History in the Public Sphere

The MA History in the Public Sphere (HIPS) is an academic joint venture between NOVA University, through NOVA FCSH, and the Central European University (Austria and Hungary), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan) and University of Florence (Italy), funded by the Erasmus Mundus Plus of the European Union and the Inter-University Exchange Project (IUEP) of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

HIPS is a taught, English-language research degree. It combines an exploration of the past from the early modern period to the present with the study of its public representations in todays world. Its main objective is to bring together historical scholarship and civic engagement in order to prepare students for careers in producing, translating, and disseminating historical knowledge through archives, museums, journalism, broadcasting, and digital communication. It draws on the most up-to-date historiography, offering students different ways of studying local contexts in dialogue with transnational and global developments.

At the same time, the degree programme offers students a professional environment to acquire practical experience in the participating universities own archival resources, audio-visual courses, and media education, as well as their close collaboration with national cultural institutions and private foundations.

The programme seeks not only to critically assess the public uses of history, but also to enable young people to contribute to public displays of the past in a self-reflexive way through their professional education and practical experience. Therefore, the programme combines an in-depth methodological and theoretical training in comparative history with hands-on training in the methods and practices of bringing historical knowledge to the public sphere, for instance, by historically informed journalism, documentary film-making, curating exhibitions, or creating educational online resources.

For a more comprehensive view of the Programme, check the Master's official website here. The "Lisbon semester" of this international programme brings together an inter-disciplinary team of FCSH NOVA professors who are responsible for five different curricular units and three short practical courses. They are all open to NOVA students up to a limited number of places.