Name and surname: William Afonso Cantú
Title/Academic titles: Post-doc in Trend Studies; PhD in Cultural Studies
Graduated from: School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon
Current position: MSKPU; Polytechnic University of Leiria
Osiągnięcia: William Cantú is a faculty member at the Polytechnic University of Leiria, where he teaches Trends Research, Contemporary Culture, Arts-based Research, Cultural Strategy, and related subjects. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Economics and Humanities from Warsaw, Poland, and at the Centre for Arts, Design and Fashion at Santa Catarina State University, in Brazil.
At the University of Lisbon, he has a Post-Doc and a PhD in Cultural Studies in the research line of Trends and Cultural Management. He is the coordinator of the Innovation and Cultural Development Club for UNESCO, and the Co-PI of the Project/Trends and Culture Management Lab. He is an integrated researcher at the University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies (ULICES) and a collaborator at the Center for Studies in Education and Innovation (CI&DEI). He was the vice-coordinator of the IPAM/LAB Research Unit.
His main research interests are related to Trends and Cultural Studies; Cultural Strategy; Innovation; Cultural and Artistic Production; Visual Culture; Semiotics; and Arts Research. He has been publishing articles and book chapters on these topics. He has been participating in research projects while developing activities as an independent designer and trend researcher working on national and international projects.
He was on the frontline of Trend Studies development in Portugal and is the author of “Os Estudos de Tendências e o Branding” (Trend Studies and Branding). Also, he has been curating diverse exhibitions, being a jury in creativity and innovation contests, and participating in various artistic projects and exhibitions in Portugal and abroad.