The Laboratory of History and Digital Technologies (HisTech Lab), affiliated with the UFJF Graduate Program in History (PPGH-UFJF), was founded in 2025 to foster a critical study of the impact of digital transformation on historiography. Our mission is to strengthen a research agenda in digital history and digital humanities, continuously developing a qualified group of researchers at UFJF and establishing national and international partnerships.
Committed to scientific communication and the public relevance of history, HisTech Lab offers technical and theoretical-methodological support for the development of audiovisual products, websites, and social media content, in dialogue with the field of digital public history.
We also promote a culture of ongoing training in the critical use of digital tools, encouraging the technical expertise necessary for innovative research that utilizes computational methodologies and data analysis, thereby expanding research possibilities and interdisciplinarity.
Aligned with the principles of transparency and collaboration, HisTech Lab is part of the UFJF PPGH Open Science Program, working to consolidate and share research data with integrity and efficiency.
Finally, we are dedicated to a critical theoretical study of digital transformations and the discipline of history, reflecting on representation, document production, and archiving, as well as on the resources of Generative Artificial Intelligence. Our goal is to develop ethical guidelines for responsible use, ensuring that new technologies are integrated thoughtfully and conscientiously into the field of history.
Learn more about our lines of research and our team!
Lines of research
Archives, media, and representations in the digital world
This research area investigates the transformations in the production, organization, and dissemination of historical knowledge in the digital environment. We analyze the emergence of born-digital documents and disruptive archives, created in real time about current events – such as catastrophes – that place collaboration and new actors at lead roles. One also examines how digital media and their specific forms of narration – from artistic to informational and political – reconfigure representations of the past, establishing dialogues and ruptures with the forms of historical records that preceded them.
Researchers: Alessandra Souza Melett Brum, Fernando Perlatto, Ian Marino, Leandro Pereira Gonçalves, Martinho Alves da Costa Junior, Odilon Caldeira.
Digital Public History
This line of research explores the intersections between historical knowledge and the digital public sphere. Our goal is to translate academic historical research into impactful actions in the public sphere, empowering educators and students for effective scientific communication and collaborative projects in digital environments. By producing content for social media, websites, and collaborative projects with non-specialist communities, we use computational languages and resources to democratize access to history and rethink the structures of our discipline, fostering open dialogue with society. Additionally, through the critical study of the forms of history produced and consumed on the internet, we aim to develop ethical forms of intervention for historians in digital spaces.
Researchers: Ian Marino, Odilon Caldeira, Leandro Pereira Gonçalves, Martinho Alves da Costa Junior
History, computational methodologies, and open science
This research line investigates ways to integrate computational tools into the historian’s craft, fostering a critical mastery of digital tools and data analysis methodologies for research across the various fields of history. We promote a culture of open science, following principles of transparency and collaboration to consolidate and share research data. Finally, we are dedicated to an ethical examination of computational language model resources, especially so-called Generative Artificial Intelligence, developing replicable open-source solutions and guidelines for responsible and thoughtful use in the historical field.
Reserchers: Ian Marino, Mateus Rezende de Andrade
Theory of Digital History
This line of research investigates the foundations of historiographical practice in the digital age, promoting a critical study on the impact of technologies at the theoretical, methodological, and epistemic levels. Through a dedicated agenda of readings and debates, we explore how the digital medium transforms the production of sources, the constitution of archives, and even the very ways of narrating the past – debating digital transformation in light of the tradition of theoretical reflection that has shaped history as a discipline. Among the main points for reflection are the influence of elements such as computational languages, algorithms, and software, which redefine the possibilities for historical research and writing.
Researchers: Fernando Perlatto, Ian Marino, Mateus Rezende de Andrade.
Team
Permanent reseachers
Ian Kisil Marino (Coordenador)
Leandro Pereira Gonçalves
Odilon Caldeira Neto
Mateus Rezende Andrade
Alessandra Souza Melett Brum
Cláudia Maria Ribeiro Viscardi
Fernando Perlatto Bom Jardim
Martinho Alves da Costa Junior
Mônica Ribeiro de Oliveira
Tatyana de Amaral Maia
Students
Ana Luíza Meirelles Janiques Paes (TP)
Davy Mariano Izidoro (IC)
Emanuel Mourão do Carmo Pachiel (IC)
Gabriela Mendes Souza (TP)
Gustavo Soares Borges (IC)
João Pedro Arrabal Virgulino (TP)
Laíza de Oliveira Rodrigues (Doutoranda)
Maria Carolina de Aquino Henriques da Silva (IC)
Maria Eduarda Taroco Vieira (Mestrado)
Mariana Guedes da Silva (IC)
Blog Histórias Digitais
Histórias Digitais (“Digital Histories”), a blog coordinated by the HisTech Lab, is an open space for thinking, debating, and exploring the many paths of digital history. Here, we bring together diverse voices – from lab members to guest experts – in free-form texts that reflect on the transformations taking place in historical practice in the digital age. Whether discussing research results, computational methodologies, the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence, or new ways to narrate and experience time, our goal is to foster accessible and critical dialogue. More than just a repository of ideas, Histórias Digitais is an invitation to question, learn, and collectively build bridges between the past, present, and the digital future.
Publications
Access our publications in our open library on Zotero !