Biography

Elisabete J. Santos Pereira holds a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science with a specialisation in Museology (2017).

Author of the book “Colecionismo Arqueológico e Redes de Conhecimento: Actores Colecções e Objectos 1850-1930” published in 2018 (Colecção Estudos de Museus), she was selected, in 2023, by the German Federal Foreign Office to participate in the international programme TheMuseumsLab 2023, developed in Berlin and Nairobi (Kenya). The European Association of History Educators (EuroClio) and the Evens Foundation distinguished her inclusive pedagogical strategy for secondary school students: “Using object biographies to reveal how our pasts are interconnected” (project ‘Sharing European Histories‘). She has published articles and chapters in national and international journals and publishers (Taylor & Francis/Routledge, UK; Hermann editions, France; Service des Musées de France, The Royal Society, UK; Techniche Universität Dresden Press, Germany; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil).

She was a co-coordinator of the Dictionary Quem é Quem na Museologia Portuguesa [Who’s Who in Portuguese Museology] and is the principal researcher of the project “TRANSMAT — Transnational materialities (1850-1930): reconstituting collections and connecting histories.” (PTDC / FER-HFC / 2793/2020). She was team member of the international projects “Museum Networks: People, Itineraries And Collections” (Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Germany), “Desafíos educativos y científicos de la Segunda República española” [Educational and Scientific Challenges of the Second Spanish Republic] (Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities of Spain), and the European Researcher’s Night 2023 (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions).

Research fields

• History of science
• History of collections and scientific collectionism
• Colonial ethnographic collections
• Biographies of objects
• Museology

Selected publications

• Pereira, Elisabete J. Santos, “The antique collection of Teixeira de Aragão (1823-1903): Lisbon and Paris,” in La Belle Époque des collectionneurs d’antiques en Europe (1850-1914), directed by Dietrich Boschung, Cécile Colonna, Néguine Mathieux and François Queyrel, 135-143. Paris: Hermann  / Louvre Editions, 2022. [link]
• Pereira, Elisabete, “Using object biographies to reveal how our pasts are interconnected,” in Sharing European Histories, edited by Katria Tomko, Steven Stegers, Marjolein Delvou and Hanna Zielinska, 14-29. The Hague: Euroclio / Evens Foundation, 2021. [link]🔓
• Pereira, Elisabete J. Santos, Maria Margaret Lopes & Maria de Fátima Nunes. “‘Collective wisdom’ at the National Archaeological Museum in Portugal,” Museum History Journal 12 (2019): 171-191. [link]
• Pereira, Elisabete J. Santos. Colecionismo Arqueológico e Redes de Conhecimento: Atores, Coleções e Objetos (1850-1930). Casal de Cambra: Caleidoscópio, 2018. [link]

Main projects

• Coordinator of the project “TRANSMAT — Transnational materialities (1850-1930): reconstituting collections and connecting histories” — Hosted by the IHC — University of Évora and funded by the Foundation for Science and Tecnology (PTDC /FER-HFC /2793/2020). [link]
• Researcher selected for TheMuseumsLab 2023 project – Funded by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service); developed in Berlin (Germany) and Nairobi (Kenya); also included funding for a residency at the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne (Germany).
• Collaborator in the project “Desafíos educativos y científicos de la Segunda República Española: internacionalización, popularización, innovación en universidades e institutos” [Educational challenges of the Spanish Second Republic] — Coordinated by Leoncio López-Ocón (Instituto de Historia — CSIC) and Álvaro Ribagorda (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) and funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (PGC2018-097391-B-I00). [link]
• Researcher in the project “Sharing European Histories” — Hosted by EuroClio — European Association of History Educators and funded by Evens Foundation. [link]
• Member of the project “Museums Networks: People, Itineraries and Collections (1770-1920)” — Coordinated by Irina Podgorny (CONICET – Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata) and funded bu the Humboldt Foundation (Germany). 2016- [link]