Research team
Lead researchers
MARIO CARRETERO (IP)
I am a professor at the Faculty of Psychology at UAM and a researcher at FLACSO (Argentina). I received a Guggenheim Fellowship to study the relationship between history teaching and national identity in Latin America. I have been Visiting Scholar at the Rockefeller Center at Harvard University and at the Stanford Humanities Centre, and have promoted interdisciplinary studies on historical culture and education. My publications (in English and Spanish) have been translated into French, Japanese, Portuguese and Basque.
MIKEL ASENSIO (IP)
I teach Thought Psychology, Informal Learning and Art Psychology in the Faculty of Psychology at UAM. I also teach Museology at the Universities of Barcelona and Huesca. I do research in Museums and Heritage from the users’ point of view, designing exhibitions and museums, public and educational programmes, as well as inclusive projects and audience studies.
Investigadores
MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ MONEO
I am a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology at UAM. I have been director of the CNIIE (Ministry of Education – Spain) and of the IUCE of UAM. I have done research on conceptual change in history, the development of narratives, and historical thinking. I believe that now more than ever the acquisition of historical knowledge, that takes place in formal and informal contexts, is essential not only for understanding the past, but also for interpreting and acting in the present.
CÉSAR LÓPEZ RODRÍGUEZ
I am an associate professor at the Faculty of Psychology at the UAM. My interests focus on the intersection between History, Collective Memory and Psychology, both in formal and informal educational contexts. I consider it very relevant to investigate narratives as cultural tools for thinking about the past and constructing identities.
FLOOR VAN ALPHEN
I am an assistant professor at the Faculty of Psychology at UAM. I research how young people make the past their own, through the reproduction, resistance, and transformation of dominant narratives, which involve their identities. I am interested in individual narratives and those of discussion groups or pairs. I study both the content of narratives about the past and the way they are told. I believe that collective memory is interactive and is also transmitted in gestures and non-verbal expressions.
EVERARDO PÉREZ MANJÁRREZ
I am a researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia and Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Understanding the intersections between historical narratives and citizen discourses to explain social reality has been the driving force of my work. I have recently delved into the study of public history and civic commemoration and their impact on young people’s learning in different countries through virtual history teaching modules.
IGNACIO BRESCÓ DE LUNA
I am a doctoral assistant at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia and External Researcher at Aalborg University (Denmark) where I am a member of the Niels Bohr Centre for Cultural Psychology and the Culture of Grief Centre. My interests are related to collective memory, history and national identity and I have recently focused on the role of memorials in articulating collective mourning and remembering the past.
Elena Pol
I have always been interested in art reception as a basic process to understand both the aesthetics themselves (my thesis revolved around the hermeneutic notion of reception), as well as the process of understanding and learning artistic knowledge, where I have worked in both formal and informal contexts. Since 1998, I have directed the company Interpretart, where we do audience studies, exhibition evaluations, museological projects and development of public and educational programs.
Elena Asenjo
I am the director of the Master’s Degree in Educational Technology at the Universidad a Distancia de Madrid. I have always been interested in the application of technologies to learning both in formal and informal contexts, the analysis of how visitors understand heritage and how we can improve their learning, motivation and expectations through analogical and digital resources. I am co-author of the book ‘Lazos de Luz Azul. Museos y tecnologías 1, 2 y 3.0‘.
Yone Castro
PhD in Psychology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Research Methodology applied to the Social Sciences. I am an associate professor in the Department of Social Psychology and Methodology at the UAM. Since 2015 I am also a technician at the Prodis Foundation, developing work as a labor market integration technician for young people with Functional Diversity, as a technician in Data Analysis and Research Designs, and currently, I am in charge of the area of Methodology and Research Design, within the Department of Projects and Grants.
Abel Ponce
I am a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Psychobiology, at the Faculty of Education from the International University of La Rioja, where I coordinate the Master’s Degree in Psychopedagogy. I did my doctoral thesis at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid about innovation and creativity. I have completed the Master’s Degree in Social Communication and the Expertise in Executive Development in Academic Management of University Programs. Currently I am developing research on learning processes of heritage and history from technological mediation and network interactions.
Manuel Torres
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Extremadura. I am an entrepreneur who manages several areas: copywriter, project manager and developer. I manage EMERITA COMICS, a store specialized in the 9th art, comics, board games, video games and associated items. We offer an environment where to develop new forms of leisure and social interaction.
JOSE CASADO BARRAJÓN
I am finishing my bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where I also previously obtained a degree in Biochemistry. I am part of the research team of the project Playing with the past, where I take part in the study on the role of video games in the critical understanding of history. I am especially interested in collective memory, historical thinking and the educational possibilities of video games as a cultural tool.
MARÍA GUTIÉRREZ CANO
I am an educational psychologist and a doctoral candidate (UAM doctoral program; PDIF CAM contract) as well as member of the research team aking part in the projects “Pensar la Historia” and “Making Histories”. My work is linked to the use of historical sources to question national master narratives, make new narratives visible and promote dialogue between different perspectives. I believe that learning about history is key to building our identity and to promoting a fair and democratic society.