Intercâmbio universitário e hospitalidade: o caso do Projeto Buddy na Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to comprehend how the relationship between host students and exchange students takes place in the reception process carried out by the Buddy Project from Universidade Federal De Juiz de Fora’s International Office. To this end, the research attempted to understand the proposal and functioning of the aforementioned Project, dialoguing with a bibliographical review on topics such as hospitality and foreigners, academic mobility, institutional reception and cultural exchange. Complements the research methodology, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the answers obtained from the application, by the author herself, of two semi-structured and anonymous questionnaires, to the exchange students present at UFJF during the years 2017 and 2018 and to the Brazilian so-called “buddies” present in the project under review during the same period. This analysis made it possible to understand the aforementioned relationship in the institutional and social context in which it develops, highlighting the importance of hospitality and welcoming studies for the life of exchange students in a university environment, as well as the contribution of the Buddy Project to UFJF and its academic community, given the various positive impacts observed. At the same time, it was possible to identify some weaknesses and gaps, for which this work brings propositions and suggestions for improving the Buddy Project as a whole and the relationship between exchange students and hosts.