A musealização da microbiologia no contexto da extensão universitária

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the challenges and potentialities involved in establishing a university microbiology museum at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, based on an analysis of the aforementioned university’s extension project “Nós e os micróbios: e daí?”, which aims to develop collections and provide a foundation for the establishment of the proposed museum. The methodology consisted of a bibliographic review of academic, governmental and institutional materials related to capitalism, science, scientific dissemination, the Enlightenment, liberalism, positivism, pragmatism, museums and museology. The results indicate that the extension project plays an important role in promoting scientific culture, democratizing access to microbiological knowledge and stimulating the engagement of diverse audiences through interactive and contextualized activities. Therefore, the microbiology museum of the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora would integrate and amplify the extension project’s educational and communicational impacts, becoming relevant and necessary to consolidate science dissemination strategies, to foster public interest in microbiology and to strengthen the university-society bond. Thus, overcoming the operational, infrastructural, budgetary and human obstacles identified in this process is essential for an approach to microorganisms that is publicly accessible, critical and socially committed.