Social Anthropology Postdoctoral Seminar: Music, Cinema, and Anthropology

On August 19 and 20, 2026, LISA-USP will host the Social Anthropology Postdoctoral Seminar: Music, Cinema, and Anthropology. Organized by the GRAVI and PAM research groups, the event aims to showcase ongoing research by postdoctoral fellows in Social Anthropology at FFLCH/USP focusing on "Music, Cinema, and Anthropology," as well as to foster dialogue and academic debate around these themes. The event is free and open to the public.

Program:

August 19, 2026 (Wednesday)
Moderator: Rose Satiko Gitirana Hikiji
2:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Music, Ethnography, and Anthropology (Jorge Lampa, Rafael B. A. Norberto, Mateus de Oliveira, and Gabriel Improta França)
6:00 PM: Music session

August 20, 2026 (Thursday)
Moderator: Vitória Grunvald
3:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Audiovisual Media and Anthropology (Isabel Wittmann, Leandro Oliveira, and Diego Pinheiro)
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Generative AI and academic work (Isabel Wittmann, Rafael B. A. Norberto, Mateus de Oliveira, and Leandro Oliveira)

PARTICIPANTS:

Diego Alano Pinheiro is an anthropologist, researcher, documentary filmmaker, and cultural producer originally from Santarém (Pará). Holding a PhD and a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology, he pursues an interdisciplinary path spanning anthropology, cinema, dramaturgy, and Amazonian popular culture. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Social Anthropology at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA)—funded by FAPESP (Grant No. 2023/06358-6)—conducting research on "Amazonian Cinema" (focusing on film production *of* and *in* the Amazon), with an emphasis on the relationships between visual anthropology, cinema, identity, and territory. He was a visiting researcher at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in 2020 and taught within the PARFOR/CAPES/UFOPA program. His doctoral thesis—awarded a prize by the Brazilian Anthropology Association (ABA) in 2020 in the Anthropology and Human Rights category—investigated the therapeutic pathways and the social and political mobilization of scalp-avulsion victims in the Amazon; the work also resulted in a technical report for the Ministry of Health. In the audiovisual realm, he has directed and produced documentary, ethnographic, and fictional works, such as *Minha Vida por um Fio*, *Encante*, and *Erveiras: a cura vem das plantas* (which won an award at the 2023 Curta Xingu Festival). His interests lie in cinema, ethnographic film, the body, and the Amazon, particularly at their intersection with Social Anthropology.

Gabriel Improta França is a guitarist, composer, and arranger. He has released several solo albums and worked with major Brazilian music artists such as Caetano Veloso, Roberto Carlos, Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa, Paulo Moura, Francis Hime, and Jaques Morelenbaum. Improta França holds a Master’s degree in Music Composition from UNIRIO, studied guitar and improvisation at the Musicians Institute (GIT) in Los Angeles, USA, and earned a PhD in Social Sciences from PUC-RJ/EHESS (France) with research focused on the ethnography of samba-jazz musicians. Currently, Gabriel Improta is a professor of Popular Guitar at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and is conducting postdoctoral research at the University of São Paulo (USP) in the field of audiovisual anthropology, focusing on guitar rhythmic patterns.

Isabel Wittmann is an anthropologist, researcher, and film critic. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Social Anthropology at the University of São Paulo (USP), working on the project "Fury and Chrome: Cyborgization and Gender in the Post-Humanist Construction of George Miller's Furiosa," supported by a CAPES PIPD grant. She earned her doctorate from the same program in 2023 with a thesis titled "Machinic Femininities: Gender, Sexuality, and the Bodies of Artificial Women in Fantastic Cinema." In 2021, she undertook a doctoral research placement in the Anthropology and Languages ​​of the Image program at the University of Siena (Università degli Studi di Siena), funded by a CAPES grant through the PRINT program (Institutional Program for Internationalization). She holds a degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC, 2008) and a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology from the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM, 2016). Her master's thesis, titled "Body, Gender, and Identity: Transgender Experiences in the City of Manaus," was developed within the research area of ​​City, Heritage, and Urban Cultural Practices and funded by the Amazonas State Research Support Foundation (FAPEAM). In 2016, she founded the film criticism project *Feito por Elas* ("Made by Women"), which aims to analyze, discuss, and promote films created by women. She is a member of the Brazilian Association of Film Critics (Abraccine) and the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci), and serves as an international voter for the Golden Globe Awards. Her work is interdisciplinary, focusing on the anthropology of cinema, gender, and sexuality.

