Maria José Paiva Fernandes Carvalho


Biography

Maria José Paiva Fernandes Carvalho born July 8th, 1957, in Buarcos, Figueira da Foz, concluded her undergraduate studies in Modern Languages & Literatures (English/German) at the Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra (UC-1982). Between 1982-1985, was a middle and secondary school teacher in Portugal, teaching English, German and Portuguese. She lived in Massachusetts (MA) United States of America (1985-2002) where she taught Portuguese Language and Culture at the Portuguese Official Schools, in New Bedford, MA. In the USA, she concluded her Master's Degree in Library and Information Science at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons University, Boston, MA (1991). She worked at the New Bedford Free Public Library (NBFPL) (1986-2002) where she was the Manager of Casa da Saudade Library, the first and only American-Portuguese Public Library serving the Portuguese-speaking immigrant communities. She also managed Howland-Green Library, the Spanish-speaking communities NBFPL Branch (Hispanic communities, 1988-1993). She became a Certified Librarian by the State of Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (1997). As a Portuguese immigrant, she received several merit awards for services provided to promote Portuguese language and culture: "Language and Culture Preservation Award" (PAWA); "Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition", United States of America Congress House-Senator Kerry and Senator Kennedy Offices'; "Official Resolution", City New Bedford; "Heritage Day Award", "Massachusetts State Official Citation", Massachusetts State Senate & Massachusetts House of Representatives. She returned to Coimbra in 2002, where she is the Biblioteca Norte|Sul Services Coordinator, at the Centro de Estudos Sociais. In 2009, she concluded a Professional Development Course and obtained the Cerificate of "Pedagogical Capacities for at Distance Trainers" (CAP). In 2017, she finished her Ph.D. in Ciências Sociales y Juridicas/Información y Documentación, at the Facultad de Traducción y Documentación, Universidad de Salamanca with the Thesis: "IN or OUT": A Biblioteca Casa da Saudade: facilitator da IN-clusão dos/as seus/suas utilizadores/as imigrantes Portuguese/as na Cidade de New Bedford, Estado de Massachusetts, Estados Unidos da América do Norte", addressing the role of the only Portuguese Language Library in the inclusion of the Portuguese immigrants, specifically the library users, in the American society. Since 2016, she is the Co-coordinator of the "Publish-Do-not-Perish. Survive the stamped" cycle, and as such, she continues to invest in the Advanced Training Courses for Ph.D. and post-Ph.D. researchers. In 2018, 2019, 2021, she was Co-Coordinator of the International Congress Public Libraries, Cultural Politics, and Reading. In 2019, Co-coordinated the Summer School CreA(c)tivating Scientific Making in the Social Sciences & Humanities. In 2020, she was an invited Auxiliar Teacher at the Faculty of Arts, university of Coimbra, in the undergraduate program, teaching "Organization of Information Course. She has also been the curator of several exhibits and cultural programs promoted at the Biblioteca Norte/Sul. In 2020, co-coordinated the 1st International Meeting of the Research, Libraries, Policy and Reading Network, Libraries: Knowledge and Memory: Researching, Reading and Sustaining. " Her research interests relate to social sciences and librarianship subjects such as Information Literacy, Migrations; Portuguese emigration/immigration; Women and migration; Intercultural relations; Intercultural libraries in migratory contexts; Academic libraries and Digital libraries; and Humanization of Academic Library Services


Latest Publications

Book

Sequeiros, Paula; Carvalho, Maria José; Capinha, Graça (2021), A Investigação e a escrita: Publicar Sem Perecer. Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra

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