1 – Interdisciplinary Centre of African and Afro-Brazilian Studies (AFROUNEB)

In general terms, the activities developed by the AFROUNEB aims: to organise and systematise actions of research and education related to the Africa and Afro-Brazilian studies; to gather professors and students eager to do researches relevant to the context of the topics under discussion; to produce study material that concern the themes already mentioned; and to dialogue with the elementary education in the concern of the didactic/pedagogical activities related to Africa and Afro-Brazilian States. Thus, this centre develops activities that involve students from graduation and postgraduation degrees, also including professors located at the Campus V and other departments from Bahia State University (UNEB) and in other colleges. If the interested parts remain under the themes already discussed, in such a way that all the affiliated actions pursue the research, extension and knowledge publication dimensions.

One of the key research projects developed by AFROUNEB staff is “BLACK RECOLLECTION – MEMORIES FROM THE SUBLIM: sweet and sour histories from black populations of the Recôncavo region of Bahia”. This project is coordinate by a fixed teacher of the program. Some other important initiatives are the “Educational Seminar in Post-colonialism studies” and the “Permanent Interdisciplinary Seminar of Education”. To sum up, this centre embraces as a main goal the production and dissemination of knowledge in the scope of the ethnical and racial relationships, under the epistemological basis of decolonisation. The centre tries to establish itself as another qualified intervention reference in the fields of reflection and promotion of ethnical and racial equality actions, always using the Brazilian social and historical reality. The AFROUNEB occupies a 22,45 square meters’ room in the Department area where all equipment and collection can be found.

The PPGHIS and the AFROUNEB, together, have been performing scientific events and activities, for example: “3rd International Seminar of Africa:  historiography and Africa’s history teaching”; “2nd Local and Regional History Symposium”; “3^rd Black Researches Congress of Bahia”; “Continuous Seminar in Local and Regional History”; and “Black Consciousness Week/Black Saint Antonio”.

2 – Interdisciplinary Centre for State of Bahia Memory’s Study (NIEMBA)

The NIEMBA has the aim to create real conditions for the development of researches that concerns the wide range of regions of the state of Bahia – focusing in the Recôncavo and the countryside (Sertões) areas. Hence, the NIEMBA is linked to the Research and Extension Centre, from the Human Sciences Department (DCH), they intend to stimulate the establishment of a Memory and Documentation Centre of the areas previously mentioned. In addition to that, the centre also aims to facilitate the gathering of financial resources in order to support the registered projects and to promote the exchange between researchers from other institutions. By focusing on themes related to the Recôncavo and countryside areas, the NIEMBA intend to discuss the borders between these two regions, consequently contributing to the methodological and theoretical reflection regarding the historical and cultural realities of the state of Bahia. Thus, the use of memories to find new sources for research, not to mention the revaluation of the classical studies about those regions, could lead to potential and novel pathways to perform the historical analysis. The NIEMBA was created from the kinship of the studies developed by the faculty members from the History, Geography and Letters bachelor’s degrees located at the Campus V. And the centre claims to create adequate conditions to establish a new dialogue between professionals that act in those areas of knowledge, promoting the strengthening of current research projects. At the same time, the NIEMBA intends to add members of the student body and university staff that are keen to develop studies related to the highlighted themes. That way, the centre has an important role in the relationship between graduation and postgraduation, as it connects the researches elaborated in the bachelor degrees at the Campus V and the program here presented. Of course that as far research proposal needs to show affinities with the concentration areas and the research lines of the master’s degree in the Local and Regional History. At last, the centre functions as an environment to narrow the relations of exchange and cooperation established between professors and students from the Human Science Department with participating faculty members and students coming from other national and international universities. The NIEMBA occupy a 160 square meters’ room where the equipment and library are located.

Ultimately, it is important to highlight that the program also include researchers from other Higher Educations Institutions which allow the solidification of the links between History undergraduate courses at UNEB, UFBA UFRB and UEFS. This can be demonstrated by the participation of alumni from the History bachelor’s degree (some of them sponsored by scientific initiation scholarships) in events of the program and joint activities performed by the institutions previously mentioned. By the way, it is also important to highlight that these graduated students from different campus of UNEB, UFRB, UEFS, UESC, UCSAL and other private Higher Education Institutions also presented talks at the “2nd Symposium of Local and Regional History”.

One of the goals to be obtained by this program is to multiply the mutual benefits, presented in this report, of the integration between the undergraduate courses in History at the Bahia State University. In order to achieve even more significant results, it is crucial to expand the partnerships with centres and research groups, to perform other events that merge the undergraduate students and the post-graduate students, and to increasing the number of scientific initiation scholarships bounded to research projects of permanent professors. Additionally, to sign up even more undergraduates in the PPGHIS activities is important for the improvement of the results.