Email

sheylazandonai@um.edu.mo

Tel

+853 8822 8939

Office

E21-2026

Consultation Hours

Tuesdays 14:00 – 16:00

 

Sheyla S. ZANDONAI

莎雪娜

Introduction

Sheyla S. Zandonai works at the intersection of history and anthropology with primary research interests on urban history and modernity, colonial history, gambling and leisure culture, and critical heritage, with focus on Macau. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Social Anthropology and Ethnology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Zandonai’s research has appeared in journals such as Urban History, Urban Studies, and Current Anthropology. Her academic work is wide-ranging, covering topics of global and material history, colonial nostalgia, postcoloniality and belonging, contested heritages, and gambling history and urbanization.

Education

  • Ph.D., Social Anthropology and Ethnology (with highest honors), École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, France
  • M.A., Social Anthropology and Ethnology (with highest honors), École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, France
  • B.A., International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-MG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Employment

  • Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Macau, 2023–
  • Lecturer, Department of History, University of Macau, 2020–2023
  • Visiting Professor, University of Saint-Joseph (Macau), 2019–2022

Research Interests

  • Macau history and society
  • History and anthropology
  • Critical heritage studies
  • Modernity
  • Urban history
  • Gambling history
  • Cultural history
  • Portuguese empire

  • HIIST1000 History of Macao
  • HIST1011 Cultural Heritage Studies
  • HIST1012 Museum Studies
  • Urban History (MPhil)
  • GELH2007 History of Western Civilization

Edited volume

  • Makovicky, Nicolette, Anne-Christine Trémon, and Sheyla S. Zandonai (eds.). Subjection, Subversion and the Politics of Neoliberalism. London and New York: Routledge, 2018.

Journal articles

  • “The Portuguese calçada in Macau: Paving residual colonialism with a new cultural history of place,” Current Anthropology 59, 4 (2018): 378–96 (with Amaro).
    • Winner of the 2022 Merit Award for Macau Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, Macau Foundation and Social Sciences in China Press.
  • “The ‘Gambling city:’ Geometries and geographies of urban instability in Macau,” Lo Squaderno. Explorations in Space and Society 38 (2015): 19–22.
  • “La présence portugaise à Macao: une culture d’accommodements,” Portuguese Studies Review 22, 1 (2014): 205–25.
  • “Borders Within the City: Retracing Macau’s Identity,” Review of Culture 30 (2009): 24–36.
  • “Global diversity, local identity: Multicultural practice in Macau,” Intercultural Communication Studies 18, 1 (2009): 37–51.

Book chapters

  • “Macao, Janvier 2020”. Regards sous contraintes. Pantin: Éd. Boa, 2021.
  • “Global dynamics and tropes of place: ‘Touristed’ spaces and city-making in Macau.” In Ideas of the City in Asian Settings, Bekkering, Henco, Adèle Esposito, and Charles Goldblum (eds.), 141–72. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019.
  • “’Macau people ruling Macau.’ Gambling governance and ethnicity in postcolonial China.” In Subjection, Subversion and the Politics of Neoliberalism, Makovicky, Nicolette, Anne-Christine Trémon, and Sheyla S. Zandonai (eds.), 77–100. London and New York: Routledge, 2018.
  • “Encounter and counter-narratives of heritage in Macau.” In Citizens, Civil Society and Heritage-Making in Asia, Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, Hui Yew-Fong, Philippe Peycam (eds.), 164–84. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2017.

Chronicles

  • The City in Review. Episodes of hope and not so in Macau. Macau: International Institute of Macao, 2021.

Book Reviews

  • Sousa, Ivo Carneiro. Memórias, Viagens e Viajantes Franceses por Macau (1609-1900), 4 volumes. Macau: Typographia de J. da Silva, 2022. Review of Culture (forthcoming, 2026).
  • Ng, Janet. Dreamworld of casino capitalism: Macao’s society, literature, and culture. Cambria Press, 2019. 257 pp. ISBN: 9781621964278. Critical Gambling Studies 3, 2 (2022): 194–96.
  • 2010. Clayton, Cathyrn H., Sovereignty at the Edge: Macau and the Question of Chineseness. Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London: Harvard University Asia Center, 2009, 420p. Études Chinoises 29 (2010): 410–12.

  • Editorial Committee, Review of Culture, 2026–
  • Fellowship Selection Committee, International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), 2024
  • Editorial Committee Lusotopie, 2020–
  • Research Associate, Laboratoire Architecture Anthropologie (LAA), France, 2014–
  • President of the Assembly, CURB – Macau, Center for Architecture and Urbanism, Macau, 2024 –
  • Advisory Board on Public Space, City Space Architecture, Italy, 2022–2024
  • Member of the Executive Committee, CURB – Center for Architecture and Urbanism, Macau, 2021–2024

  • Multiple-Year Research Grant (Level I) RSKTO, University of Macau, 2026–2027
  • Start-Up Research Grant, RSKTO, University of Macau, 2023–2026
  • Financial support program for academic projects, Macau Foundation, 2024–2025 (with CURB – Macau, Centre for Architecture and Urbanism)
  • Financial support program for academic projects, Macau Foundation, 2022–2023 (with CURB – Macau, Centre for Architecture and Urbanism)
  • Merit Award for Macau Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, Macau Foundation and Social Sciences in China Press, 2022 (“The Portuguese Calçada in Macau: Paving Residential Colonialism with a New Cultural History of Place”, Current Anthropology, co-authored).