The research group Humanitarian Journalism and Media Interventions (HumanizaCom), linked to the Graduate Program in Social Communication (PósCom) at the Methodist University of São Paulo (UMESP), was formed in 2018.

 

Accredited in the Directory of Research Groups of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), HumanizaCom is one of the largest national and international references in studies and research supported by the strategies, tactics, resources, potentialities, and social possibilities of communication, media, journalism, and media interventions to understand and address problems that challenge societies worldwide.

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Based in the broad field of Applied Social Sciences and, more specifically anchored in Communication Sciences, HumanizaCom has connected various knowledge areas and fields to achieve a plural and transdisciplinary approach to interconnected risks and threats such as wars and conflicts, disasters, environmental degradation and climate change, political, economic, social, and cultural instability, and their consequences, such as forced migrations, food insecurity, and all forms of human and civil rights violations, with special attention to minorities.

 

The studies, research, projects, and solutions developed within the scope of HumanizaCom have been guided by the principles of humanitarianism, positive peace, and the democratic and humanitarian foundations of communication and journalism, refuting the perpetuation of violations and the practices of manipulation, erasure, and silencing of historically marginalized voices.

 

HumanizaCom is attentive to global events and seeks to enhance the studies of communication and journalism at their interfaces with local, national, regional, and global realities by connecting risk communication, humanitarian and peace journalism, and media interventions.

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By linking risk communication with humanitarian and peace journalism and exploring the resources of media interventions, HumanizaCom has achieved a unique approach, resulting in insights and pathways for seeking propositions and solutions to the investigated problems. Since its inception, the group has acted as a proponent or member of research, extension, and innovation projects in partnership with national and international institutions, whether public, private, or from civil society.

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The main areas of interest for HumanizaCom include: disaster risk reduction (DRR), with an emphasis on disaster risk communication (DRC), climate emergency, racism and climate injustice, environment and sustainability, human suffering and trauma, politics and democracy, rights and the struggle for recognition of minorities (women, children, Black people, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, the elderly, refugees), territories of socio-environmental vulnerability, media and Islamophobia, religion and emerging issues, national and international governance, wars and conflicts, refuge and forced displacements, artificial intelligence, social media, and human and civil rights.

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All the themes of interest to HumanizaCom are investigated under the theoretical-conceptual and practical foundations of communication and journalism, particularly in the principles of risk communication, humanitarian and peace journalism, and the resources of media interventions.

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This website gathers key information about HumanizaCom, coordinated by Professor Dr. Cilene Victor and composed of researchers from undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs, mostly from the Graduate Programs in Social Communication and Religious Studies at the Methodist University of São Paulo.