When I first met Dr. Jaan Valsiner, I had just finished my PhD in Experimental and Developmental Psychology at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I had had the privilege to receive an excellent training in both behaviorism and ethology at the University of Brasilia and the University of Sao Paulo, as well as in the use of statistics for scientific research on human behavior and interactions. Following my restless curiosity concerning new perspectives to make sense of the processual nature of my object of study, human development, I was introduced to Vygotsky’s theoretical approach by late 80s. Then, on 1989 I had the opportunity to participate of a mini-course by Dr. Valsiner at a Brazilian scientific meeting, and that participation turned out to open a whole new universe of theoretical and methodological perspectives for my research within the field of psychology. Since then, I could work in collaboration with Jaan Valsiner, and a significant generation of new researchers benefited from such cooperation. The enthusiastic and productive theoretical and methodological co-construction that characterized his joint work with researchers all over the world is extremely meaningful for the actual development of ideas. Today, such ideas are at the core of the discipline we designate as Cultural Psychology. The emergence and consolidation of a new paradigm for psychological thinking, rooted on substantive contributions by past theorists, has significantly benefited from Jaan Valsiner’s work. His actual interest in understanding culture took him from the USA to countries like Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, and most European countries. However, his major motivation has always been to engage us in a joint and respectful cooperation, for his visits resulted in bringing local researchers to the foreground of studies on their own topics from a cultural psychological approach. We, from the University of Brasilia, thus thank Jaan Valsiner for his uniquely precious intellectual contributions, as well as for his cultural sensitivity and generosity, and careful co-construction of a worldwide network that today do represent a step forward in the direction of a scientific psychology committed with meaningful knowledge production. We acknowledge his competence and actual work to free psychology from mainstream pseudo-scientific numbers orientation, and his guiding ideas that take us closer to the processual, complex, systemic and dynamic nature of psychological phenomena, characterized by the mutual generation of semiotics and cultural practices, as well as the mutual constitution of individuals, groups and societies.

ANGELA UCHOA BRANCO / Instituto de Psicología

Dr. Jaan Valsiner is an incredible bright scholar with a gift for synthesizing the philosophical and psychological ideas of the discipline's founding fathers with his own pioneering work on cultural-developmental psychology. There are not many scholars of the magnitude and caliber of Dr. Valsiner whose work covers a wide spectrum of topics and takes into account the epistemology of many other disciplines (beyond just psychology), thus making his approach integrative and truly holistic. Furthermore, Dr. Valsiner is an excellent mentor! He is very patient, supportive and talented in tailoring his mentorship to the student's needs and pace of learning, whereby it should be highlighted that Dr. Valsiner has a unique flair for motivating the student to be creative, innovative, and to strive for excellence in scholarship. I count myself very lucky to have had the fortune that my life path crossed with that of Dr. Valsiner as I have benefited greatly from his scholarship, teachings, insights, and most of all, his friendship. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of special honors than Dr. Valsiner. Best Regards, ------- Rainer Diriwaechter, Ph.D. California Lutheran University Department of Psychology 60 West Olsen Rd. #3800

Rainer Diriwaechter / Instituto de Psicología

De: Diriwaechter, Rainer [rdiriwae@callutheran.edu] Enviado el: lunes, 03 de mayo de 2010 03:53 a.m. Para: Mauricio Jose Cortes Rodriguez Asunto: RE: For Kitcheners Dear Mauricio, I wanted to post something for Jaan on your website, but it won't let me (there seems to be an error), so I'm sending you my little text here (can you please make sure the honors committee gets it? ~ Thank you!): Dr. Jaan Valsiner is an incredible bright scholar with a gift for synthesizing the philosophical and psychological ideas of the discipline's founding fathers with his own pioneering work on cultural-developmental psychology. There are not many scholars of the magnitude and caliber of Dr. Valsiner whose work covers a wide spectrum of topics and takes into account the epistemology of many other disciplines (beyond just psychology), thus making his approach integrative and truly holistic. Furthermore, Dr. Valsiner is an excellent mentor! He is very patient, supportive and talented in tailoring his mentorship to the student's needs and pace of learning, whereby it should be highlighted that Dr. Valsiner has a unique flair for motivating the student to be creative, innovative, and to strive for excellence in scholarship. I count myself very lucky to have had the fortune that my life path crossed with that of Dr. Valsiner as I have benefited greatly from his scholarship, teachings, insights, and most of all, his friendship. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of special honors than Dr. Valsiner.

