Self-Assessment Committee of the
PPG Literary Theory and Comparative Literature
(FFLCH-USP)
Self-Assessment
Following the guidelines of the Evaluation Policy of the National Graduate System, managed by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), the "Self-Assessment Committee of the PPG Literary Theory and Comparative Literature" should be understood as a complementary process to the external evaluation to which graduate programs are subjected, with the aim of improving their skills based on self-knowledge and internal criticism.
Self-evaluation provides the opportunity for an internal examination that considers the perceptions of professors, students, alumni, and administrative support staff in order to form a picture of the program's strengths and weaknesses and, based on this, to formulate actions to strengthen or remedy them, thus guiding the program's strategic planning.
The Committee
The Committee, approved by the CCP, is composed of five members with a two-year term:
a Faculty member
a staff person from the Program's secretariat
a student representative from the program
a representative of the graduates of the program, linked to the academic career
a representative of a graduate with a prominent presence in the "job market" linked to the training provided by the Program.
Currently, the committee is composed of the following members:
Prof. Dr. Jorge Mattos Brito de Almeida
Ms. Rosely de Fátima Silva
Doctoral student Carolina de Paula Peters
Prof. Dr. Jorge Manzi Cembrano (PUC-Chile)
Dr. Talita Mochiute (Editor-in-Chief - Editora Moderna)
The self-assessment process: methodology and consolidation of results
The self-assessment process was planned to be carried out in five stages, as follows
1) Analysis of documents:
Holding meetings to evaluate and disseminate the new Program regulations; new College regulations; academic project of the College and Department; ways to update Lattes CVs; new features of the Sucupira data platform for Brazilian postgraduate studies.
2) Analysis and systematization of information
Construction of a database using the information generated by the analysis of the documents. These elements were transcribed, tabulated and quantitatively systematized in graphs, tables, images and diagrams.
3) Organization of the 1st Self-Assessment Symposium.
Held in June 2023 (with the participation of a significant number of professors, students and graduates), the symposium evaluated the results of the first two years (2021/2022), based on the material collected and made available according to point 2 of the self-assessment process.
The debates were very fruitful and generated suggestions and guidelines for improvements in the biennium 2023/2024, mainly related to the following aspects:
a. Recommendations for assessing and reversing the impact of the pandemic, in particular regarding attrition rates and deadline extensions.
b. Encouraging an increase in the number of articles published by the Faculty in indexed journals (an imbalance was noted, as most of the Faculty's bibliographic production consists of books and book chapters).
c. Seeking a better balance between the number of students and faculty advisors distributed among the faculty members.
d. Changes in the selection process, with the approval of new regulations and the inclusion of affirmative action programmes aimed at encouraging and retaining underrepresented black and Indigenous students.
e. Increased contact and relationships with alumni, including invitations to events and participation in activities of the Program.
f. Maintaining the significant increase in the number of scientific advisors (an objective foreseen in the DTLLC project), as this has a positive impact on the quality of the Master's projects presented in the selection process for the Program.
g. The search for new partnerships and the establishment of new international agreements, which have been severely affected and interrupted by the pandemic.
h. Recognizing the importance of disseminating the research and results achieved by the Program, with actions related to communication and outreach and partnerships between the relevant committees. Encourage online broadcasting of events and consideration of the social impact of our production (one of the great historic achievements of the PPG).
i. Renew and expand the Program page on the Department of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature website, with translation into other languages, more frequent updating of information, and improved visual and operational accessibility.
4) Participation in the University self-evaluation process
During 2024, the Pro-Rector's Office carried out a self-assessment process divided into five phases: Information Gathering and Analysis; External Review; Report; Face-to-Face Workshop and Focus Meetings. The evaluators, two of whom came from institutions outside the University (UFRJ and UFU), highlighted the qualities of the program, including its interdisciplinary vocation, institutional solidity, impact and reference in the field, commitment to qualified teaching and intellectual production. One of them also pointed out some shortcomings and suggested improvements, many of which, it is worth mentioning, had been diagnosed in our self-evaluation symposium (distribution of teaching output, quotas, internationalization, improvement of the website, dissemination of research and outreach) and some of which are already the subject of specific actions.
Results of the self-evaluation processes
a) Alumni panel at the 13th National Seminar and 1st International Seminar of the Graduate Program in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature.
Under the title "Modernisms: Transits of Contexts", the event organized by Professor Claudia Maria de Vasconcellos, with the participation of several students from the Program, included a panel entitled "Conversation with Alumni", in which two members of the self-evaluation committee, Jorge Manzi Cembrano and Talita Mochiute, participated, along with Livia Bueloni and Wilker Sousa. The discussion, which was attended by a significant number of students from our Graduate Program and other College programs, provided an important debate on the challenges of academic training, the importance of internationalization and subsequent insertion in the general labor market or in higher education institutions. The themes and outcomes of the debate (the first major initiative in this regard) will later be included for discussion in our compulsory course for all PPG researchers: FLT5119 - Theories and Critical Approaches to Literary Work and Other Forms.
b) Internationalization
After overcoming the difficulties caused by the pandemic, the DTLLC recognized the need to resume internationalization processes. Planning missions were organized to sign academic and institutional cooperation agreements. New agreements are being implemented with Portugal (University of Lisbon), France (Sorbonne) and Chile (PUC Santiago), as well as approaches for future cooperation with England (UCL London), Mexico (UNAM), Switzerland (University of Basel) and Germany (University of Cologne, Latin American Institute of the Free University of Berlin). We would also like to highlight the ten missions carried out within the framework of the Institutional Internationalization Programme - CAPES - PrInt, for professors, students and staff from several foreign universities, such as the Université Paris Sorbonne, King's College, the University of Surrey, the University of Oslo and the University of Lisbon. As part of this initiative, a Portuguese professor also visited the University of São Paulo to, among other things, advance the partnership plan with the University of Lisbon.
c) Diversity and Inclusion
The approval of the new Program regulations in July 2024 allowed for a general reformulation of the selection process, with an increase in affirmative action. In 2024, the Permanent Committee on Affirmative Action was created with the participation of professors and students. This committee, which studied the issue and was inspired by the procedures implemented by several USP and national programs, included bonuses for PPI candidates in the selection notice, with the aim of increasing the already significant presence of this segment of the Brazilian population in our postgraduate programs.
d) Scientific dissemination and extension courses
Recognizing the need for greater visibility of the Program's research results, as identified in the self-evaluation processes, the Coordination Committee has promoted the online broadcasting of its own events or those of the laboratories and research groups associated with the Program. There has also been an increase in the number of extension courses offered by professors and students of the Program, within the framework of the FFLCH, with a total participation of 589 students, from Brazil and abroad, in the last two years. We also highlight the recognition of the participation of Program researchers in high-impact actions in the field of scientific dissemination (for example, winning two important awards in the Video Awards USP - TV CULTURA).
e) Quadrennial self-evaluation report
Preparation of the Second Self-Assessment Report in 2025 (after consolidation of the data entered in the Quadrennial Assessment Report through the Sucupira data platform): the observations and suggestions resulting from the self-assessment seminars will be collected and systematized in a critical-analytical document representing the collaborative process of internal assessment of the Program's weaknesses, strengths and potential. This document will guide the actions to be carried out in the following years, translated into objectives and plans integrated in the strategic planning of the Program, and the continuity of the self-assessment process itself. The report will be widely disseminated on the website.