I am passionate about everything that has to do with the Academy. I am also proud to be part of the select brotherhood of history lovers who, faithful to their vocation, dedicate years and efforts to the dream of occupying a researcher’s cubicle.
For those of my condition, there is no greater delight than arriving at the classrooms and marveling at the novelty contained in them: from the desk, storing knowledge with joy, the more, the better; in the place of teachers, check our ability to transmit, respect for what is taught and the enormous responsibility that sowing truth in students implies.
I especially remember one of the classrooms in the UNAM Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, the one dedicated to the poet Alaíde Foppa. Born in Barcelona, of Guatemalan nationality and Mexican heart, also a writer and feminist, she has marked my training like few others. She knew about her trajectory from our first meeting. I entered a philosophy class, she welcomed me, making herself present in the metal writing that guarded the door. Ignorant and intrigued by the origin of her last name, I took on the task of researching and reading it. That’s how I became her admirer.
I bring it to memory for several reasons. First, for her integrity as a teacher. Consistent with her feminism, she preached it by occupying the first chair of sociology of women in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at UNAM, the precedent of any specialization on women in Latin America and inspiration and cradle of so many militants. Second, due to its urgency to spread and make more responsible, with the creation and production of the Women’s Forum in Radio Universidad (1972) and the Fem Magazine (1976), decisive for the opening of spaces to make visible the inequalities of Mexican society. and the feminist theme, discussing gender violence in the public framework and not in the private sphere. Third and necessary, to honor her in the place of her victim. Exiled and eaten away by the pain of her homeland, Guatemala, in 1980 Foppa suffered the misfortune of a double duel: her son murdered in full militancy and the fatal death of her husband who, upon hearing the news, went out into the street disturbed and was run over. In that same year, like many of her compatriots, Alaíde disappeared in Guatemala. She had returned to her country to fight for women’s rights and support the guerrillas.
Few tributes are as successful as the recognition of Alaíde Foppa in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Although sometimes it is ungrateful and frustrating, the chair and the authorities are fair in distinguishing those who make good use of it. Perhaps it is for the same reason that many of us find the defense and preferential treatment that has been given to Pedro Salmerón so offensive. Harassment is unjustifiable, regardless of the presentation, but even more outrageous is that his actions take advantage of the teaching profession to operate with impunity.
The study of history -in any of its aspects and especially at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels- is not an easy path. Because it is a discipline open to interpretation, history is a demanding profession that is enhanced and unfolds with discussion. It requires hours and hours of reading and research, of deep analysis, and also of research in which students feel they are losing their way, unless it is for the liberating guide of their thesis advisors, tutors, and professors.
Being a student, I gave my trust and hope to those saving souls of texts and paths. For them I feel nothing but gratitude and a filial and respectful affection. After all, I was formed from their knowledge. I received so much from my teachers and my experience as a student was so happy that it is hard for me to imagine, and even understand the helplessness and disappointment of so many colleagues who, in order to graduate or be accepted into a master’s or doctorate, have to face a bully professor. I can feel the hell, also the normalization, the silence, the internal dilemma. The awkward double kisses and the after-hours cubicle calls. No more.
It is not enough to join the complaint of #UnHarassorNoMustSerAmbassador, let us demand more awareness and attention from the institutions. In addition to doing it for the victims, we will do it for the construction of our country. The magisterium forms consciences and futures. It is our duty to protect it.
art historian
Linda Atach Zaga is a Mexican art historian, artist, and curator. Since 2010 she has been the director of the Temporary Exhibitions Department of the Memory and Tolerance Museum in Mexico City.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx