Our Team
The MAPE Team is made up of individuals who bring their diverse skills and expertise to the project. Our passion for the subject matter and commitment to our work is evident in the innovative ideas we bring to the table. Our team's dynamic and collaborative approach to research promises to yield significant contributions to the field of study.
As we embark on our investigation of the communication patterns of imperial commoners within the Atlantic Portuguese Empire, we recognize that this is a complex and challenging undertaking. However, the team's multidisciplinary approach enables us to draw on the insights of various disciplines, resulting in a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the subject matter. We look forward to applying our collective knowledge and skills to uncover new insights into the communication practices of imperial commoners.
Agata BÅ‚och
Co-Principal Investigator
Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History
Polish Academy of Sciences
Agata BÅ‚och is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where she completed her PhD in 2021. Her research focuses on the history of the Portuguese Empire in the early modern period, with a particular emphasis on the history of Brazil and West Africa. She is interested in the social and cultural history of these regions, as well as the ways in which they were connected to one another and to the wider world. Her PhD thesis was awarded the Andrzej Dembicz Prize for the best doctoral thesis on America Latina in Europe. She is also the author of two monographs: "Cabo Verde - Paraiso do Atlantico Colonial" (2019), which examines the history of Cape Verde as a hub for the transatlantic slave trade, and "Wolni i zniewoleni" (2022), which explores the experiences of enslaved and free people in the Portuguese Empire. She has published her research in a range of academic journals, including Social Networks, the Canadian Journal of History, and Studia Historica Gedanensia.
Michał Bojanowski
Co-Principal Investigator
Department of Quantitative Methods and Applications of Computer Science
Kozminski University
Michal Bojanowski is a social scientist with extensive experience in R programming and training. He employs data analysis, statistical modeling, and computer simulations to explore social networks, conflict, and cooperation in diverse settings. Through his research, Michal seeks to advance knowledge in the field of social sciences by practicing and advocating for rigorous theorizing and testing.
Michal's work involves using a multidisciplinary approach to investigate complex social phenomena. He is known for his expertise in R programming and has developed numerous R packages that facilitate data analysis and visualization. Additionally, Michal is a seasoned trainer, having conducted several workshops on R programming and data analysis for various organizations and institutions.
Demival Vasques Filho
Co-Principal Investigator
Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH)
University of Luxembourg
Demival Vasques Filho holds a degree in Engineering Physics from the Federal University of Sao Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil. After graduation, he worked in the private sector, returning to academia after many years. He received his PhD in Physics, in the area of complex systems and network theory, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His thesis explored the structure and evolution of large-scale social networks.
Currently, he is a research associate at the DH Lab of the Leibniz Institute of European History. His research contributes to different projects involving networks, such as collaborative networks for scientific and technological innovation, religious tolerance, power and political activity, and imperial administrative correspondence, among others.
Research interest: Developing new methods and expanding the application of complex systems concepts to the study of social sciences and humanities.
Clodomir Santana
Research Associate
University of California, Davis
Clodomir Santana holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Exeter in the UK (2023), a master's degree in Systems Engineering and a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, both from the Polytechnic School of the University of Pernambuco. During his undergraduate, he was awarded a scholarship from the Brazilian Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES) to be a visiting student at the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science of Memorial University (Canada). His master's dissertation also received an honourable mention from the University of Pernambuco in 2019. His main areas of interest are human dynamics, metaheuristics, robots' swarms, complex networks, and machine learning.
Eduardo Sartoretto
Doctoral Student
The Anthropos Doctoral School
Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History
Polish Academy of Sciences
Eduardo Sartoretto holds a master's degree in History from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), in Brazil. He is a history teacher in Brazilian public education, and a researcher in Social History, Political History, American History, Maritime History and Atlantic History, from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, especially the period relating to Latin-American independence. His master's thesis deals with the process of independence of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, focusing on the use, participation, action, and organization of privateers during the wars of independence. His current research focuses on understanding the organization, thoughts and actions of sailors and marines in the Portuguese merchant navy during the Age of Revolutions.
João Carlos Nara Jr.
