Abstract

Only recently (since 2010) has the field of Cultural Studies been institutionalised in some new Portuguese universities. Several dispersed academic practices existed in older universities, but now the curricular format comprises a few Master and PhD programmes within Departments of Languages and Cultures, or Social Sciences. This paper argues the importance of Hall’s view of Cultural Studies as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge and its influence in the recent institutionalization of Cultural Studies in Portuguese universities as an intellectual practice that intersects many other disciplines but also recognizes itself as a distinctive field of knowledge. After an introduction that contextualizes the recent history of Cultural Studies in Portugal, the paper reconstructs the historical and political context in which academia had to strive during the twentieth century, namely the longest European dictatorship of modern times and the subsequent, bloodless democratic revolution on 25th April 1974. It reflects on the challenges and seemingly insurmountable contributions from the traditional scientific fields of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Educational Sciences, History, Philosophy and Literature to the development of Cultural Studies during the twentieth century. Finally, presenting the first attempt, in 2010, to establish the Doctoral Program in Cultural Studies at the Universities of Aveiro and Minho (PDEC UA/UM), the paper argues that the construction of Cultural Studies in Portugal is still hesitant