International Higher Education, Winter 1999
Resources for Latin American Higher Education Research
During the past several years UNESCO's Centro regional para la educación superior en América Latina y el Caribe (CRESALC) has made a significant bibliographical contribution to the available information about higher education in Latin America. (CRESALC has recently been upgraded to an institute.) For the most part, the books below resulted from UNESCO-sponsored symposia that brought together prominent scholars to discuss current trends in higher education and the challenges ahead. The discussions considered issues of common concern to the region as well as the experiences of individual countries and specific institutions. Much of the dialogue at these meetings has been compiled into several new volumes and provides important reference material to guide further research and conversation. Most of the other books listed are aggregations of essays collected from researchers, policymakers, university administrators, and government officials. Several issues recur in these volumes: international cooperation and regional integration, the incorporation of new technology, effective systems of evaluation and accreditation, and the social role of the university. For more information about these publications, contact: Centro regional para la educación superior en América Latina y el Caribe (CRESALC), Apartado Postal No. 68.394, Caracas 1060-A, Venezuela
Formación pedagógica de docentes de educación superior en América Latina y el Caribe. Caracas: CRESALC, August 1998. 452 pp. ISBN: 980-6048-76-8.
This book contains a collection of 23 articles on the training and professional development of university professors. Most articles focus on experiences throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with the exception of one that addresses efforts in Africa.
Universidad y mundo productivo, edited by Gustavo López Ospina. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1994. 197 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-88-7.
This book contains four case studies that examine the relationship between the university and the business sector in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela, with an overview and introduction by the editor.
Los retos de la globalización: Ensayos en homenaje a Theotonio Dos Santos, Vol. 1 & 2, edited by Francisco López Segrera. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1998. 893 pp. ISBN 92-9143-036-6.
The editor uses the work of the Brazilian political scientist, Theotonio Dos Santos, as a point of departure for this collection of essays on issues of globalization, dependence, and interdependence collected from authors from five continents. The essays are divided into four sections: "New Paradigms for the Social Sciences," "The Challenges of Globalization," "Dependence and Development," and "Culture and Knowledge in a Virtual World."
Los derechos humanos: Evolución histórica y reto educativo, by Carlos B. Tünnerman. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1997. 134 pp. ISBN (CRESALC): 980-6226-97-6.
This is an examination of human rights in context. The author addresses the fundamental and complex themes central to discussions of this issue--the educational challenge posed by the issue of human rights, the challenges posed by the natural environment and population growth, identity and cultural diversity, issues of security, the exploration of a "Culture of Peace," and the role of UNESCO in this culture.
La educación superior en el siglo XXI: Visión de América Latina y el Caribe, Vol. 1 & 2. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1998. 1316 pp. ISBN (both volumes): 92-9143-032-3.
These volumes include the papers presented at the Regional Conference on Policies and Strategies for the Transformation of Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Havana, Cuba in November 1996. Volume 1 organizes essays in two sections titled, "Relevance of Higher Education" and "Quality of Higher Education, Evaluation, Accreditation." The essays in the first section address issues in general terms; those in the second section look at the issues of quality and evaluation in regional perspective, as well as at the experiences of Cuba and Argentina as individual cases. The second volume organizes essays in three sections: "The Management and Financing of Higher Education," "Knowledge and the Use of New Information Technologies," and "A Reorientation of International Cooperation in Higher Education." Most essays focus on trends and innovations in general, rather than country-specific case studies.
Higher Education in the XXI Century: View of Latin American and the Caribbean, Vol. 1, edited by Luis Yarzábal. Caracas: CRESALC, 1998. 594 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-23-9.
This book is the English-language version of La educación superior en el siglo XXI (listed above).
Acreditación universitaria en América Latina, compiled and originally published by CINDA. Caracas: CRESALC, 1994. 267 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-86-0.
This book contains essays that address institutional accreditation and evaluation in general terms followed by others that discuss specific experiences in Chile, Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia.
El tránsito de la cultura burocrática al modelo de la gerencia pública: Perspectivas, posibilidades, y limitaciones. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1998. ISBN: 980-6401-21-2.
