Anyone who grew up reading comic books way back in the twentieth century probably remembers advertisements for correspondence courses. In this first generation of distance learning, technical, professional, and supplementary programs were taught by mail. It was possible to complete elementary and high school education, qualify as a machinist, or my favorite, to become a private detective.
Existing in Brazil since 1939 and legally established in the 1996 National Guidelines and Bases for Education, distance learning has benefited greatly from the rise of the internet and other recent technological advances. Virtual learning environments can be used to teach people in remote locations and improve access for people with disabilities.
The approach, which was already experiencing intense growth in Brazil following deregulation in 2017, was boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent Higher Education Census showed that for every undergraduate student enrolled on an in-person course in 2023, there was one studying via distance learning. This accelerated but disorderly growth has highlighted the need for ways to ensure the quality of the education on offer, as explained in this issue’s cover story.
The little-discussed social problem of sexual violence against boys is the subject of a report.. Long-term analysis of official data has revealed that cases are growing at a rate of almost 7% per year. Between 2013 and 2022, 40,000 incidents involving male children were reported. Nearly two-thirds of reported cases occur in the victim’s home.
The report is accompanied by a delicate illustration produced for Pesquisa FAPESP by Natalia Gregorini. While preparing the layout of each article, art editor Claudia Warrak and the responsible editor decide whether an illustration needs to be commissioned. An illustrator is chosen based on their art style and the theme of the text. The team then sends them the article and proposed layout, and the artist sends back a number of sketches that ultimately lead to the final piece. In 2024, the magazine made 27 commissions from 17 artists, who produced 68 illustrations, including covers, main images, and smaller pieces.
Sexual violence is not a rare occurrence for trans people and excluded groups, a population to which Dr. Maria Amélia Veras has dedicated her research and academic work for the last 40 years. A professor at Santa Casa de São Paulo and head of the Center for Studies in Human Rights and LGBTQIA+ Health, Veras recently visited the interior of Pará to assist a team analyzing sexually transmitted infections in the small-scale mining industry, lending her experience in designing studies for hard-to-reach populations.
The Oscar-nominated movie I’m Still Here, directed by Walter Salles and starring Fernanda Torres, tells the story of the violence inflicted on the Paiva family during the military dictatorship. Films made during the dictatorship, such as Açúcar, Agua e Sal, made by political prisoners during a hunger strike in 1979, were also recently given new screening opportunities. Ricardo Balthazar talks about research into lost films that revisit the history of the Brazilian military dictatorship. These are sensitive topics but they need to be covered.
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