Introduction

The History Graduate Program (PPGH) of the Federal University of Goias, Brazil, is one of the oldest in the country. The History Masters degree course was in fact the first to be created outside of Brazil’s Southeast macro-region when it was instituted in 1972 in the Central-western region of the country. It was followed, in 2003, by the History Doctoral Degree course and to date it has qualified hundreds of Masters and PhDs now working in a multitude of Brazilian institutions. The Academic staff consists of 35 lecturers and professors, eight of whom are CNPq researchers.

The PPGH’s mission is to produce highly relevant historical knowledge and to qualify Masters and PhDs to exercise professions in educational, research, extension (cultural) and scientific institutions.

Notable features of the PPGH are its open-minded concept of history and human sciences and its permanent multi-disciplinary approach. That is apparent in the diversity of the areas in which its Academic staff perform and it is institutionally inscribed in the pluralism and dynamic performance of its Laboratories and Research Groups. It is also mirrored in its organizational structure, consisting of an area of concentration (Culture, Borders and Identities) and four lines of research: 1) History, Memory and Social Imaginaries 2) Power, Backlands and Identities; 3) Borders, Inter-culturalities and Teaching History; 4) Ideas, Knowledge and Writing of (and in) History.

The Program’s vigorous efforts to internationalize are shown by the constant circulation of overseas researchers in the University, the innumerable research and teaching missions and the post-doctoral study periods undertaken by its professor in other countries. In a similar way the Program strongly encourages its students to take sandwich courses and co-tutored study periods overseas. Furthermore it is party to many international cooperation agreements with universities in Germany, Argentina, Spain, France, the UK, Mexico, Mozambique, Peru and Portugal.

The PPGH considers its integration with the undergraduate course to be a strategic way to reinforce the bond between teaching and research and to encourage the education and qualification of future researchers. All members of staff are also active in the undergraduate courses and many of them are tutors to students engaged in young researchers’ projects.

In the last three-yearly assessment (2010-2012) made by the Ministry of Education represented by its Coordinating Body for the Further Qualification of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenadoria de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior - CAPES), the PPGH was awarded a mark of 5 points on a scale of 3 to 7, representing the concept “Very Good”.