The Núcleo de Estudos Contemporâneos (Center for Contemporary Studies) was founded in 1994 and is affiliated with the Graduate Program in History and the Institute of History at Fluminense Federal University.

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The researchers associated with NEC conduct studies on the History of the Present Time from the perspective of a renewed Political History, fostering dialogues with other fields such as Social, Cultural, and Economic History, as well as interdisciplinary exchanges.

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In 2019, NEC celebrated 25 years of activity, bringing together professors, researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students interested in themes that encompass the construction of nation-states and modernity projects in the 19th and 20th centuries; the relationships between intellectuals and the state; national liberation struggles and the construction of postcolonial discourse in Africa and Asia; labor relations and the development of citizenship; and social experiences under authoritarian regimes in the 20th century.