In 2011, the Taillories Network promoted a study on “engaged universities”at an international level. Acknowledging how the SLCE field has mostly focused on Northern experiences, the authors asked, “What can the Global North, and the whole world for that matter, learn from the civic engagement experience of the universities in the Global South?” (Watson et al., 2011, p. xxvi). The study included 20 universities: three universities from the North, thirteen from the South, and four from what the authors called a “transitional zone” (including Northern universities in “Southern skins”and Southern universities in Northern regions). In their conclusion, they identified eleven characteristics of a Southern model of university-community engagement and argued that it “[...] represents a rich and fruitful addition to the available models, mixes of intellectual capital and narratives in the field [...]” (Watson et al., 2011, p. 249).

Besides being one of the few pioneer studies on cross-cultural cases in the field, it is interesting how all authors were from universities or organizations based in the North (the US and England). I believe this is an example of one way to develop a global dialogue: centering the Global South but without the Global South. Is declaring the Global South as an object of study the best way to promote cross-cultural studies? Maybe. Is it the only way to promote a global dialogue? No. While I value Watson et al.’s work and how they raised meaningful questions, I believe the field needs to invite Global South scholars to the front, allowing the agency to probe the questions and raise new ones. In this blog post, I will share a recent “South-South” exchange between Latin American and African universities. Two key actors were Universidad de la República in Uruguay and Rhodes University in South Africa.

To clarify, I’m writing this article from a “transitional zone.” I’m a Chilean in the late phase of my PhD studies in the US. Most of my training in community engagement comes from the Latin American critical community engagement tradition (Flores et al., 2023). Now, thanks to my current allegiance with a northern university, I have been able to travel to Uruguay and South Africa and participate in these exchanges.

Universidad de la República (Uruguay) is a good example of what is known as a Latin American University. This institution offers higher education with free tuition, no access requirements, democratic governance, and community engagement (extensión universitaria) as a third mission or pillar. In 2006, it started a process of university reform that promoted the integration of teaching and learning, research, and engagement. They created curricular spaces called Espacios de Formación Integral (EFI) and the Programa Integral Metropolitano, a place-based community engagement program, in the marginalized sectors of Montevideo. They led a revival of the Latin American debate on community engagement (extensión universitaria), organizing regional conferences and publishing an impressive amount of books and articles on their experience (unfortunately, mostly in Spanish).

Rhodes University (South Africa), also a public university, has been developing a solid community engagement strategy in Makhanda (ex-Grahamstown) since 2014, functioning as an anchor institution, particularly focused on educational improvement. This effort has had incredible results on local students, trajectories, outcomes, and indicators. Rhodes University has also been leading the conversation in South Africa, organizing national and regional conferences since, publishing the African Journal of Higher Education Community Engagement, and now offering, and accredited Post-Graduate Diploma on Community Engagement.

In 2024, these two formidable universities have co-organized two encounters. In March 14, Universidad de la República organized the Seminar: La extension universitaria en clave sur-sur: diálogos entre Latinoamérica, el Caribe y África. On the first day of the seminar, a rainy day in Montevideo, a bilingual and virtual panel gathered Di Hornby, Director at the Community Engagement Division at Rhodes University, Margie Maistry, Research Associate at Rhodes University, and Darren Lortan, current IARSLCE President and Chair of the South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum (SAHECEF) [News article in Spanish; Video Recording in English]. Two months later, on May 15, in the context of the Rhodes University Community Engagement 2024 Conference, the panel South-South Partnership Relationships included Agustín Cano, Professor at Universidad de la República [News article in English; Video recording in English].

From my vantage point of co-organizer and participant, respectively, I identify an alternative way to approach the SLCE cross-cultural research and global dialogue in these two encounters. There was no assumed and overarching “Southern model of university-community partnerships”; all participants tried to understand their differences and learn from one another. Rhodes University participants, for instance, shared how Ubuntu philosophy, Tanzania’s Ujamaa experience, and the student-led Black Community Programmes during apartheid continue to inspire and shape an African way of engagement. Universidad de la República members retrieved Paulo Freire’s legacy, the connection with broader social movements, and how students become protagonists of university transformation. In these spaces, you could see a Southern agency; all questions came from the Global South to Global South scholars. This dialogue embraced diversity and difference.

Fortunately, the 2011 study is one of many efforts in promoting cross-cultural and global dialogue. The Catholic organization Uniservitate recently published a book on the history of service learning, published in Spanish and English. IARSLCE has been organizing a Global Research Agenda and recently is revitalizing the Cross-Cultural and Equity committee. The IARSLCE Graduate Student Network has also committed to promoting more recognition and visibility to non-US experiences and publications. The Dissertation Dish Seminar will have its first bilingual event with Carmen Monge Hernandez, a scholar from Costa Rica.

What sets the Universidad de la República and Rhodes University encounters apart is their significant and innovative contribution. They demonstrate the active role of the Global South in shaping the conditions and goals of a global dialogue. In that scenario, as a truly international association, IARSLCE has a unique opportunity to support these encounters and foster more spaces where the agency from the South prevails. I invite you, as active members, to support this role and future conversations.

PS: I am grateful to the Polson Institute for Global Development at Cornell University for funding the Small Grant Promoting Global South-North dialogue on the past, present, and future of extension and community engagement, which allowed me to attend both encounters.

References

Flores, M. G., Colacci, R., & Cano, A. (2023). Critical community engagement and the Latin American ethos: Contributions to a Global South dialogue. African Journal of Higher Education Community Engagement, 1(1), 64–82.

Watson, D., Hollister, R., Stroud, S. E., & Babcock, E. (2011). The engaged university: International perspectives on civic engagement. Routledge.

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