The Graduate Program in Audiovisual Media and Processes (PPGMPA) embraces different perspectives on the configuration of technical audiovisual images, including poetic articulations, semiotic signification, aesthetic expressions, audiovisual experiments and productions, critical implications, documentation, historical transformations and analysis, connections between production and knowledge dissemination, public policies, and economic prospects for the sector. The program's work is dedicated to integrating these perspectives into academic practices structured around classes and seminars, research group activities, project supervision, written production, and the encouragement of audiovisual works that enrich forms of expression and critical reflection on various dimensions of social life.
Its research examines cinema and audiovisual media as a diverse system of practices and ideas, encompassing their specific processes of reflection, creation, production, and dissemination.

Scope

Considering its position within the field of Communication, its tradition in graduate studies at ECA/USP, and the dynamic transformations in media studies, the researchers of PPGMPA—drawing from different theoretical perspectives—share the understanding that the formal articulations distinguishing audiovisual works and their historical reception are at the core of their investigation. Thus, the program is structured around various audiovisual manifestations, recognizing that through these specificities, it is possible to explore cultural and artistic influences that interact with other fields of knowledge.

These specificities define the program, distinguishing it while simultaneously fostering exchange with other areas, such as the arts and humanities. Its challenge is to consolidate and expand, in light of contemporary developments, the research tradition initiated by numerous professors. The trajectory, intellectual production, and engagement of these researchers have contributed to maintaining the program as a reference in its field of knowledge, as well as to the training of new generations, consolidating and renewing its legacy.

We believe that the field of audiovisual research, with its various branches and specializations, has significant potential for social and political intervention. Thus, a critical and ethical education, combined with historiographical and theoretical knowledge and encouragement of creative production, can help generate distinctive works that challenge existing hegemonic production. We also recognize the program's potential to train professionals who will contribute to a much-needed enrichment of the Brazilian audiovisual landscape. This perspective affirms the program’s vocation not only to connect theory and practice but, above all, to establish a new mode of articulation between these poles, integrating production systems, reception, and the works within them, thereby revitalizing theories through the challenges posed by audiovisual practices.

Objectives of PPGMPA

●    Consolidate and enhance the tradition established at ECA in the development of film, television, radio, video, and digital media studies, as well as in the training of professionals in the field who are active in Brazilian universities and various spheres of contemporary audiovisual production.

●    Investigate cultural and historical intersections with other areas of knowledge, fostering a transdisciplinary approach that incorporates dialogues with philosophy, history, anthropology, music, visual arts, performing arts, body arts, architecture, and various technological disciplines. These fields position images and sounds at the center of humanistic research, building on a privileged tradition rooted in cinema and film analysis.

●    Strengthen the pedagogical legacy of ECA by encouraging cutting-edge university research.

●    Promote the internationalization of the program through agreements with foreign universities. Notably, through the Department of Film, Radio, and Television, faculty members of the program participate in the International Association of Film and Television Schools (CILECT).

●    Consolidate existing research groups and encourage the creation of new groups focused on themes developed within the program.

●    Increase research project proposals submitted to funding agencies.

●    Expand faculty and student participation in academic conferences in the field, such as those organized by the Brazilian Society of Cinema and Audiovisual Studies (SOCINE), the National Association of Graduate Programs in Communication (COMPÓS), and the Brazilian Society for Interdisciplinary Communication Studies (INTERCOM), among others.

●    Strengthen the academic and artistic output of the program’s faculty and students.

●    Encourage interdisciplinary seminars with the participation of faculty, students, postdoctoral researchers, and guest scholars.

●    Improve administrative processes to enhance efficiency and decentralization, fostering a more dynamic academic environment and significantly contributing to the advancement of graduate studies at the School of Communications and Arts.

Area of Concentration: Audiovisual Media and Processes

The program is structured around three research lines:

1. History, Theory, and Criticism

This research line brings together scholars dedicated to studying the forms and themes of audiovisual media as organized across various genres and formats. It focuses on their modes of production and reception, as well as the analysis and interpretation of images and sounds in relation to their content and aesthetic experience. These aspects evolve over time, shaped by historical contexts and technical conditions. The research also extends to related fields, such as photography (visual media) and sound programming (audio media).

2. Poetics and Techniques

This line explores theoretical and practical studies on the creation of audiovisual works, whether contemporary or historical. It examines specific competencies related to creative processes, both technical and conceptual, which are formalized into artistic or communicational objects. The poetics of audiovisual expressive forms—including traditional spaces such as movie theaters and television, as well as experimental media, creative innovation, and language invention—are central to its investigations. The research emphasizes scientific inquiry within audiovisual arts, incorporating transdisciplinary approaches to address ongoing and future transformations.

3. Audiovisual Culture and Communication

This line investigates events, phenomena, and developments in communication and audiovisual culture, with a particular focus on media and audiovisual processes. It pays close attention to different epistemological approaches, as well as mediations and interactions in communicational processes, language systems, media practices in public spaces, and social networks.

PPGMPA Program Coordination Committee

(Term: 11/15/2023 – 11/14/2025)

Coordination

●    Coordinator: Mateus Araújo Silva
●    Vice-Coordinator: Almir Almas (Almir Antonio Rosa)

Committee Members

●    Full Member: Mateus Araújo Silva / Alternate: Cecilia Antakly de Mello
●    Full Member: Almir Almas (Almir Antonio Rosa) / Alternate: Eduardo Simões dos Santos Mendes
●    Full Member: Irene Araújo Machado / Alternate: Atílio Avancini

Student Representatives (Term: 2025)

●    Full Member: Fernanda da Rocha Parrado / Alternate: [Vacant]

Administrative Staff

●    Secretary: Márcia Ferreira
●    Intern: Thiago Barros

Contact Information:

Phone: +55 11 3091 4286
Email: ppgmpa@usp.br

Former Elections for PPGMPA Program Coordination Committee

Election to Complete CCP-MPA Term (11/01/2024 – 12/14/2025)
●    Internal Ordinance with Rules
●    List of Submitted Candidacies

Election for New CCP-MPA Composition (12/15/2023 – 12/14/2025)
●    Internal Ordinance with Rules
●    List of Submitted Candidacies

Election for CCP-MPA Term (12/01/2022 – 12/14/2023)
●    Internal Ordinance CCP-PPGMPA/ECA No. 001/2022 (Issued on 11/01/2022)
●    List of Submitted Candidacies

Election for New CCP-MPA Composition (12/15/2021 – 12/14/2023)
●    Internal Ordinance with Rules
●    List of Submitted Candidacies
●    Election Results
●    Election Minutes