Award of 4 merit scholarships

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The doctoral proposal presented here, which is part of a third cycle training in the field of communication sciences, was approved by the A3ES (a body that accredits higher education courses in Portugal) for a maximum period of 6 years. The evaluators' arguments underlined the innovative nature of the program presented, which they called “a high-level academic dialogue”.

But what makes this third cycle proposal so peculiar?

Firstly, its formulation and the subject of study. We want to open a space for multidisciplinary discussion, crossing the knowledge of the social sciences, which will come to our aid for an open thinking about the communicative reality (and at the same time; political, socio-historical, economic...) of Portuguese-speaking countries and the community. they want to configure.

Secondly, the programmatic proposal and the way in which we will organize the working sessions. We idealized training in collaborative contours, with the participation of institutions that are involved in the functioning of the doctorate: Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique); University of Cape Verde (UNI-CV) and Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (Brazil). We built an educational project produced in a logic of debate and synergies, which aims to provide a reflection triband between continents; African, Latin American and European. We will have professors and researchers from partner institutions, as well as leading figures from other instances, with a view to intellectual enrichment of our contact sessions. We will combine the great intellectual debate with formulations of a practical nature. We will enable students to learn how to use communicative tools available in our laboratories and provide skills in the use of computer tools to support investigative work (software for data collection and processing), with the aim of providing excellent training.

Thirdly, for the academic commitment that we want to establish with all of you. From the beginning, we will encourage the full participation of our students in projects of an investigative nature, either in the line of research that is associated with the doctoral program (“Portuguese Language Societies” – OBSERVARE), or in the projects promoted by the Department of Sciences of Communication, specifically at the Center for the Study of Media Practices and Skills (NIP@COM). In order to strengthen networks and develop joint research projects, we will encourage the movement of students to our African and Brazilian counterparts.

We also want to reinforce this commitment that we have established with you, fostering a relationship of total proximity through periodic, individual and group meetings, where we will discuss the path we are building together.

This doctoral proposal aims to fill a glaring gap, the inexistence in the context of the CPLP of a space for permanent academic reflection, capable of thinking from a shared logic the specifics of a joint historical action, generating periods of relational continuity and discontinuity. Specifically, in the path that has been shaped in its multiple cultural and media intersections. We aspire as a major goal to trigger a movement capable of consolidating an academic network of Portuguese-speaking countries to form together an intricate reflection on this complex cultural universe. The major training goals that we propose for students are the following:

• Develop rigorous skills in academic thinking and production.
• Discuss from a critical perspective the historiographical currents that interpret Portuguese colonialism and later conceptions of post-colonialism.
• Foster a multidimensional knowledge of the countries that make up the CPLP, specifically to deepen the social, economic, political and media understanding of each of the realities.
• Understand the role of States, formal Organizations and Civil Society in shaping the project of the community of Portuguese-speaking countries.
• Stimulate the capacity to generate reflections that propose public policies or concerted actions among the different countries.

And specifically in relation to the communicative field;

• Historically understand the role of the media as agents of public debate and civic construction in each of the CPLP countries.
• Examine the role of journalists in different local contexts, scrutinizing their training, practices and possible constraints in the exercise of their professional activity. In a complementary way, understand the role played by the Federation of Portuguese-Speaking Journalists.
• Understand the competences and actions of the Platform of Social Communication Regulatory Entities in Portuguese-Speaking Countries and Territories (PER), as well as the initiatives and deliberations that have been produced by the different governments regarding the communicative space.
• Understand the behavior of audiences in direct relationship with the preferences of media consumption and the circulation of cultural content within the community of Portuguese-speaking countries.
• Observe the practices and risks associated with the digital activities of populations in CPLP countries.
• Understand the role of universities and research centers for the study of the communicative phenomenon in the CPLP context, understanding their lines of study, results and networks.
• Contribute to a comprehensive academic debate, which includes plural readings in the inclusion of different epistemological perspectives proposed by academics from different areas and backgrounds of the CPLP. The expected result is a true problematization of the communicative field, which allows meeting the idiosyncrasies and specificities of each of the contexts under analysis.

See you soon!
Bruno Carriço Reis
PhD Coordinator

Inaugural message by Professor Elísio Macamo at the opening session of the PhD