OPEN LECTURE SERIES
Master’s Programs in History and in Research and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage 2026/2027

 

The annual Open Lecture Series aims to provide a space for debate and in-depth learning based on diverse objects of study and methodological approaches, from an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective.

The sessions take different forms – open lectures, conferences, roundtables, and study visits – and aim to stimulate reflection and critical debate on current research topics in History, Heritage, and Humanities.

The sessions are led by professors, researchers, and doctoral students affiliated with different research centers, with particular emphasis on Lab2PT and IN2PAST.

 

The coordination of the series is the responsibility of the directors of the Master’s Programs in History (Fátima Moura Ferreira) and in Research and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage (Alexandra Esteves).

 

Free admission.

 

The calendar of sessions for November and December 2026 is presented.

The 2027 calendar will be released at a later date.

The presentation of the speakers and sessions will accompany the announcement of the initiatives.

 

NOVEMBER 11th | 2 pm – 4 pm | Room 2.11, CP2, Gualtar Campus

“Prosopography: Between Group Biographies and Life Trajectories, a Theoretical-Empirical Approach” | Andreia Nunes

Prosopography is a method that allows us to move beyond the analysis of isolated figures and enhance the collective mapping of the life trajectories of a group. Initially used by researchers of ancient and medieval history, this methodology became a reference in the study of contemporary political elites in the 1970s. Starting from a theoretical approach to historical studies of prosopography, its empirical application in ongoing research is analyzed: life trajectories of a group of women who held positions of power among the political elite of contemporary Portugal, 1974-2006. Some preliminary data on generational differences, social and cultural capital of origin, participation in associative movements, and networks of sociability are also presented.

 

Andreia Nunes is a PhD student in History at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Minho and a researcher at Lab2PT/IN2PAST. She is a fellow of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT – ref. 2025.04396.BD), with the project “In search of a voice and an image: trajectories, discourses and representations of women’s political participation in Portuguese democracy (1974-2006)”.

 

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NOVEMBER 18 | 2pm – 4 pm | Room 2.11, CP2, Gualtar Campus

“The Braga Municipal Stadium: a story about architecture, economics and politics” | José Neves

The future of the Braga Municipal Stadium is currently uncertain. Built for the 2004 European Football Championship, the sports venue became a landmark architectural object, due to the unique layout of its stands, its relationship with the natural landscape, and the prestige of its author, architect Eduardo Souto Moura. Having received the Pessoa Prize in 1998, Souto Moura went on to win the Pritzker Prize in 2011, considered the Nobel Prize of architecture, with the Braga Municipal Stadium being one of the works highlighted on that occasion. In recent years, however, the stadium’s fate has become uncertain. The possibility of its sale has been announced, and more recently, a series of modernization works have been proposed that could substantially transform Souto Moura’s initial project.

This session does not aim to discuss the future of the stadium, but seeks, through the analysis of the program underlying its construction and attention to its reception in the field of architecture, to debate issues such as the economics of the sporting spectacle and its sociology and history. The ideas of democracy, equality, and emancipation that appear in the architecture, in the experience and reflection on football stadiums in general, and on the Braga stadium in particular, will also be invoked.

 

José Neves is a professor of History at NOVA FCSH and a researcher at IHC and IN2PAST. He has worked in History Theory, Nationalism Studies, Anticolonialism, Communism, and Football. Among other works, he is the author of *Communism and Nationalism in Portugal* (Tinta-da-china, 2008) and coordinated *The Era of Football* (Assírio e Alvim, 2004).