More than 700 students visit FGV CPDOC’s archives since initiative was launched a year ago

The School Visits project at Fundação Getulio Vargas’ FGV School of Social Sciences (FGV CPDOC) turned one year old in June. So far, around 700 students at public and private sector schools have visited the school’s Archive Center and had the opportunity to take part in games and activities related to personal archives, historical sources, archival practices and Brazil’s contemporary political history.

The School Visits project is part of an applied research initiative at FGV CPDOC called the Heritage Promotion and Education Project. The idea is to enhance visits to the school’s archives through heritage education. This heritage education research project, coordinated by Daniele Amado and Martina Spohr, is constantly evolving and looking for new methods and languages to reach school children, making FGV CPDOC’s archives increasingly accessible to everyone.

As well as these visits, earlier this year (the 50th year since FGV CPDOC was founded) the project also launched a smartphone game called Casa Acervo (“Archive Center”). This game challenges students with missions to conduct historical research in the school’s Archive Center, encompassing subjects such as women in politics, culture and political propaganda. The game aims to contribute to the teaching of history, offering a fun and interactive resource to help develop people’s skills at recognizing and critically interpreting historical sources. “Casa Acervo” is available free of charge in app stores.

Earlier this year, in May, in-person visits were resumed. To sign up for a visit in the second half of this year, click here.