RESEARCH AREAS

My research examines sport, media and popular culture as central arenas of contemporary societies and as key lenses through which to interpret political power, social change and cultural production. It develops along three interconnected areas:

SPORT, FOOTBALL AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES
Football and modern sport are analysed as political and social phenomena shaped by state formation, nationalism and democratic transition, and as spaces where identities and power relations are contested. 

MEDIA, PRESS AND POPULAR CULTURE
The press and media are studied as central agents in shaping public narratives about sport and society, with particular attention to journalism and popular representations as sites of cultural production.

INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY, HERITAGE AND PUBLIC HISTORY
This strand examines how sporting institutions construct and mobilise historical narratives through archives, museums and heritage projects, linking academic research with public history.

CURRENT RESEARCH

My current research combines historical investigation with archival development and emerging interdisciplinary debates. Ongoing projects include a book on 100 years of football competitions in Coimbra and a study of sports photography in twentieth-century Portugal, examining visual culture as a historical source.

I am also coordinating the development of a new historical archive for the Coimbra Football Association, linking archival work with academic research and institutional memory. In parallel, I am engaged in collaborative work on women’s sport and football history within international research groups, as well as in exploratory studies on artificial intelligence (AI) and sport.

Research Trajectory

Research Trajectory

My research trajectory has evolved from the study of the sports press and media culture to a broader historical analysis of football as a central social and political phenomenon in contemporary societies. Over time, this work expanded into transnational perspectives and into the study of institutional memory, archives and heritage, integrating academic research with curatorial practice and public history. This trajectory reflects a sustained commitment to understanding sport not as an isolated field, but as a key site for interpreting modern cultural and political transformations.