Faculty of Social and Human Sciences

The FCSH main building is inspired by the image of an open book

FCSH/NOVA was established in January 1977 by Decree-Law No. 464/77, following the development of the area of Human and Social Sciences that existed at NOVA at the time, led by a group of faculty members and researchers, namely J. S. da Silva Dias, Leonor Buescu, João Morais Barbosa, Artur Nobre de Gusmão, Fernando Gil, Augusto Mesquitela Lima, A.H. de Oliveira Marques, José Augusto França, Vitorino Magalhães Godinho, José Mattoso, Raquel Soeiro de Brito, Teolinda Gersão, Leonor Machado de Sousa, Yvete Kace Centeno and Teresa Rita Lopes. The Faculty began its activity on 2 January 1978.

The FCSH is located at Av. Berna, in the centre of Lisbon, next to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Based on a barracks that belonged to the military, the Faculty’s facilities are divided into B1 and B2 buildings (classrooms and departments), Tower A (classrooms and head office of the Languages Institute of the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa - ILNOVA]), Tower B (departments, and the Mário Sottomayor Cardia Library), boards of management, administrative services, cafeteria, Students Association and, since 2009, the ID building (Research and PhD degrees). This building, known as the former DRM (Military District Recruitment), has recently undergone a major change in order to be adapted to the new objectives it has been assigned. The core of the administrative support for PhD degrees, the research units associated with FCSH/NOVA and classrooms for the PhD programmes located in the ID building.

In addition to teaching areas (classrooms, lecture halls and auditoriums), the FCSH/NOVA also has various spaces for socialization, a printing centre and a large courtyard. To solve logistical issues created by recent growth, new facilities are scheduled for the FCSH/NOVA in the plans of the Campolide Campus, where other Faculties of the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (NOVA) are already installed, such as the Faculdade de Economia (FE), the Faculdade de Direito (FD) and the Instituto Superior de Estatística e Gestão de Informação (ISEGI). The Rectory of NOVA and the University residence Alfredo de Sousa are also located in the Campolide Campus.

The Faculty Structure, according to the RJIES,[4] has the following bodies:

• Faculty Council
• Dean
• Scientific Council
• Pedagogic Council
• Student Council

The FCSH/NOVA delegates the operation of its educational offer to its 12 Departments, as well as the support for scientific and technological development and dissemination of culture in the fields taught. The development of this mission is secured by the faculty members associated each Department - tenured and visiting - supported by a secretariat. The coordination of each department is taken up by a Coordinator appointed by the Dean from the tenured faculty members.[10]

ID building houses the FCSH research centres

FCSH houses a total of 16 Research Centres, whose primary mission is the development of scientific research in different cultural areas of the social sciences and humanities, the education of researchers and the rendering of services to the community.

The Faculty is the only higher education institution in the Social Sciences and Humanities field with its own facilities dedicated to research centres and to PhD’s (ID building), strengthening the desired association between research and PhD programmes.

Out of the 16 research centers, 13 were evaluated by international panels of FCT/MCTES - four with an "Excellent" grade and eight with a "Very Good" grade - launching the FCSH to a position of great importance in the national University panorama. Taken together, these centres captured 1.4 million [11] in funding in 2009.

Today, the FCSH is the second largest unit of NOVA, both in student numbers, and in financial budget. It has more than 300 faculty members, almost all of them holding a PhD degree or with recognized prestige in their scientific area. It also has about 100 staff members. During the academic year 2015/16, the Faculty admitted a total of 4725 students, 2587 undergraduate, 1488 masters and 650 students for doctoral programs.[2]

The FCSH teaching programme for the academic year 2016/2017 includes 14 undergraduate degrees, 46 masters programs and 28 PhD’s, the latter two being exclusively developed during a night schedule.

The study cycle cover the traditionalSocial Sciences and Humanities fields, but also several thematic and interdisciplinary courses. In addition to a Summer School, the FCSH/NOVA also offers specialization degrees, free courses and, since 1997, a programme on Portuguese Language and Culture. This program is structured according to the six proficiency levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. It can be intensive (30 hours - 5 times per week), a semester (64 hours two times per week) or taught individually.

Annually, more than 400 students participate in the Mobility Programmes, of which the Erasmus Programme is the best known example. This is one of the examples of the FCSH/NOVA’s internationalization strategy.

