Mário J. Avelar is a student on the PhD Programme in Cultural Studies at the Portuguese Catholic University. He has a degree in European Studies from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. He completed a Master's programme in International Relations at the Institute of Political Sciences of this University, with a dissertation that was awarded the prize for Best Master's Dissertation in the CPLP, and a second Master's programme in Cultural Management at the Portuguese Catholic University. His most recent research interests focus on Art, Music and Sound and how they function in society as cultural tools of connection.  He is currently working on a PhD project in the field of Cultural Studies on the artist Bill Fontana, for which He received a CECC scholarship, investigating how art functions as a reflection of culture. His master's thesis entitled "Soundgarden: between the margin and the current" is in press (Colibri). He has participated in scientific events and published a chapter in the collective work "Creation, Transformation and Metamophosis", published by Taylor.