Ángel taught the course on Contemporary Culture and Society practically from the very beginning of the Bachelor’s program in International Studies. Initially alongside Juan Rial, and from the mid-1990s onward under his sole responsibility, this course gradually took shape and developed its methodology as an introduction to the study of how the phenomena of globalization impact various dimensions of social life. This course—his course, so to speak—has been and will continue to be one of the first introductions to international issues that students in the International Studies program have received, are receiving, and will receive. In it, Cocchi displayed the best of his intellectual style, showcasing an unusually broad and varied repertoire of readings and knowledge, and a very keen capacity for analysis: drawing on these resources, he moved with ease from the past to the present, from economics to politics, from social processes to cultural production, from the current situation to the “long term.”
Professor Cocchi’s contribution was consistent, systematic, and always driven by a sense of vocation; he was generous and dedicated to providing the best possible education for graduates of the International Studies program. In that capacity, he also served as a project advisor and occasionally taught other courses during the long period—from 1996 to the present—in which he was connected to the program, its faculty, students, and the entire academic community of the School of Management and Social Sciences; ever since we were the School of Management and International Studies.
Ángel Cocchi was a history teacher who graduated from the Artigas Teachers’ College in 1974. A secondary school history teacher throughout his career, he belonged to that class of national intellectuals who, through the teaching of history, found a way to focus their interest on social phenomena, and through it channel a certain amateurish vocation in the social sciences, as well as a definitive interest in culture in its broadest humanistic sense. Between 1976 and 1980, he was an Associate Researcher at CIESU; then at CIEP; and since 1986, a professor at IPA in various subjects; a Grade 3 professor of History of Ideas and Political Science at the Law School of the University of the Republic (1985–1991); a professor at the Catholic University for a couple of years; and finally, a professor at ORT University. A CLACSO fellow; editor of a book on electoral reform; and author of several articles and chapters on urbanization and political history, like so many others with his background and training, he supported this vocation and his family through work in television, practically since the founding of Canal 4, and from 1980 onward, as Manager of the Uruguayan Television Network.
Ángel was, as all of us who knew him are well aware, not only a cultured, well-educated person deeply committed to higher education, but also a man of great humanity. The breadth of his intellectual curiosity and interests made him not only an original professor but also a great conversationalist, always attentive to new publications and open to fresh perspectives and ideas, which he greatly enjoyed discussing—over coffee—in a relaxed manner, completely free of affectation and always with a touch of humor.
His presence, which we will undoubtedly miss both personally and as an institution, had already been weakened by chronic diabetes; yet even as it took its toll on his physical health, it did not diminish his passion or the dedication he brought to teaching. Our youngest students, the most recent ones, undoubtedly experienced this situation, but I am certain that both they and those who were his students in previous generations—and who shared in Cocchi’s knowledge, guidance, and humanity, just as we did—feel the profound sorrow of his loss and untimely passing.
We can do nothing else but assure his family—his wife and two daughters—and, to some extent, ourselves—that we will keep him very much in our thoughts as we walk through the halls of the Faculty.
Dr. Gaston J. Labadie (Dean of the School of Management and Social Sciences).