University, History teaching and military dictatorship from the perspective of Rodrigo Patto Sá Motta

Abstract

In this interview carried out with the professor at Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Rodrigo Patto Sá Motta, the goal was to reflect on the history of repression of universities in the context of the dictatorship, the teaching of History during and about the dictatorship and the incidence of the military regime on Brazilian political culture. Held on August 6, 2024, at the Faculty of Philosophy and Human Sciences (FAFICH) at UFMG, the interview followed a semi-structured questionnaire. On the occasion, the professor reported the research process for the production of his book about universities and the military regime, a work published ten years ago and which has inspired academic research in Brazil and Latin America. In it, he presents the concepts of resistance and accommodation as opposing poles in the analysis of the relationship between the university and the military dictatorship. Rodrigo Patto Sá Motta also reflected on the social disqualification of academic knowledge about the military dictatorship, on his experience in research and teaching higher education in the context of Jair Bolsonaro's government and on the election, in Argentina, of an extreme candidate right-wing denialist of the military dictatorship. The professor also indicated ways for the practices of basic education teachers to approach the military dictatorship in the classroom. It is concluded that the accommodation games were not a successful strategy of resistance to the dictatorship and that the defense of democratic values, at present, is an unavoidable task for the entire university community.