Concepções de universidade para Amazônia: discursos sobre o desenvolvimento regional nas universidades federais do Pará (2007-2024)

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze discourses on regional development presented by the Federal Universities of the state of Pará. The universities studied are: the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and those that were later separated from it; the Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA); the Federal University of Western Pará (UFOPA); and the Federal University of the South and Southeast of Pará (UNIFESSPA). The main purpose of this analysis is to historicize the development discourses concerning the Legal Amazon region produced by these universities between 2007 and 2024.

Thus, the objective is to examine the universities’ conceptions of development through excerpts taken from their Institutional Development Plans (PDI). The following topics will be analyzed: UNIVERSITY HISTORY, MISSION, and OBJECTIVES — all found under a mandatory section in every PDI titled “Institutional Profile.”

In this way, it will be possible to problematize the university not merely as a space for meeting the demand for higher education qualifications, but as an institution engaged with society, government, and the university community itself. This analysis has made it possible to identify transformations, ruptures, and continuities in their definitions, decisions, actions, and priorities throughout their history. A significant focus was observed in the institutions' efforts to promote economic development, aligning with Brazil's developmentalist policies of the 21st century.