“Europe doesn't exist, I've been there” is the theme of the 2024 edition of Porto/Post/Doc. It challenges us to (re)imagine European belonging and space, based on a critical and ethical assessment of the ghosts of the past that are reborn in the present, as well as the present differences and strangeness that cloud the future.

The personal and collective relevance of the place(s) we inhabit is inexorably linked to this primordial need to belong. The intimate spaces where we base our dreams, fears, resilience and affections build an idea and a feeling of ‘home’ that often merges with our identity and serves as a weapon of resistance to everything that threatens us as individuals or communities. In other words, it creates roots, erects defenses and lays the foundations for becoming.

In this training for teachers, and based on the viewing of 3 short films that are part of the School Trip programme, we will reflect on different representations of spaces of belonging - global or local, intimate or social, physical or metaphysical ‘homes’ - and the personal, social, cultural and political meanings of these places, which are so indispensable for preserving and building a multicultural, dialoguing future of peace and prosperity.

The course will be led by Pedro Alves, a lecturer in film studies at the Catholic University of Porto. The training will held in Portuguese.

Registration can be made using the following form.