DIALOGUE WITH OLD STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MATURIDADE: DEATH AND DYING

Abstract

This study aims to describe the stories experienced by academics at the University of Maturity about death and the dying process, as well as their interpretation of life, childhood and human aging, understanding that discussing finitude is also a prerogative of human rights. The class is composed of 53 students, however, only 16 responded to the research activities. Contents about thanatology are applied in the classroom, a course taught by professors who work in the master's and doctorate in education offered by UFT. That is the University of Maturity (UMA), offers a training course to people over 45 years old, through this course the elderly improve their interpersonal relationships, develop other activities, expand their knowledge of the world, of life and also in this specific curriculum about death. The research is qualitative, descriptive, questionnaires were applied, and the data indicate that we still need to expand our knowledge on the subject, it also points out how much freer women felt and mastered their space, being old, living life in maturity, since most are widowed or divorced. It is concluded that there is much to know about death, and that the students of the Uversity of Maturity are open to discussing death and dying, valuing life more and more.