External Research Associate
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
João Carlos Nara Jr. is an Architect and Urban Planner (UFF), a Ph.D. in Comparative History (UFRJ), a Master in Archaeology (Museu Nacional/UFRJ), and holds a Bachelor's degree in History (UniRio). He is a full member of the Historical and Geographical Institute of Rio de Janeiro (IHGRJ). He is dedicated to the preservation of Cultural Heritage within the federal public administration. Among other roles, he served as the general coordinator of the Barão do Rio Branco Historical Documentation Rescue Project from 2020 to 2022. He also leads the project for the Identification and Exhibition of Historical Documents related to the Brazilian Independence process, funded by FAPERJ (2022-2024). His research focuses on colonial Rio de Janeiro, with an interest in hodology (routes, paths, and methods), the 4A approach (Architecture, Art, Archaeology, Anthropology), and an OPEN perspective (objects, practices, surroundings, and narratives).
Juciene Ricarte Cardoso
Senior Researcher
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande
Juciene holds a PhD in History from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil, and was a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal. She has received scholarships from CAPES for research both in Brazil and abroad, including at the University of Porto, Portugal. Juciene has worked as a researcher on archival and historical treatment for the "Resgate Barão do Rio Branco/MINC" project in Portugal, funded by scholarships from CNPq and the Goiana Society of Culture. She has served as a UNESCO consultant for Digital Humanities in the same project and is currently the Coordinator of the Digital Humanities and Virtual Museum of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil. Juciene is a professor in the Graduate Program in History at UFCG and has been involved in various research projects, including one on Indigenous History and Black Slavery in Brazil funded by Petrobras Cultural. She has expertise in Colonial and Imperial Brazilian History, Oral History, Memory of Indigenous Peoples, Digital Humanities, Indigenous Women's History, Indigenous Health, Environmental History, Cultural Heritage, Heritage Education, Indigenous Education, and Black Slavery in Brazil. Juciene has published numerous articles, individual books, and chapters on these subjects. She is also affiliated with international research groups and institutions such as the Center for Humanities (CHAM) at Nova University of Lisbon, the University of Sorbonne Paris III.
Irene Vicente-Martin
External Research Associate
MIAS-Casa de Velázquez
Irene Vicente-Martin is a Marcel Bataillon Fellow at MIAS-Casa de Velázquez, and member of the research groups BRASILHIS and AMERMAD-UC3M specializing in the impact of the Iberian Union (1580-1640) on the Luso-American territories, and the role of colonial cities as intermediate nodes of local contexts and imperial junctures. She holds a PhD from the European University Institute (2022) and has worked as a Posdoctoral Research Fellow at the Mauritshuis Museum (The Hague) and at Eurac Research (Bolzano). During her doctorate, she was awarded three scholarships to be a visiting student at the Nova University of Lisbon, University of São Paulo and University of Leiden. She is currently researching how European fabrications of Brazil and their circulation across the Atlantic shaped the negotiations of power in aspects of life such as politics, religion and the economy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Marcia Amantino
External Research Associate
University of Salgado de Oliveira State University of Rio de Janeiro
Marcia Amantino holds a Bachelor's degree in History from the Federal Fluminense University (1992), a Master's degree (1996) and a PhD (2001) in Social History from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (2009-2010) and the University of Évora, Portugal (2012). Currently, she is a professor in the graduate program at the University of Salgado de Oliveira University and teaches undergraduate courses at the State University of Rio de Janeiro.
Amantino is the leader of the "Rede de pesquisa sobre historicidade dos corpos nas sociedades americanas" (UNIVERSO) and researcher in the research group "Jesuítas nas Américas" under the direction of Prof. Maria Cristina Bohn Martins (UNISINOS) and in the research group "Eclésia" under the direction of Prof. Anderson José Machado (UNIRIO).
