CESEM–Centre for the Study of the Sociology and Aesthetics of Music is a research unit based at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. CESEM is devoted to the study of music and its correlation with other arts, culture and society, incorporating various approaches and making use of the latest perspectives and methodologies in Social and Human Sciences.

These are the general aims of CESEM:

• Create a suitable environment for teamwork, organised to tackle the identified scientific needs and priorities;
• Support the research interests of its members and their participation in international professional venues, and the publication of the research results;
• Promote new collaborative research projects that deepen the knowledge and dissemination of Portuguese, Iberian and Latin American themes;
• Create new research tools, applications, and databases, allowing the international academic community to study local repertoires and other little explored objects as well as promoting the role of Music in contemporary Portuguese life;
• Foster a renewed atmosphere of research and debate, bringing its members together in a dynamic musicological community capable of maintaining excellence in postgraduate studies in Music.

CESEM does not privilege, benefit, prejudice or deprive of any right, nor exempts from any duty any members and collaborators based on their heritage, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, family circumstances, economical status, level of education, ethnic origin or social condition, genetic heritage, limited capacity – handicap, chronic disease – nationality, spoken language, religion, political and ideological convictions or union membership.

Research Group

The Music in the modern Period Research Group is devoted to a wide range of areas and problems related to music from the 18th century, with a focus on music in Portugal between the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and World War I, as well as its ramifications mainly in Mediterranean and Atlantic Europe, and in Brazil. It develops research on several aspects of historical musicology, including the organization, inventorying and cataloging of spoils, the making of critical editions, studies on various repertoires and institutions, music criticism, organology, and instrument manufacturers and interpreters, as well as interpretation practices – all properly placed in their historical and sociocultural context. The themes of many of his projects, both collective and individual, naturally fall within the thematic lines of Opera Studies and Luso-Brazilian Studies.