The 4 essays included in this volume and selected from 30 submitted to a jury, address the process of decentralized school administration, examining the experiences of Argentina, Brazil, and Peru.
América Latina en tiempos de globalización: Procesos culturales y transformaciones sociopolíticas. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1996. 280 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-96-8.
This collection of 12 studies and 6 commentaries examines the impact of globalization on local cultures. The essays are a product of the colloquium, "Globalization and the Construction of Identity and Difference: Conflicts and Sociopolitical Transformation in Latin America," held in Caracas in October 1995. Contributors are researchers from diverse disciplines who do their work in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the USA, and Venezuela.
La educación superior en el umbral del siglo XXI, by Carlos Tünnerman Bernheim. Caracas: CRESALC, 1998. 239 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-25-5.
Tünnerman leads the reader through a brief history of higher education from its earliest days, then traces the development of higher education in Latin America as a way to establish a context for recent challenges, trends, and reforms. He addresses the complex issues of equity, access, quality, curriculum, and the need for competent, full-time faculty and researchers. He concludes with a vision of a university for the next century that will establish clearer goals for its own institutional development and for the role it will play in the development of a more democratic and (perhaps) more "enlightened" society.
La integración de América del Norte y la educación superior, edited by Manuel Crespo and Luis Yarzábal. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1996. 140 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-10-7.
This volume addresses the new challenges presented by the increasing numbers of individuals who move across national boundaries to work and study. This mobility, affected in part by new regional economic treaties, creates a need to determine equivalents of degrees and other vocational certificates awarded in different countries in order to qualify this mobile population for the work they do. The book resulted from a series of roundtables organized with the University of Montreal, the Canadian Ministry of External Relations, and UNESCO to consider how this growing need for equivalencies might be accomplished.
Universidad, modernidad, y desarrollo humano, by Luis Enrique Orozco Silva. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1994. 125 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-84-4.
The author focuses on the need to redefine the context we use for examining higher education, drawing upon new concepts of development and other changing influences. He outlines many of the changes of the decade from 1980-1990 (e.g., changes in enrollment patterns, areas of study, and relations with the state) in order to arrive at new ways to consider the role of higher education and the challenges of "modernity."
Situación y principales dinámicas de transformación de la educación superior en América Latina, by Carmen García Guadilla. Caracas: CRESALC, 1997. 287 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-09-3.
This book represents an enormous accomplishment of regional cooperation. Data were compiled from 19 countries in an attempt to update statistics on higher education in Latin America. The author presents a broad array of comparative information about numbers and types of institutions, enrollment patterns, faculty hiring and development, and budgets. Additionally, the book considers a variety of indicators for comparing institutional effectiveness, national policies and legal frameworks, and some new trends and innovations by country.
Nuevos contextos y perspectivas, Vol. I, edited by Gustavo López Ospina, Caracas: UNESCO, 1991 252 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-55-0.
This is one of five volumes based on papers presented at the "International Encounter to Reflect on the New Roles for Higher Education Considered at a Global Level," a UNESCO-sponsored, international conference held in 1991, in Caracas. The volume is organized around the themes of changing contexts and the shifting roles of higher education in Latin America.
Oportunidades del conocimiento y de la información, Vol. 2, edited by Gustavo López Ospina, Caracas: UNESCO, 1991. 161 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-57-7.
This is the second volume resulting from the 1991 UNESCO conference in Caracas. Essays address new ways for organizing, circulating, and distributing knowledge. The first section is titled "New Contexts and New Forms for Organizing Knowledge" and the second, "New Forms for the Circulation and Access to Knowledge and Information." Among the themes addressed are interdisciplinary study, public health, studies of the environment, new ways for teaching the social sciences, development based on knowledge, and information networks.
Retos científicos y tecnológicos, Vol. 3, edited by Gustavo López Ospina, Caracas: UNESCO, 1991. 195 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-59-5.
This third volume from the 1991 UNESCO conference addresses the impact and incorporation of new technologies, new initiatives for regional collaboration for research, and the development of human resources. The book is divided into two sections: "Technical-Scientific Strategies and Higher Education" and "Development of Human Resources at the Highest Level." Contributors are scholars at universities in Latin America and Europe.
