The Program has a single field of study and four research areas. The field of study History, Politics and Cultural Heritage includes intellectual investment in the academic activities of the Program, comprising the major fields of study covered by the research studies developed by the faculty and students: history, politics and culture.

In 2019, the PPHPBC Board redesigned the research areas of the Program to make them more coherent and consistent with the faculty.

Research areas:

• I. INSTITUTIONS AND POLICY: Research on institutions and politics is at the root of CPDOC's identity and is conducted by a significant number of professors participating in the Program. They analyze actions, practices and perceptions of social groups and institutions, primarily, but also of individuals. Studies in this area contribute to a better understanding of the processes of institutional construction and decision-making in the governmental structures; they explore the role of political and social leaders, as well as their multiple and complex interfaces with broader political institutions; they discuss public policies and their social impact on the construction of citizenship, and they also give academic strength to studies of biographies and personal backgrounds. Activities in this area are connected to the Laboratory of Political Studies, the Laboratory of Institutional Studies, the Laboratory of Military Studies and the Laboratory of Digital Humanities.
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  II. MEMORY AND CULTURE: the history of memory and the central role it has in the constitution of social identities are central dimensions in the work developed by most of the faculty of the Program. In this research area, investigations of the concepts of heritage, material and immaterial culture, tradition and representation are addressed through different approaches and languages. The themes range from the Brazilian social thinking to soccer, from museums to cinema and television, from popular festivals to civic celebrations, for instance. An important part of the research studies developed in this area is based on the CPDOC tradition of developing methodologies for the treatment of archives and setting up collections of oral history combined with critical reflection on the social processes of production and circulation of historical sources. Activities in this area are connected to the Laboratory of Collections, Memory and Information, the Laboratory of Social Thinking, the Laboratory of Audiovisual Studies, the Laboratory of Sports Studies and the Laboratory of Tourism Studies.
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  III. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: this area of research includes multiple activities of research and analysis of the international transformations of the foreign policies of national States and the international roles of non-state players. Research activities include not only those exclusively related to International Relations, but also studies that use conceptual frameworks from other fields of knowledge, including history, sociology, economics and law, with the aim of understanding events of international history and politics. The topics addressed in this area of research include: global transformations and emerging powers, regional integration processes, comparative foreign policy analysis, international security, and global history. The activities of this area of research are linked to the events of the Center for International Relations.