Jorge Luiz Ribeiro de Vasconcelos (Jorge Lampa) is a professor at the Center for Culture, Languages, and Applied Technologies (CECULT) at the Federal University of the Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB). He holds a degree in Popular Music (1993), a master's degree in Arts (2002), and a doctorate in Music (2010) from UNICAMP. He is currently conducting postdoctoral research (running until February 2027) at FFLCH-USP, affiliated with LISA-USP, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Rose Hikiji. As a result of this partnership, he produced the film *Adó, Mestre dos Sons* (2025), which focuses on the Capoeira Angola master from Santo Amaro da Purificação of whom he is a disciple. A music educator, he maintains an artistic career in which he performs as a singer, *cantador* (traditional singer), singer-songwriter, and *cantator*. His current research project is titled "Between *gungas* and *gungas*: an ethnomusicological study of musical knowledge"; it focuses on two very different musical instruments that share the same name: the *gunga* (the lead *berimbau* in capoeira) and the *gunga* (an ankle rattle used in *maçambique* and *moçambique* traditions), examining their sonic practices within their respective contexts and their Afro-diasporic trajectories. He serves on the board of ABET (Brazilian Association of Ethnomusicology) as Second Secretary. He is affiliated with the research groups PAM-USP (Research in Musical Anthropology) and Mesclas-UFRB (Memory, Space, and Cultures Research Group).

Leandro Oliveira is an anthropologist, musician, and writer. He holds a degree in Social Sciences from PUC-Campinas (2010), a master’s degree in Social Sciences from UNESP (2013), and a doctorate in Sociology from UFSCar (2018). He is currently conducting postdoctoral research at the USP Department of Anthropology on the project "Eduardo Coutinho: Ethnographer," which focuses on the relationship between cinema and ethnography. Interested in the interplay between visual and sonic arts, he is a trumpeter trained at the Tatuí State Conservatory and co-produced the short film *Cássia Eller Fashionista*. He is a member of GRAVI (Visual Anthropology Group) and PAM (Research in the Anthropology of Music). He authored the book *Real e de Viés* and the thesis *Cinema de Favela: o real da ficção, a estética do político* (forthcoming). He has participated in projects such as *Brasil-África: Histórias Cruzadas* (UNESCO/MEC/UFSCar) and *Projeto Paidéia* (FAPESP/UNESP), as well as initiatives with NaMargem/UFSCar, and served as an editor for the journal *Cadernos de Campo* (UNESP). He works in training programs within the "S System" and other cultural initiatives, as well as in educational programs like MIPID/Campinas and NEAB/UFSCar. His professional background includes experience as a public school teacher and a civil servant in various municipalities; since 2022, he has worked at the Campinas City Hall Department of Administration. Recently, he has channeled his movement across different fields of activity into an interest in the relationships between art, urbanism, and public management, while also incorporating the day-to-day experience of institutions as a potential dimension of ethnographic inquiry.

Mateus Marcilio de Oliveira is an anthropologist, professor, researcher, and musician originally from Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of São Paulo (USP), working on the project "It Was Once a Tree: An Ethnography of the Social Life of Wood in Musical Instrument Making," funded by FAPESP (Grant No. 2025/24509-7). Holding a PhD and a Master’s degree from the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology at the National Museum (PPGAS/MN - UFRJ), he conducts research in the fields of the anthropology of sound and musical practices, material culture, sensory studies, and political ecology. He also served as a visiting researcher in the Music Department at the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) in 2019–2020. His doctoral thesis, titled "Making Sounds: Materiality, Listening, and Value in the Regime of Musical Instrument Making," explores the material, technical, sensory, and sonological implications behind the manufacture of musical instruments, with listening and sound serving as the central themes. He is affiliated with the Phonographic Studies Group (NuSon/UFRJ), the Musical Anthropology Research Group (PAM/USP), and the Music and Sound Interest Group (MSIG/AAA).

Rafael Branquinho Abdala Norberto is a native of Ariquemes (Rondônia), where he began his musical journey during childhood with his mother and maternal grandfather, alongside private lessons in piano, guitar, and Western music theory; he also engaged with street music cultures such as Hip Hop/Rap and played guitar in the band *Os Químicos* between 2004 and 2006. His academic background includes, in summary: a Bachelor’s degree in Music (Guitar) from UEA (2010), involving undergraduate research via PAIC (with a FAPEAM scholarship); and Master’s (2016) and Doctoral (2020) degrees in Music (Musicology/Ethnomusicology) from UFRGS, including a period as a Visiting Researcher/Scholar at the University of Georgia (USA), supported by CAPES scholarships in Brazil (Proex) and the USA (PDSE No. 47/2017). He has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Anthropology at FFLCH/USP since September 2025, joining the PAM research group (Research in Musical Anthropology) led by his supervisor, Prof. Dr. Rose Satiko Gitirana Hikiji. His research and publications focus primarily on Amazonian musical phenomena—specifically *Beiradão* and the "Rap AM" circuit—as well as a current bibliographic survey mapping academic production on Hip Hop/Rap in Brazil. Since April 2022, he has served as a professor in the Music Education degree program at UFRR. He is an associate member of ANPPOM, ABET, ABEM, and the *Coletivo de Etnomusicologia Negra* (Black Ethnomusicology Collective). He served on the board of ABET from January 2022 to September 2024 as editor of the journal *Música e Cultura* and has actively participated in events organized by these and other nationally and internationally recognized academic associations. He is a researcher with the following CNPq research groups: PAM/USP, CEN/UFBA, GEM/UFRGS, MusiCuir/UFRR, and OREMUS/UFRR.

• Location: LISA Auditorium, Rua do Anfiteatro, 181, Room 10, University City, São Paulo
• Event subject to space limitations
• No registration required