She is the author of several books, including "A Companhia de Jesus no Rio de Janeiro: o caso do Engenho Velho, século XVIII" (2018); "O Mundo das Feras: os moradores do sertão Oeste de Minas Gerais, século XVIII" (2008), and co-editor of "Franciscanos, jesuítas e beneditinos na América colonial, séculos XVI-XVIII" (2023), "Povoamento, sociedade e escravidão na antiga Macaé e em Cantagalo, séculos XVIII-XIX" (2023), "Sociedades em movimentos: los impérios ibéricos y las reformas ilustradas, siglos XVIII-XIX" (2021), "Jesuitas en America: Presencia a través del tempo" (2019), "A Companhia de Jesus na América por seus colégios e fazendas: aproximações entre Brasil e Argentina, século XVIII" (2015), "Santa Cruz: de legado dos jesuítas a pérola da Coroa" (2013), "História dos homens no Brasil" (2013), "Escravidão, mestiçagens, ambientes, paisagens e espaços" (2011), "História do Corpo no Brasil" (2011), and "Povoamento, Catolicismo e escravidão na Antiga Macaé (séculos XVI-XIX)" (2011).
In addition to her books, Amantino has also published articles in Brazilian and international journals, either alone or in collaboration with national historians. Her most recent works deal in particular with the economic and social impact of the Society of Jesus in the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro and the enslavement of both Black and Indigenous populations.
Guillem Martos Oms
External Research Associate
University of Barcelona
University of Lisbon
Guillem Martos Oms is currently a doctoral student at the University of Barcelona and the University of Lisbon, where he is working on his thesis on the reign of Garcia II, king of Congo from 1641 to 1661. He is a member of the research groups BRASILHIS, where he works about the presence of African ambassadors in Brazil, and REDIF, where he works on the role of Iberian missionaries as agents of the Portuguese and Spanish royal patronage and cultural mediators on the African continent between 1580 and 1640. He is pursuing a master’s degree in Archivistic and Records Management at the Carlos III University of Madrid. In addition, he holds an inter-university master’s degree in Early Modern History from the Universities of Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, and Jaume I of Castelló. Among his research lines, the diplomatic relations between the Spanish Empire and African states, the mobility of religious and civic agents in Iberian territories, and the evolution of the Kingdom of Congo between the 16th and 17th centuries.
Junaid Ahmed
Research Intern
Kozminski University
Junaid Ahmed is a PhD student at Kozminski University in Warsaw, specializing in computational social science and automated text analysis. His research centers on the study of online misinformation related to scientific issues, where he applies techniques in text mining, machine learning, econometrics, and social network analysis. Junaid is interested in handling large-scale unstructured text data, utilizing tools like Python and R to extract meaningful patterns, sentiments, and trends from diverse textual sources. He is interested in applying natural language processing (NLP) such as transformers method to answer novel research questions of Humanities and Social Science. Driven by a passion for understanding the evolution of information and societal narratives, He is interested in expanding his expertise to include historical text data analysis. By engaging with this rich and complex data, he aims to uncover how discourse and information dissemination have changed over time. This work will contribute to his broader goal of refining data-driven approaches to key questions in social science.
Saddam Hussain
Postdoctoral Researcher in Digital Humanities
Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of HistoryPolish Academy of Sciences
Saddam Hussain holds a PhD specializing in Applied Machine Learning and Data Science from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia. His expertise lies in natural language processing (NLP), particularly in developing advanced machine learning and deep learning models for text classification, sentiment analysis, and chatbot development. He has extensive experience in building Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems and AI chatbots, utilizing techniques such as transformers, Ollama open-source models, PyTorch, TensorFlow, and leveraging libraries like Hugging Face and Langchain.
Dr. Hussain has served as a Senior Data Scientist at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva and as a Lead Data Scientist at TNB Energy Services in Malaysia. In these roles, he developed advanced machine learning and deep learning models for anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, forecasting, text analytics, and sentiment prediction. In addition to his industry experience, Dr. Hussain has been actively involved in teaching and conducting research at public sector universities, including NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, Pakistan, and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Malaysia.
He is proficient in programming languages like Python and R, and has expertise in data engineering tools such as Pandas, PySpark, and SQL. His skills also include data visualization using Plotly, Tableau, and Power BI. Passionate about leveraging data science to deliver end-to-end solutions, Dr. Hussain has contributed to scientific literature and conferences through his research. His research interests encompass natural language processing, machine learning, deep learning, large language models, and their applications.