. Contact Fernando Calero Director Educación Desescolarizada Ciudad Universitaria Meléndez Apartados Aéreos 25360 - 26432 Santiago de Cali, Colombia Tels: (57-2) 318 2679 / 318 2627 Fax: (57-2) 318 2619 e-mail: vrex@mafalda.univalle.edu.co |