The BMSC is also a deposit for private donations given by inheritors of former teachers of FCSH: The Leonor Buescu Library (BLB) - 3000 volumes of broad scope, with greater relevance to the area of Linguistics and English Literature; the Luis Krus Library (BLK) - 2200 volumes on Portuguese and European Medieval History, Anthropology and Sociology; the António G. Mattoso Library (BM) - 8500 books of broader scope, with particular importance to the field of History, and the Mário Sottomayor Cardia Library (BMSC) – 70000 volumes, still not fully treated, that deal with issues of a general nature, with a particular emphasis on Philosophy and Political Science.

The BMSC also includes the bibliographic collection of the American Ladies Club (ALC) - 1000 volumes dedicated to Literature, as well as some personal libraries, as in the case of the Dragomir Knapic Library (BK) - 250 works on Geography; the Rodrigues Michaels Library (BRM) - 1400 works dedicated to the History of Literature and the António Rita Ferreira Library (BRF) - 850 books related to Anthropology, African Colonization, Ethno history of Africa and the John Catarino Library (BJC), containing 700 works on Archaeology.

The BMSC has integrated the properties of the departmental libraries of Anthropology, Art History and Musicology thus increasing its collection by an additional 10,000 books and acquiring the bibliographic collection of musicologist Macario Santiago Kastner.

Auditorium 1 at FCSH/NOVA, inside Tower B

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Communication Sciences
• Geography and Regional Planning
• History
• History of Art
• Language Sciences
• Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies
• Musicology
• Philosophy
• Political Science and International Relations
• Portuguese Studies
• Sociology (daytime and after-work schedule)
• Translation

• Aesthetics and Artistic Studies
• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Art History
• Communication Sciences
• Crossways in Cultural Narratives
• Cultural Heritage
• Editing and Publishing
• Educational Sciences
• E-Learning Systems Management
• English and Foreign Languages Teaching (German, Spanish or French) in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and Secondary Education
• English Language Teaching
• English Teaching in the 1st Cycle of Basic Education
• Geography Teaching in the 3rd cycle of Basic Education and in Secondary Education
• History
• History of The Portuguese Empire
• Human Ecology
• Information Management and Curation
• Journalism
• Language Sciences
• Migration, Inter-Ethnicity and Transnationalism
• Modern Literatures and Cultures
• Museology
• Musical Arts
• Musicology
• New Media and Web Practices
• Performing Arts
• Philosophy
• Political Science and International Relations
• Portuguese as a Second and Foreign Language
• Portuguese Studies
• Science Communication
• Sociology
• Spatial Planning and Geographic Information Systems
• Sustainable Urbanism and Spatial Planning
• Teaching English in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and in Secondary Education
• Teaching History in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and in Secondary Education
• Teaching of Music in Basic Education (2nd cycle of Basic Education)
• Teaching Philosophy in Secondary Education
• Teaching Portuguese and a Foreign Language in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and in Secondary Education
• Teaching Portuguese in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and in Secondary Education
• Teaching Portuguese in the 3rd Cycle of Basic Education and in Secondary Education and Latin in Secondary Education
• Territorial Management
• Translation
• Urban Studies
• Women’s Studies. Women in Society and in Culture

• Anthropology
• Artistic Studies | Art and Mediations
• Climate Changes and Sustainable Development Policy
• Communication Sciences
• Digital Media
• Education Sciences
• Geography and Territorial Planning
• Global Studies
• History
• History and Theory of Ideas
• History of Art
• Human Ecology
• International Relations
• Languages Teaching | Multilingualism and Education for a Global Citizenship
• Linguistics
• Medieval Studies
• Modern Literatures and Cultures
• Musical Arts | Music Dramaturgy and Staging | Instrumental or Vocal Performance
• Musicology
• Philosophy
• Political Science
• Portuguese Studies
• Sociology
• Translation and Terminology
• Translation Studies
• Urban Studies

• Acoustics and Sound Studies
• Art Curatorship
• Art Market Postgraduate Program
• Globalization, Diplomacy and Security
• History, Society and Environment
• Multiplataform Journalism
• Popular Music Studies
• Strategic and Security Studies
• Teaching Portuguese as a second language
• Writing Arts