General Information
Welcome to Post-Graduate Program in Communication and Territorialities at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (PósCom-Ufes). (POSCOM) at Ufes
The Graduate Program in Communication and Territorialities at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (PósCom-UFES) is based in Vitória, Espírito Santo, and has been offering Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Communication and Territorialities since 2014.
The Master’s program is officially recognized by Brazil’s Ministry of Education (MEC), as established by Opinion CNE/CES 154/2014. The Doctoral program was approved under Opinion CNE/CES No. 177/2025, issued by the Higher Education Chamber of the National Council of Education, and received official recognition through MEC Ordinance No. 213, dated March 20, 2025. PósCom maintains a strong academic profile, certified by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), with a rating of 4 on a scale from 1 to 7.
PósCom-UFES is structured around the area of concentration Communication and Territorialities, which explores the role of communication in shaping territorialities, as well as the practices, processes, and media products situated in specific environments. Here, territorialities are understood as processes that constitute both classical geographic spaces and those formed through socio-economic, political, and cultural interfaces—recognizing that territories of any nature are also shaped by communicational nexuses.
The program is grounded in the notion that the production of life has an ordinary dimension—rooted in the body, matter, and space-time—constantly intersected by virtuality and transcendence. Contemporary experience is increasingly shaped by media communications rather than physical displacements. Both traditional and emerging forms of social aggregation mobilize around communication, expressing their specific traits and creating a corpus still largely underexplored in communication research.
As the first program with this specific area of concentration, PósCom faces a unique challenge—yet also holds a significant opportunity to lead academic discussions at the intersection of communication and territorialities. It is worth noting that only in 2018 did the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR) establish a Communication program with a focus on Communication, Territorialities, and Amazonian Knowledges.
This area of concentration not only reflects PósCom’s identity but also fulfills its mission: integrating academic research with social demands, bridging local and global knowledge to foster communicational and territorial transformation.
Research Lines
The research lines at PósCom were designed to foster interdisciplinarity and address contemporary challenges in the field of communication. Each line functions as a space for intellectual convergence, bringing together researchers around themes that balance theoretical relevance and practical impact. This structure has enabled the program to strengthen its contribution to the field of Communication and Territorialities.
In the curriculum revision process carried out in 2017, the definition of the area of concentration remained unchanged. However, the research lines were refined.
Line 1 – Communication and Power was maintained, with slight updates to its description as originally presented in the 2013 APCN proposal. This line focuses on the contradictions and tensions found in mediated cultural products, analyzing their social effects across territorial dimensions. It investigates power relations within communicational phenomena that shape consciousness, perception, memory, ideologies, and resistance. The aim is to examine the changing configurations of media within the context of globalized communication. This includes the study of technologies, discourses, conversations, images, and public opinion across digital platforms and social networks, and their impacts on structures of power and counterpower, transforming various territorialities. It also explores journalism as a form of knowledge, seeking to critically understand its role in contemporary society.
Line 2, previously titled Communicational Practices and Processes until 2017, was renamed Communicational Aesthetics and Languages. This line investigates the relationship between communication and territorialities through the lens of aesthetics, languages, and discourses found in communicational practices, processes, and products—as strategies for meaning-making in everyday life. It hosts research on mediation processes as part of contemporary sociabilities, addressing the following thematic areas: city and culture; consumption and advertising; body and image; media and identity; technologies and new media arrangements; cyberculture; audiovisualities; and media education.
As of 2018, PósCom-UFES officially operates with the following research lines:
- Communication and Power
- Communicational Aesthetics and Languages
Based on the program’s most recent self-assessment for the upcoming quadrennial evaluation, each research line will now have designated coordinators responsible for supervising academic and research activities. This structure ensures alignment among ongoing projects, course offerings, and student advising. It supports the continued development of the program and strengthens the integration of research lines with its institutional mission.
The program has already awarded 117 Master’s degrees and currently has 32 students enrolled in the Master’s program. It is headquartered in Vitória, Espírito Santo.
The program is based in Vitória-ES, offering the course of Master in Communication and Territorialities since 2014 and has an academic qualification profile certified by CAPES, receiving 4 on its last evaluation.
The program already has 117 masters and counts with 54 students regularly enrolled, being 46 in the masters and 8 in the doctorate.
