A universidade da maturidade como tecnologia social: percepções da educação universitária no quilombo Malhadinha, Brejinho do Nazaré/TO

Abstract

This thesis investigates how residents of the Malhadinha Quilombo, especially elderly individuals, perceive the access, meaning, and role of university education in their territory, based on the experience of the Universidade da Maturidade (UMA). The research adopts a qualitative, phenomenological approach, using oral narratives as the central axis of analysis. Interviews were conducted with elderly quilombola participants of UMA, aiming to understand how these subjects assign meaning to their university experience and how this impacts their identity, citizenship, and social recognition. The findings indicate that UMA, understood as a social technology, contributes to repositioning elderly individuals as protagonists of the educational process and to strengthening community ties within the quilombola territory.