Tensions and challenges in the relationship between Indigenous knowledge and higher education policies in Wall Mapu (Mapuche territory, Chile)

• Grant number: 25/12184-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: November 30, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education
• Principal Investigator: Chantal Victória Medaets
• Grantee: Felipe Domingo Curivil Bravo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Educação (FE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to understand the tensions and challenges in the relationship between the systems of knowledge, ways of knowing, and logics of action of the Mapuche Indigenous people and the processes of implementing state higher education policies in Chile. To this end, a case study will be conducted on the creation (2018-2022) and the first years of operation (2022-2024) of the first intercultural higher education institution in Chile: the Intercultural State Technical Training Center of the Biobío Region, located in Tirúa, in Mapuche-Lafkenche territory.As a Mapuche myself, a professional and researcher in Education, I participated in the creation process of this institution, and I propose a reflective analysis of this process along with ethnographic research involving different stakeholders (local residents, government officials, and university representatives), aiming to understand their perspectives on the creation and current operation of this innovative intercultural higher education project in Chile. This project is part of the Center for Anthropology of Educational Processes (Ceape/Unicamp), within the research line on Indigenous peoples in Higher Education, coordinated by my advisor at the School of Education at Unicamp, and was established with support from Fapesp funding. (AU)