Curricularising university extension at the National University of Córdoba during undergraduate studies: political mandate or student civic awareness?

Abstract

One of the issues linked to Extension that has caused the greatest tension and evolutionary leaps in the University over the decades, had to do with its different currents of thought, from the traditionalist model to the critical model. Extension seemed at times to be shrouded in an "epistemological haze" that prevented a clear conceptual understanding of its changing paradigms and its role as an essential pillar of the public university. However, thanks to these processes of change and the countless positions produced in relation to the dialogue of knowledge, the participation of teachers and their responsibility to society in the framework of the public university was strengthened. From this and from political management decisions, the concept of curricularising extensionist praxis from the Chairs arose, also taking students centre stage, with the aim of continuing to prioritise this process during their undergraduate training. This new phenomenon at the Faculty of Dentistry of the National University of Cordoba presents us with a challenge in which, in addition to continuing to develop the usual territorial practices, the theoretical conceptualizations that will provide academic support for the dialogical exchange of knowledge with society should be positioned.