University's mission: Discourse analysis of the honoris causa doctor’s degree

Abstract

The honoris causa doctor’s degree, a Latin expression which means “for the sake of honor”, is an honorific degree awarded by universities to people who have made a great contribution or have excelled in several areas of knowledge and culture. This degree is usually granted to persona who share principles and mission similar to those of the institution that grants them this honor. Thus, we believe that the analysis of the discourses of honoris causa doctors may constitute help us to reinforce systematization, thinking about and reflect on the mission of University of yesterday, along time. In this paper we present the results of the analysis of the 36 speeches of honoris causa doctors of the University of Aveiro, Portugal (2017), on the occasion of the award ceremony, over the last three decades. This work refers to one of the dimensions of a study based on extensive epistemological analysis carried out in the same context and has its focus on the idea of university mission. The results of the Honoris Causa Doctors’ discourses reveal that the mission of the university encompasses several domains from the valuation of knowledge to the critical and ethical, personal and citizen view.