The Centro Intercultural de Documentación (CIDOC) was founded by
Ivan Illich
Ivan Dominic Illich ( , ; 4 September 1926 – 2 December 2002) was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher, and social critic. His 1971 book ''Deschooling Society'' criticises modern society's institutional approach to educ ...
in 1965 as a higher education campus for development workers and missionaries. It was located in
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D.
The na ...
(
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
), at the Rancho Tetela.
Early history
In Celebration of Awareness: A Call for Institutional Revolution, Illich writes that the intention of the school was to counteract a Papal command of 1960 which enjoined US and Canadian religious superiors to send 10% of their priests and nuns to South America. Illich was convinced that this project would do more harm than good. He intended the ''Centro'' to serve as a training station for such clergy and development workers, aiming to educate them about the negative effects of their development and education agenda. He called it "a center for de-Yankeefication"
[ Sergio Méndez Arceo#CIDOC] The school also offered Spanish language courses. Illich credits ''Feodora Stancioff'' and ''Brother Gerry Morris'' as co-founders.
Achievements
The center pursued a significant publication program in various formats: Dossiers, Sondeos, Documenta, etc. It also issued catalogues of its publications. Th
Centrum für Internationale Entwicklungin Vienna now holds the a comprehensive collection of publications from the center. This collection which was previously held by the Österreichisches Lateinamerika-Institut.
Teachers and Alumni
Paulo Freire
Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. His influential work '' Pedagogy of the Oppressed'' is generally considered one of the found ...
was a regular guest at the Centro. Other visitors, students and staff include
Valentine Borremans,
Everett Gendler,
Robert S. Leiken, ,
Paul Goodman
Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...
,
John Mason Hart,
Susan Sontag,
Erich Fromm,
Peter L. Berger
Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian. Berger became known for his work in the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of religion, study of modernization, and theor ...
,
John Holt,
Joel Spring,
Carl Mitcham, , ,
André Gorz,
Lini De Vries,
Robert K. Logan,
Sylvia Marcos, etc.
Literature
References
External links
* http://www.ivanillich.org.mx/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centro Intercultural de Documentacion
Liberation theology
Defunct universities and colleges in Mexico