Seminar “There’s no escaping what we’re taught? Debates on historical memory and intercultural communication”

25 de October, 2024 | Chisoka Simões | Event

On October 21st, the first session of 2024/2025 of the “Communication and Diversity” Seminar was held, with the theme “Is there no way for us to escape from what we are taught? Debates on historical memory and intercultural communication”. The event promoted debates on the influences of the past on the way history is told and lived and its importance in public memory.

Alice Balbé and Armindo Armando’s interventions focused on research carried out within the scope of “Memories, Cultures and Identities: The Past and the Present of Intercultural Relations in Mozambique and Portugal” (Cultures Past & Present). The two presentations resulted from research that used focus groups with young people in secondary or university education.

Alice Balbé, researcher at the Communication and Society Research Centre (CECS) of the University of Minho, presented the communication entitled “We may not find anything, but we have to study: discussions with secondary school youth in Portugal”. On the other hand, Armindo Armando, a professor at Licungo University in Mozambique, presented the communication “Gordian Knot and Carnation Revolution: Paths for reflection on relations between Portugal and Mozambique”.

Communication and Diversity Seminar : “Is there no way for us to escape from what we are taught? Debates on historical memory and intercultural communication”.

The seminar, moderated by Rosa Cabecinhas, resulted from a collaboration between the Virtual Museum of Lusophony, the MigraMediaActs project and the Conciliare project. The initiative reinforced the importance of rethinking historical memory, especially in the context of postcolonial relations, and the debate revealed the importance of communication in the construction of intercultural narratives.