Nomination: Professor Eduardo França Paiva – Department of Philosophy, FAFICH/UFMG.
Period: August 7th to September 2nd, 2013.
José da Silva Horta completed all his academic training at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon (FLUL): Bachelor’s degree in History (1984), Master’s degree in Modern History (1990) and Doctorate in Literature – History of Portuguese Expansion (2003).
Since 1992, he has worked at FLUL, where he is currently Associate Professor, director of the undergraduate course in African Studies, Deputy Director and integrated researcher at the History Center, Member of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies and Member of the Scientific Committee of the Chair of Studies Sephardim “Alberto Benveniste”. He teaches in the master’s degree in African Studies at the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa and in the Interuniversity Doctoral Program in History (ICS, FLUL, ISCTE, Univ. Évora, Univ. Católica Portuguesa), where he is also a partner and collaborator. He is an associate researcher at the Center for History of Além-Mar (CHAM / Universidade Nova de Lisboa-Universidade de Açores). Member of the Advisory Board of the Mande Studies Association/Association des Etudes Mandingues and the Amilcar Cabral Institute of Economic and Political Research (London). Director of the Portuguese committee of the permanent project Fontes Historiae Africanae of the Union Académique Internationale. Member of the interdisciplinary team of the “Cacheu Slavery Memorial” project approved by UNESCO.
He has published several books, such as The Forgotten Diaspora: Jewish Communities in West Africa and the Making of the Atlantic World, with Peter Mark; ‘Cape Verde Guinea’: Textual Production and Representations (1578-1684); The Representation of Africans in Travel Literature, from Senegal to Sierra Leone (1543-1508) and articles in international publications such as the magazines History in Africa: A Journal of Method and Mande Studies”.