Rainer Diriwaechter / Instituto de Psicología

Dr. Jaan Valsiner is an incredible bright scholar with a gift for synthesizing the philosophical and psychological ideas of the discipline's founding fathers with his own pioneering work on cultural-developmental psychology. There are not many scholars of the magnitude and caliber of Dr. Valsiner whose work covers a wide spectrum of topics and takes into account the epistemology of many other disciplines (beyond just psychology), thus making his approach integrative and truly holistic. Furthermore, Dr. Valsiner is an excellent mentor! He is very patient, supportive and talented in tailoring his mentorship to the student's needs and pace of learning, whereby it should be highlighted that Dr. Valsiner has a unique flair for motivating the student to be creative, innovative, and to strive for excellence in scholarship. I count myself very lucky to have had the fortune that my life path crossed with that of Dr. Valsiner as I have benefited greatly from his scholarship, teachings, insights, and most of all, his friendship. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of special honors than Dr. Valsiner.

Dr. Rainer Diriwaechter / Instituto de Psicología

Dr. Jaan Valsiner is an incredible bright scholar with a gift for synthesizing the philosophical and psychological ideas of the discipline's founding fathers with his own pioneering work on cultural-developmental psychology. There are not many scholars of the magnitude and caliber of Dr. Valsiner whose work covers a wide spectrum of topics and takes into account the epistemology of many other disciplines (beyond just psychology), thus making his approach integrative and truly holistic. Furthermore, Dr. Valsiner is an excellent mentor! He is very patient, supportive and talented in tailoring his mentorship to the student's needs and pace of learning, whereby it should be highlighted that Dr. Valsiner has a unique flair for motivating the student to be creative, innovative, and to strive for excellence in scholarship. I count myself very lucky to have had the fortune that my life path crossed with that of Dr. Valsiner as I have benefited greatly from his scholarship, teachings, insights, and most of all, his friendship. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of special honors than Dr. Valsiner.

Rainer Diriwaechter / Instituto de Psicología

Como primera doctora en Psicología formada en Colombia que tuvo el privilegio de formarse en el Centro de investigaciones Psicología, Cognición y Cultura de la Universidad de Valle con excelentes maestros - entre ellos el profesor Jaan Vasiner- Celebro la iniciativa de su nombramiento como Doctor Honoris Causa. Los aportes del Jaan Valsiner se podrían ubicarse en tres planos: epistemológico, teórico y metodológico. En el plano epistemológico ha generado un cuerpo de reflexiones relacionado con los antecedentes, naturaleza y objeto de estudio del desarrollo. En el plano teórico son visibles sus aportes relacionados con la construcción de conceptos y explicaciones que permitan comprender la verdadera naturaleza cambiante del desarrollo, y en el plano metodológico es conocida su trayectoria académica que se inicia con estudios ubicados en el escenario de la psicología básica y posteriormente van dirigiéndose hacia el estudio del desarrollo desde una perspectiva cultural. El recorrido del profesor Valsiner está marcado por rigor académico, dialogo interdisciplinario y una búsqueda permanente de nuevos caminos metodológico que permitan comprender y explicar las riquezas de los fenómenos del desarrollo. Los aportes del Jaan Valsiner son visibles a través del gran número de artículos, libros, conferencias y visitas académicas realizadas en diferentes Universidades del mundo. Por último destaco algunas de las cualidades que identifican a Jaan, como su generosidad, apertura hacia diferentes posturas, sencillez, su interés por el desarrollo de la disciplina psicológica y por la formación de investigadores. Todo ello unido a los grandes aportes que ha realizado lo hace merecedor de éste y otros reconocimientos.

Lilian Patricia Rodriguez Burgos / Instituto de Psicología

Creo que el Prof. Jaan Valsiner viene realziando desde hace tiempo una enorme contribucion a la Psicologia y a las ciencias sociales en general. Yo destacaria su vision abierta de los problemas, su coherencia en los planteamientos culturales y su creatividad para abordar nuevos problemas. Felicitaciones a la Universidad del Valle por esta decision.

Mario Carretero / Instituto de Psicología

In being able to be in touch with Valsiner's contributions to Psychology, I can say now that I found my way in Psychology. Not only he is able to bring new light to old issues so much discussed in Psychology, but he is also able to open a new road to understanding human development. And this is very exciting! Sara Chaves, UFBa, Brazil.

