Seja xereta: o ensino de ciências não-formal, território de resistência por meio da trajetória de Sônia Guimarães

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the academic and professional trajectory of Sônia Guimaràes, the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Physics in Brazil, interpreting her path as a territory of resistance and reexistence within Science Education. It is based on the understanding that modem science was structured upon Eurocentric, patriarchal, and racist foundations that have historically excluded Black women from spaces of knowledge production. Thus, understanding and disseminating Sônia Guimaräes's story is a political and epistemic act of confronting the erasure of Black women in the history of Brazilian science. The research is qualitative, exploratory, and interpretive, grounded in the theoretical frameworks of intersectionality, decolonial epistemologies, and Black feminism, drawing on authors such as Crenshaw, Collins, Hooks, Gonzalez, Carneiro, and Walsh. It employs Discursive Textual Analysis (DTA) as its methodology, applied to three main sources: a public interview given by the scientist to the Provoca TV program (TV Cultura, 2024), her Curriculo Lattes, and a biographical article by Katemari Rosa (2020) published by ABPN. The discursive analysis revealed four metacategories: Roots and Scientific Awakening; Teaching and Invention as Practices of Resistance, Intersectionalities in Science. Challenges and Confrontations; and Legacy and Future of Black Science. Thèse categories show that Sônia's trajectory is marked by confrontations with institutional racism and academic sexism, but also by practices of invention, solidarity, and commitment to social transformation through education. Her presence in Physics represents a historical and pedagogical milestone, opening pathways for other Black women to see themselves as scientists and educators. As a practical and pedagogical outcome of the study, a Virtual Museum titled “Sônia Guimaràes: Trajectory of a Black Scientist” was created. Conceived as an interactive and decolonial digital space, the museum aims to promote scientific dissemination and the empowerment of Black girls. It serves as a tool of memory, visibility, and critical education, fostering anti-racist pedagogical practices and the appreciation of plural knowledge systems. The study concludes that Science Education, when guided by intersectional and decolonial perspectives, can become a field of resistance and transformation, breaking silences and expanding representation within science. By valuing the trajectory of Sônia Guimaràes, this research reaffirms the role of Black women as producers of knowledge, memory, and future, contributing to the construction of a Brazilian science that is more plural, democratic, and socially just.