A group of 76 students from different postgraduate programs of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Chile criticized the “pedophile theses” and the “lukewarmness” of the authorities of the house of studies regarding the subject. In addition, they demanded the review and elimination of works of the same nature from the academic repository.
The so-called “pedophile theses” of the University of Chile continue to add criticism.
Through a joint statement, 76 students from different postgraduate programs of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the house of studies lashed out at the academic documents that “relativize pedophilia”.
In addition, they rejected the statements of the Rector and Dean on the subject. According to the students, both public statements represent a “worrying lukewarmness in the face of events that seem serious and urgent to us. We positively acknowledge that Rector Rosa Devés is encouraged to repudiate what happened, but the proposed measures are lost in bureaucratic processes and soften the possibilities of impact of the measures that are taken”.
Likewise, graduate students denounced “a very serious lack of responsibility in the statements of the dean of our faculty”. Along these lines, they emphasized that “the idea of an abyss separating theory from practice is an epistemological illusion that denies the potentially harmful repercussions of the theoretical justification of certain ideas, positions or practices and, therefore, the relativization of the seriousness of the facts only deepens it more”.
The students rejected the “lukewarmness” of academic authorities
For the group of Master’s and PhD applicants, the controversy and subsequent reactions make it necessary to review and discuss the academic procedures used by the University and the Faculty.
“By virtue of ensuring not only the adjustment of research work to international statements of research ethics (especially with human beings and secondarily with non-human animals); but also the integrity of the research process and its coherence with the institutional project expressed through the mission and values of the University of Chile”, they pointed out.
According to the signatories of the statement, this controversy could cause moral damage “on our trajectories and subsequent professional and academic development”.
In consideration of the above, the students demand that the academic authorities recognize the seriousness of the events that occurred, with a “public repudiation of the work and the serious taking of institutional responsibility in this regard&# 8220;.
The University is called upon to create a “prosecutor’s office to investigate and determine responsibilities and sanctions for the people who are involved in the creation, approval and publication of the document in question”.
Students demand review of the entire academic repository
Another of the demands made by the 76 postgraduate students is the “immediate review of the entire academic repository of the University to assure the university community and society as a whole that there are no more theoretical works or practical that exalt the figure of the pedophile“.
Likewise, we demand that the article entitled “Pedophilia and childhood: a possible relationship?” by the author Leonardo Arce Vidal and published in the Nomadías magazine in its number 22 in 2016, is immediately withdrawn from the magazine that depends on the Center for the Study of Gender and Culture of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Chile “.
Among other requirements, students also request verification and short-term adaptation of academic procedures for the approval of thesis projects; and the rapid elaboration and implementation of protocols “to prevent the occurrence of similar events in the future”.
The statement by the students closes by lamenting “the damage that the University de Chile suffers from this type of situation, seriously failing society”.
Review the student statement: