UNIVERSITY EXTENSION AS A CONSTRUCTION OF THE ‘COMMUNAL’: A PSICOSSOCIAL VIEW OF INTERVENTION IN THE COMMUNITY OF SERRANITA, CORDOBA - DOI: 10.5212/Rev.Conexao.v.13.i1.0002

Abstract

This paper reports actions and reflections carried out in the context of a university extension intervention in the community of Serranita, Province of Cordoba, Argentina. A Project that was developed for three years and originated in an extension course called “Social Clinic: Practical Tools in Primary Care focusing on rights” (2011), This project addressed the need to implement a proposal in the field aiming at transcending the theoretical qualification centralized in the capital city, pointing out the importance of situated intervention and reconstruction of knowledge between university and community. Considering this approach, the initial proposals comprised a Project of extension support, which later on was transformed into extension grant, both developed by the National University of Cordoba Extension Secretariat. The paper analyzes the difficulties of the field practice in an area with characteristics of a rural community, whose complex background and links, enable and require constant reflection to favor reconstruction while thinking, designing and addressing the intervention demands. It also points out the engagement of knowledge and practices in dialogue from the viewpoint of active individuals who build up their own reality.