Sara Santos Chaves / Instituto de Psicología

Professor Jaan Valsiner is an awesome scholar and one of the most important scientists in the scenario of contemporary Psychology. For me, personally, his work and thinking restore my hope in a psychological science theoretically and epistemologically coherent and truly open to the richness and variability of human experience all over the world. The Institute of Psychology of Federal University of Bahia, as well as other Brazilian universities, have benefited immensely of his generous and vibrant way of thinking Psychology and from the innovative synthesis he has been constructing in this area. “Words are not enough” – this is the title of one of Jaan’s brilliant lectures in Bahia. It comes up to my mind now to say that words are not enough to express my deep admiration and gratitude to Jaan for his so relevant contributions to Psychology and for the extraordinary human being he is.

Ana Cecília de Sousa Bastos / Instituto de Psicología

Dr. Valsiner was easily one of my very favorite people at Clark. He helped to guide my research and what I learned from him still has an impact on me today. I greatly enjoyed working with him and appreciate the time he took to help me develop my research skills. I might not be pursuing my PhD now if it weren't for him.

Stacey Pereira / Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Económicas

Jaan was a wonderfully vibrant and intellectually brilliant person to have on my Undergrad honors thesis committee. He helped me achieve an interdisciplinary approach to thinking and writing that I still use today in my intellectual work. It was an honor working with him and I still think fondly (and a bit jealously) about how close Jaan was to his students--it is rare in academia to have someone so willing to take time to work with students on their own interests.

Genie Giaimo / Facultad de Humanidades

Professor Jaan Valsiner is a bright scholar and an enthusiastic critic upon research and theory in Psychology. In my view, he has brought many innovations to the study of and theory about human development from a cultural perspective. He has achieved this either through his own original inshights and also through the introduction and clarification of classical theories and authors that were taken under little or distorted consideration in the discipline. Furthermore, his interest and critical reflection upon psychological science, knowledge and methods has brought emphasis to the often implicit and pervasive assumptions that permeate research and theory, deconstructing the misguiding idea of scientific knowledge as "neutral". His critical perspective has also motivated alternatives to the mainstream psychological research, in an emphasis to overcome the powerful prescription of certain methods over others, while developing new or rehabilitating classical methods through a renewal of their utility. But, most of all, and even above his brilliant scientific CV, I admire his personal caracteristics: the way he - like no one other renowned international scholar I have known or heard about - conects with researchers around the world, inviting them to colaborate with him or with others, encouraging them to develop their potential, presenting them with opportunities to expand their efforts and making their voices and perspectives heard and published.

Carla Alexandra Castro Cunha / Instituto de Psicología

Considero que la recomendación para otorgar la distinción DOCTOR HONORIS CAUSA es acertada. El profesor Valsiner es un referente en el campo de la Psicología del Desarrollo, y su trabajo ha sido altamente influyente a nivel local,nacional e internacional. Su dedicación al desarrollo de la Ciencia es indiscutible y a influenciado el trabajo de muchos otros investigadores en Psicología. Jairo Montes

Jairo Andrés Montes / Instituto de Psicología

El profesor Jaan Valsiner se destaca como una figura relevante en la Psicología del Desarrollo por su contribución en el plano teórico y metodológico. Desde la década del noventa entrega a la comunidad académica una revisión pormenorizada de la evolución del objeto de estudio en la Psicología del Desarrollo y la posibilidad de configurar un discurso interdisciplinar más amplio en el área de conocimiento denominada Ciencia del Desarrollo. A nivel metodológico instaura una discusión pertinente sobre el “imperio del empirismo” y el sometimiento de la investigación psicológica a la lógica positivista de la estadística; revela la proliferación de trabajos de investigación sin referentes teóricos y la escasa búsqueda de nuevos modelos que den sentido a la investigación que se está realizando. Es necesario mencionar que este autor no solamente presenta el estado del arte de la investigación y los avances teóricos en la Psicología del Desarrollo, sino que propone una plataforma conceptual y metodológica que permite rastrear sus ideas. Por el aporte del profesor Valsiner a la comunidad académica y por su contribución a la configuración de la Nueva Ciencia del Desarrollo, reconozco que es un acierto de la Universidad del Valle otorgarle el título de Doctor Honoris Causa en Psicología. Hernán Sánchez Ríos

