Conference
Portuguese Language and Culture – New external dimensions

Simonetta Luz Afonso (Instituto Camões)

March 31st, 2009, 15:00, CES Seminar Room

Presentation and commentary: Boaventura Sousa Santos

Within the Doctoral Programme "Post-Colonialisms and Global Citizenship".

 
Presentation

Within the Doctoral Programme “Postcolonialisms and Global Citizenship”, Centre for Social Studies and School of Economics, University of Coimbra , the Centre for Social Studies is honoured to welcome Simonetta Luz Afonso, president of the Instituto Camões. The President of the Instituto Camões will hold the conference “Portuguese Language and Culture – new external dimensions”, with commentary by Boaventura de Sousa Santos, that will, thus, launch the debate.

The institutional and scientific importance of Simonetta Luz Afonso’s visit to CES derives not only from the institutional position she holds and the object she administrates – Portuguese language policy throughout the world – but also from the significance of her personality concerning the field of management and Portuguese culture.

Of the last great projects of the Instituto Camões, under leadership of Simonetta Luz Afonso, we call attention to: the e-learning platform including several courses for teaching Portuguese language and Portuguese language cultures at a distance, the Instituto Camões Digital Library, which constitutes the first  digital collection of books, papers and dissertations on Portuguese culture;
the research concerning the 80 years history of the Instituto Camões and its importance regarding Portuguese culture and Portuguese culture throughout the world; the creation of institutional networks in European countries and other parts of the world, on one hand, and with political institutions, on the other, for example, the Guinea-Bissau or East-Timor Parliament; the political attention given to positioning Portuguese as a procedural language in the main international institutions.

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