Mundo productivo y financiamiento, Vol. 4., edited by Gustavo López Ospina, Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1991. 127 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-59-3.
The fourth volume from the 1991 UNESCO conference addresses the relationship between the university and private industry, new paradigms for collaboration, and new sources of funding. Contributors are scholars, policymakers, and business leaders in Latin America and Europe.
Modernización e integración, Vol. 5, edited by Gustavo López Ospina, Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1991. 149 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-60-7.
The fifth and final volume from the 1991 UNESCO conference in Caracas focuses on the issues that arise in the process of regional integration: institutional modernization, the quality of teaching, expectations of students, and the role of regional academic centers. Eight of the 12 essays were contributed by researchers and university administrators from Venezuela, with the remaining from Mexico, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Spain.
La educación superior como responsibilidad de todos, Vol 2, edited by José Wainer. UNESCO/CRESALC, 1996. 41 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-00-X.
The book contains several presentations given at the 1995 UNESCO-sponsored conference in Montevideo to create a policy document reflecting on change and development in higher education, with an emphasis on public higher education. Contributors are educators and policymakers.
Calidad y cooperación internacional en la educación superior de América Latina y el Caribe, Vol. 5. edited by Carlos Pallán Figueroa. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1996. 66 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-05-0.
This book presents several projects in progress to develop evaluation and accreditation schemes in Latin America, with an emphasis on Mexico and Central America. The case of Colombia is also discussed.
La transformación universitaria en visperas del tercer milenio, Vol. 6, edited by Luis Yarzábal. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1996. 85 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-06-9.
This volume addresses a range of issues that reflect trends in higher education as we approach the new millennium including international cooperation, mobility of credentials, new information technologies, and new pedagogical techniques.
Educación superior con miras al siglo XXI, Vol. 7, edited by José L. Telleria-Geiger. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1996. 39 pp. ISBN(CRESALC): 980-6401-07-7.
Essays in this volume are based on talks given at a symposium in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 1996. The "crisis" faced by higher education in Bolivia serves as a point of departure for the discussion of policy, strategy, transformation, and evaluation.
Los nuevos escenarios universitarios ant el fin de siglo, Vol 8, edited by Leonardo Caló. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1996. 36 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-08-5.
The six sections of this volume summarize discussions that took place in La Plata, Argentina in 1996. Essays address the importance of incorporating perspectives from diverse social sectors in the careful development of higher education policy and the importance of establishing common objectives.
Elementos para construir la educación superior del futuro, Vol. 9, edited by Galo Burbano López. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1997. 73 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-14-X.
The emphasis of the essays collected in this volume is on quality in higher education. Other issues addressed are the financing of higher education and the management of research.
Hacia la transformación de la educación superior en Venezuela, Vol. 10, edited by Evelin Cadenas R. Caracas: UNESCO/CRESALC, 1997. 274 pp. ISBN: 980-6226-98-4.
The essays included in this volume summarize discussions held at a number of round tables. The discussions describe the recent experiences of individual Venezuelan universities in the area of financing, quality, relevance of higher education, the use of new technologies, international cooperation, and validation of degrees and professional titles.
Cerrando la brecha, Vol. 11, by Román Mayorga. Caracas: CRESALC/UNESCO, 1996. 53 pp. ISBN: 980-6401-18-2.
In this volume, Mayorga provides some historical context for examining the development of science and technology in Latin America and the role of the Inter-American Development Bank. He also presents a comparative analysis contrasting the experiences of "smaller" and "larger" countries. Finally, Mayorga provides suggestions and strategies for financing further development.
Revista Educación Superior y Sociedad
This journal is published biannually by CRESALC. Most articles are in Spanish, with the ocasional inclusion of articles in English, less often in Portuguese, and even less frequently in French. It includes articles by scholars (distinguished and well-known as well as new names) on a range of topics related to the development, reform, and modernization of higher education in the region. Recent issues have focused on evaluation and quality, financing, policy for social integration, and new technologies.