Hernan Sanchez / Instituto de Psicología

La trayectora del profesor Valsiner como persona dedicada a la ciencia es un ejemplo para mostrar y seguir. 1. Es un pensador crítico y original sin importar que sus ideas choquen con corrientes principales y hegemónicas en el mundo científico. 2. Es respetado por amigos y contradictores de sus ideas. 3. Ha sabido enfrentar al statu quo y construir redes cientificas que difunden el conocimiento en el que cree. Redes incluyentes como el Kitchen Seminar que se realiza a nivel internacional y en el que participa la Universidad del Valle, un espacio en donde es posible colocar lo novedoso y en gestación para discusión en una red de cientos de personas expertas en universidades de todo el mundo. 4. Es conocedor no solo de su ciencia sino de los mecanismos para difundirla, experto editor y sobre todo, soporte para que nuevas ideas, no solo las suyas, se difundan en medios masivos de calidad científica. 5. Valsiner no es dogmático y también se cuestiona sus propias ideas y reconoce las lagunas en sus resultados científicos. 6. Valsiner escucha al y dialoga con, el estudiante, con el profesor y con el autor eminente de la misma forma. Siempre está esperando la idea nueva que puede tener su discípulo para debatirla y mejorarla. No impone. 7. En un mundo competido como el de la academia de hoy, la generosidad de Valsiner para apoyar a los demás en la tarea científica es poco común. 8. Trabaja desde los Estados Unidos con una visión universal, no tiene a la sociedad occidental de los paíes de altos ingresos como punto de partida de su concepción del ser humano y se preocupa por comprender la diversidad cultural. 9. Siendo un pensador de frontera, expone sus ideas haciendo un estudio profundo y detallado de la historia de las ideas de su campo de trabajo. 10. Es un ejemplo de verdadero pensador interdisciplinario que integra saberes para producir nuevo conocimiento pero igualmente está profundamente ligado y es un experto a su discplina matriz, la psicología. En suma, a mi juicio Valsiner cumple con creces los requisitos para el reconocimiento. Pero más que el reconocimiento, que como casi todos los honoris causa, no lo necesitan, ojalá Univalle, si le otorga el H.C. difunda las razones de este ejemplo y el de otros, para cumplir realmente con el propósito último del reconocimiento.

Mauricio Cortés / Instituto de Psicología

Uno de los méritos del profesor Valsiner reside en haber contribuido a examinar, repensar y poner en cuestión algunos supuestos, firmemente arraigados, en la ciencia normal en Psicología, en particular aquella que cifra en el tratamiento estadístico de datos los fundamentos de su propia cientificidad. Valsiner ha alentado la discusión epistemológica y metodológica al invitar a renovar el utillaje y procedimientos técnicos de investigación, poniendo al centro tanto el papel que las mediaciones semióticas tienen en la configuración y desarrollo de la vida de la persona humana, como los aportes que desde los sistemas dinámicos desafían los determinismos mecánicos a la hora de explicar el desarrollo. Una mezcla genuina de ingenio, erudición y sensibilidad artesana a la hora de pensar soluciones metodológicas, atraviesa de cabo a rabo algunas de sus publicaciones referidas a asuntos cruciales sobre investigación psicológica. Esa es una, entre otras razones, para celebrar la iniciativa de Doctorado Honoris Causa para el profesor Jaan Valsiner.

Julián González / Facultad de Artes Integradas

Opinión absolutamente favorable. El Profesor valsiner es uno de los profesores que está realizando acutalmente aportaciones teóricas más novedosas en el campo de la psicología del desarrollo

Eduardo Marti / Instituto de Psicología

De: Cintia Rodriguez Fecha: 8 de abril de 2010 06:49 Asunto: RE: Honoris Causa Valsiner Nombre: Cintia Rodríguez Garrido Correo: cintia.rodriguez@uam.es Facultad de Formación de Profesorado y Educación Me parece muy acertado la propuesta de Honoris Causa de su Universidad a Jaan Valsiner. Es un referente de la Psicología que sin duda lo merece. Lo apoyo sin ninguna duda. Muy cordialmente Cintia Rodríguez

cintia reodriguez / Instituto de Psicología

J. Valsiner tiene el perfil de un profesor de profunda trayectoria en el campo academico como docente, investigador y editor. Es un profesor invitado en muchos eventos, en el campo de la historia de la psicologia, en los congresos de desarrollo infantil, en los ambientes de la psicologia cultural. J. Valsiner ha sido un invitado frecuente al doctorado de Psicologia de la Universidad del Valle y sus aportes generosos y claros han brindando caminos de exploracion para los estudiantes de este programa en diversos campos.Es desde luego un modelo importante a seguir. Como persona es un excelente colega cuya caractesitica mas destacada es la generosidad en el conocimiento. Me uno a la propuesta de otorgarle el doctorado honoris-causa.

Jacqueline Benavides Delgado / Instituto de Psicología