Juan Pablo, who is in the fourth year of his post doctoral studies, said, “I’m really looking forward to starting the role.
“I hope to be able to help the students understand what we do as researchers and it’s a really nice opportunity to show them my love for my subject.”
And that subject should certainly capture the imagination of the pupils. Within the field of Social Anthropology and Amerindian Studies, his research has included performing two years of fieldwork in Amazonian Peru. There, Juan Pablo studied how the Ashaninka people have come to terms with the after effects of the Peruvian Internal War which claimed 10% of their population.
“The Ashaninka people are taught from the moment they are born not to show negative emotions such as anger and to share food,” said Juan Pablo, who will also act as a general university contact for the pupils.
“My research is a study of what their communities are doing to deal with the aftermath of a war that was fought between family members and neighbours.
“All these ex enemies now have to live together in villages and have to develop new tools to deal with a process of reconciliation as they don’t have any ‘traditional’ means of conflict resolution.
“Anthropology isn’t taught at school so hopefully it will be completely new and interesting for them.”
Under the Associate Researcher scheme though, anthropology won’t be the only fascinating subject that the St Leonards pupils will have the opportunity to learn about. Two of the other shortlisted candidates for the position will also be returning to present lectures on the themes of computer science and psychology.
Professor Dina Iordanova, Provost of St Leonard’s College and Dean of Graduate Studies at St Andrews University, said, “I am extremely pleased to see St. Leonards and the University working together on this initiative which brings benefits both to students and academics.
“Theory of Knowledge is unique to the IB route of education. In academia we believe that awareness of methodology is a key factor for quality of intellectual outputs.
“It is this awareness of approach that the Associate Researcher will be bringing to the IB students in the context of his appointment at St. Leonards.
“The scheme presents the IB students with an excellent opportunity to gain exposure to a variety of specialist fields and knowledge of career routes.”
St Leonards already enjoys close ties with St Andrews University, its pupils having use of the University library and regularly attending special lectures.
Dr Michael Carslaw, Headmaster of St Leonards School, added, “I’m delighted that the links continue to be strengthened by Juan Pablo’s appointment.
“His primary role will be engaging with S5 and S6 pupils as part of the highly enriching ‘Theory of Knowledge’ section of the world-leading IB Diploma course.
“Juan Pablo’s research is fascinating and I’m sure the pupils will benefit from learning more about it.”
