Appel à communication : Cultures, Hopes and Conflicts. The Mediterranean between Land and Sea

Balthazar Friedrich Leizelt, La Flotte Armée neutre des Puissances du Nord dans la Mer Mediterranée proche Neaple, 1750, gravure, 30 x 42 cm, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Type : Appel à communication

Date limite de l’appel : 31 mars 2017

Date de la manifestation : 26 – 28 septembre 2017

Lieu : Salerne (Italie), University of Salerno

3rd International Conference | ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge 8th International Conference | MedWorlds

Cultures, Hopes and Conflicts. The Mediterranean between Land and Sea 26-28 September 2017 University of Salerno, Italy

The International Centre for Studies and Research (ICSR) Mediterranean Knowledge and the Consortium Mediterranean Worlds (MedWorlds) invite papers to be presented at the 3rd International Conference ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge / 8th International Conference MedWorlds to be held at the University of Salerno, Italy from 26 to 28 September 2017.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Conference Cultures, Hopes and Conflicts. The Mediterranean between Land and Sea, jointly organized by the ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge and the Consortium Mediterranean Worlds, aims to collect contributions that address the most important questions related to the Mediterranean Basin from the point of view of different social and human sciences. The Mediterranean is a sea of cultures, as its shore witnessed the dawn of knowledge: from historiography to philosophy, from natural sciences to political sciences. The Mediterranean, furthermore, is a nexus of civilizations and ethnicities, which have constantly interacted through clashes and peaceful encounters. Indeed, the Mediterranean has always been a meeting place between East and West; this is even more true today as the Mediterranean seems to have become more fragmented and divided between different “worlds”: the secular Western Europe, the Arab-Islamic North Africa and Middle East, the orthodox Christianity of Greece and other Balkan countries, the Jewish culture of Israel, to mention only the most important. However, one should consider that each of these “worlds” reveals in its internal ethnical, territorial, and social tensions, which adds up to the richness and the peculiarity of the «Mare nostrum». The Mediterranean, furthermore, is also a sea of hopes: the hopes of hundreds of thousands of migrants who desperately try to cross the sea, on the run from hunger and conflicts; the hope of a fair and lasting peace for those who live in countries affected by civil wars and ethno-religious clashes.

Indeed, the Mediterranean is also a sea of conflicts: armed confrontations (think of Libya, Syria, and Israel-Palestine, as well as the phenomenon of terrorism and the military interventions of Western countries in the Middle East), social clashes (for examples, those provoked by the great economic recession of the Mediterranean countries), cultural battles (mainly related to the confrontation between different mentalities and ways of life), and political disputes (from the recent Arab spring to the growth of new political forces in Europe, both to the right and the left wings), all taking place along its shores.

Analysing the above-mentioned phenomena requires a rather multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach, in order to bring together the contribution of different social sciences; history, sociology, philosophy, literary sciences, economy must cooperate in providing tools for a proper understanding of a complex and multi-faceted reality.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

The Conference is open to papers that address the broader questions concerning the Mediterranean. More specifically, we aim to develop a reflection on the following topics:

– The migratory phenomena, which have historically characterized the Mediterranean since antiquity to modern era, as approached from the point of view of both the countries of origin and destination;

– Encounters and clashes among different civilizations and cultures in the Mediterranean world from the so-called Fall of the Roman empire to the present day;

– The Mediterranean and its relations with non-Mediterranean worlds, in terms of diplomatic, cultural and economic relations (with attention to the recent phenomenon of globalization);

– The political upheavals that have affected the Arab world in recent years;

– The phenomenon of terrorism within the relations between East and West;

– The political, economic and social impact of the great Recession on different Mediterranean countries;

– The impact of knowledge on the development of the Mediterranean area and the modes of its dissemination from ancient times to contemporary era.

Insofar as the contribution proposes an original and innovative analytical approach, they can focus on individual topics, understood as case-studies, or more general interpretations, The panels of the Conference will be crafted based on the accepted abstracts.

If you are interested into giving a paper you are required to send an abstract in English or Italian of your proposed contribution (maximum length 350 words) and a short biographical note summarizing your scientific activity (maximum length 150 worlds) to the following e-mail address: info@mediterraneanknowledge.org, with the tag [ICSR Mediterranean Knowledge / MedWorlds Conference 2017]. Each participant will be allowed to deliver only one paper. All papers must be delivered in English or Italian and in person by the author of the paper. We cannot accommodate speakers wishing to present using Skype (or similar), or proxy presentations. Language of the Conference will be English.

PUBLICATIONS

A volume with ISBN including a selection of the papers presented at the Conference will be published in Book Series Mediterranean, Knowledge, Culture and Heritage.

DEADLINES

Launch of call: January 2017 Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2017 Communication on the acceptance of contributions: 20 April 2017 Final program: May 2017 Paper submission (to be considered for publication): 15 December 2017 Paper selection for publication: February 2018 For additional information please contact us through conference’s email: info@mediterraneanknowledge.org Looking forward to receiving your abstract for participation and to meeting in Salerno next September, The Scientific & Organizing Committee