This project came forth during the graduate discipline Topics on Theory of History, in 2020. Such discipline was lectured by Thiago Lima Nicodemo and Pedro Telles da Silveira, who thought it through to include undergraduate students, post- graduate researchers, and professors during the social isolation imposed by COVID-19. Drawing on the opportunity to invite different participants for each online class, this course created a path for investigating the professional practice of historians that did not follow the traditional binomial path of teaching/research. Podcasters, youtubers, consultants for soap operas, editors, archivers, among others, are different professional roles undertaken by historians at the public and private level. This project has continued beyond the discipline and includes, in addition to interviews, a theoretical-methodological investigation on the constitution of historical knowledge in professional activities distant from the most traditional ones. As a result, it is expected to value and signify the practice of these professionals as effective historians, to scientifically publicize their work, and to refine the curricular and pedagogical precepts of undergraduate history courses.
Lines of research
I. History, historians, and business
This research started with the master’s dissertation of Ian Marino and seeks to understand the progress of history within the Brazilian business practice. What has driven the proliferation of memory centers and publications focused on the history of companies? What is the character of such productions? What is the place and role of historians in this process? Answering these and other related questions requires a theoretical and empirical effort ranging from bibliographic investigation to an ethnographic study of organizations and agents involved. As part of this process, the questionnaire below is being answered by the main organizations of the country to help us understand the framework of companies specialized in these business historical services. If you work with business history and memory, please don’t hesitate to answer it and contribute to our research!
