As Universidades da Terceira Idade em Portugal: Um contributo para a análise da sua emergência

Abstract

This paper is intended as a contribution to the analysis of the emergence of the Third Age Universities in Portugal. Firstly, the author will deal with way the elderly have been addressed by public policies and the social representations of the elderly depicted by the different policies. The historical context on the ways of dealing and addressing the elderly allows the social understanding of some of the conditions for the emergence of the Third Age Universities in Portugal. The dawn of the Third Age policy in Portugal is briefly analysed, highlighting the transition period from an invisible old age to an identified old age and stressing the driving principles of the new imported Policy. Within this frame, the emergence of the first Third Age University in Portugal is studied.