PhD thesis includes Alternative History as part of the methodology

Last Friday, 29 November 2024, the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Vigo (Campus Pontevedra) witnessed the viva of André Filipe Monteiro Leite da Silva Coelho¹, whose theme focused the nature of comedy, the sketch, and the continuum narrative. The doctoral work had, as pointed out by the jury, the uncommon feature of having a embedded creative output, as well as the usual anaylitical academic approach.

The (now) Dr. André Coelho not only reviewed and analysed the themes of his proposed doctoral work but, in an autoethnographic exercise, developed, wrote, produced and post-produced, in association with one of Portugal's most recognized movie production companies in the area of comedy, a pilot episode for a comedy tv series where the hypothesis he laid at the beginning of his work was tested and explored.

The fragmentary nature of comedy and sketches is challenged in this tv pilot (still unaired aat the moment) and part of the analysis and pre-writing approach leaned into the Monty Python as case study and Alternative History as a tool, as evidenced by the artice published by the then PhD student  in the inaugural issue of Hypothesis Historia Periodical:

https://www.up.pt/casacomum/wp-content/uploads/sites/520/2022/07/02.pdf

André Coelho defended the work with the same approach he made in the thesis: a mix of the seriousness of academic research and the disruptive nature of creativity. On more than one occasion, smiles and laughs were evident among the attendees, especially when clips of the tv pilot were shown  for context. It came as no surprise the full-room round of applause when the jury awarded the highest classification by unanimity.

¹|https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andreleitecoelho_29-de-novembro-de-2024-pode-n%C3%A3o-ter-sido-activity-7270112066160504832-w227?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop