Barbara Del Mercato

with Ruth Mostern, Pittsburgh University

The Yellow River: A Natural and Unnatural History, Online lecture

More information here

We are thrilled to take part in a large international event taking place in Venice and online on October 11-16, 2021: the Anthropocene Campus Venice (ACV), a one-week forum with a strong educational commitment, around the theme of Water Politics in the Age of the Anthropocene.

ACV is organized by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the Center for the Humanities and Social Change, and the Max Planck Partner Group The Water City. It is set in the framework of the Anthropocene Curriculum (AC), a long-term collaborative project initiated by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin) and Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Berlin), supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. ACV benefits from the support of Ca’ Foscari University and the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, projects ERC EarlyModernCosmology (Horizon 2020, GA 725883) and FARE EarlyGeoPraxis (Italian Ministry of University and Research, cod. R184WNSTWH)

Many events will be made available online: follow updates on the public events program the Campus website

Venice, October 11-16, 2021

Visit the Campus website
Learn more about the Anthropocene Curriculum here

See all the Campus partners here

The UNESCO Chair “Water, Heritage and Sustainable Development” based at the Centre for the Humanities and Social Change organises a number of training courses (in cooperation with the Global Network of Water Museums) addressed to the staff of water museums, scholars, students and professionals in the fields of water.

The 1st online training course will be held in form of webinar series and will focus on different tools, strategies and good practices aimed at promoting water heritage beyond museums.

Speakers coming from Bangladesh, Croatia, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain, UK, Uruguay will give lectures on traditional waterscapes, participatory approaches, heritage promotion, responsible tourism, leisure education and other key topics in water heritage management.

REGISTRATION:
In order to register, please write an email with a CV and a brief motivation letter to Sara Luchetta (sara.luchetta@unive.it). Registration and payment are due by the 30^th of September 2021.

COURSE OUTLINE

THEMATIC CLUSTER #1
Inland hydrographies and riverscapes
Digital itineraries
Ancestral hydrotechnologies 
Local communities and water
Water memories and intangible heritage
Urban waterscapes digital exploration
Arts for waterscapes

THEMATIC CLUSTER #2
Participatory practices and engagement
Traditional water management
Visual anthropology for community involvement
Participatory photography and bottom-up approaches
Oral history for community involvement

THEMATIC CLUSTER #3
Education for water culture
Community museums and water heritage
Waterways as vectors of ecomuseums
Sustainable tourism, sustainable mobilities
Ecotourism
Spatial anthropology and the water cities

Read and download the full program here

PLATFORM: Zoom – Links will be provided to all the attendees.

LANGUAGE: English

WHEN:  The online course includes 12 webinars and will start on Friday the 22nd of October 2021, running every Friday until the 21st of January 2022.

Every webinar starts at 13.00 CET and ends at 15.00 CET.

FEES:
Regular fee: € 250
Low Income Countries: € 50
Ca’ Foscari University community (students, PhD candidates, researchers, professors, administrative staff): € 100
WAMU-NET members: One person from each water museum/member of WAMU-NET can participate for free. Each 2nd, 3rd, 4th (and so on) person can participate with a 50% discount on the regular fee (€ 125 regular; € 25  LICs). 

ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE:
A certificate of attendance will be issued at the end of the training course by the UNESCO Chair. In order to receive the certificate, participants must attend at least 9 webinars out of 12 (about 80% attendance).

Ciacoe in tocio: conversazioni e sughi per mangiare con la Laguna
In collaborazione con Ocean Space
Domenica 20 giugno, ore 15.00-18.00
presso Ocean Space, Campo San Lorenzo, Venezia

PRENOTAZIONE: L’evento è gratuito, è necessaria la prenotazione al seguente link

Venice, 10 June 2021

Call for expressions of interest for Postdoctoral Fellowships in Environmental Humanities

The Center for the Humanities and Social Change at Ca’Foscari University of Venice is seeking candidates for a maximum of four Postdoctoral Fellowships in Environmental Humanities. This program allows applicants to launch a successful research-intensive career while working on a project that aligns with the host institution’s strategic priorities. 

The Center for the Humanities and Social Change is an intellectual community with strong links with the The New Institute in Hamburg, privileged interactions with the European Center for Living Technology, all University departments, and many other cultural institutions in Venice. The fellows are expected to work in residence in Venice and actively contribute to the Center activities (e.g. offering seminars for the M.A. in Environmental Humanities and/or organizing academic and outreach events). They will be offered office space and full access to the university libraries and research facilities. 

Ca’ Foscari Center for the Humanities and Social Change Postdoctoral Fellows in Environmental Humanities are scholars who have received their degrees in the humanities, social science, or other areas relevant to the Environmental Humanities. Applicants must either have worked in the area of Environmental Humanities or show potential for research interest in this field. Evidence of active research and publications in peer-reviewed journals will be an added advantage. The Center seeks to provide a stimulating scholarly environment in which to pursue research, develop new interdisciplinary connections, and network with others. Fellows join lectures and conferences as appropriate to their research and may play a role in the planning of working groups and events. The Postdoctoral Fellowship will provide an annual stipend of  € 27, 770 euros before tax. The fellowship may be renewed for a second year.

Your expression of interest should include a Curriculum Vitae (max 3 pages), the names and contact information of two referees, and a two-page research project focused on one (or more) of the following areas:

• the blue humanities: humanistic perspectives on water, the ocean, rising sea levels, water politics and cultures; (in collaboration with TBA21/Ocean Space); 
• the city of Venice as both an object of study and a point of observation on global environmental issues;
• the roots and routes of Asian environmental thought and/or the Medical Humanities (with particular reference to Buddhism);
• the role of the arts in the construction and transformation of the environmental imagination;
• environment and intersectional inequalities, with particular attention to issues of labour, migration and social justice;
• the environmental crisis and the future of democracy, with special emphasis on the issue of public environmental discourse, the use of social media and online communication.

For all these areas we encourage projects that engage non-western and indigenous cultures; address issues of minority, gender, ethnicity, disability; suggest pedagogical and activist practices; engage with the tangible and intangible heritage of Venice and its contemporary art scene; formulate strategies of environmental communication.

Please direct expression of interest and queries by 15 July 2021 to:

Dr. Barbara Del Mercato, Project Manager – E-mail: hsc@unive.it (Subject: HSC_EOI2021)

After the closure of the present call for expressions of interest, HSC will issue a formal Call for Applications in August. Fellowships will begin on 1 October, 2021.

11th June 2021, 3.00 PM (CEST)

A ECLT / HSC Joint Seminar: the European Centre for Living Technology and the  Center for the Humanities and Social Change

present:

Exploring Sonic Environments

with Heather Contant (HSC), Daniel Finch-Race (HSC), Maria Mannone (ECLT)

Abstract
This investigation of sounds in spheres ranging from physical environments to music will connect research in the arts and sciences with the aim of constructing an interdisciplinary language around the specificities of Venice.

– Topic 1: Soundscapes of Pollution > What are the acoustic dimensions of ecological problems, including the perception of certain sounds as problematic noises?

– Topic 2: Rhythm > Which sounds constitute the rhythms of the places where we live?

– Topic 3: The Mathematics of Sounds in Nature > To what extent is a mathematical framework fruitful for understanding crossmodal correspondences between auditory effects in nature and music, as well as listeners’ internal visualizations of sonic forms such as a melodic line?

Bio sketch
Heather Contant
explores the collectivist tendencies of media arts through her research, teaching, and creative endeavors. Her research on the history of wireless media has gained recognition in multiple publications, such as Leonardo Music Journal, Soundscape, and Journal of Sonic Studies, and she was awarded the 2018 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research for her PhD thesis from the University of New South Wales Art and Design in Sydney, Australia.

Daniel Finch-Race
researches creative representations of environmental change in French and Italian culture since the mid-1800s. His doctoral work at the University of Cambridge focussed on ecocritical approaches to Charles Baudelaire’s urban poetry of 1857-61. Before joining the Center for the Humanities and Social Change at Ca’ Foscari, he held teaching fellowships at the University of Southampton and Durham University, an Environmental Humanities Visiting Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, and a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowship at the University of Bristol.

Maria Mannone
earned her Master in Theoretical Physics as well as three Masters in Composition, in Conducting, and in Piano in Italy. In Paris, at IRCAM – UPMC Paris 6 Sorbonne, she earned her Master 2 ATIAM in Acoustics, Signal Processing, and Informatics applied to Music. In the US, at the University of Minnesota, she achieved her Ph.D. in Composition. She is a member of the editorial board and editor in training of the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts.

To participate via Zoom, please use this link

This event is part of the Environmental Humanities Seminar and Lecture Series – V 

Donne sem terra e la lotta contro l’agrobusiness

(scroll down for English abstract)
Modera: Valentina Bonifacio, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia

15 June 2021, 5.00 p.m. CEST, on Zoom (https://unive.zoom.us/j/84861746457)

Lo scopo di questo intervento è discutere come le donne del Movimento dei lavoratori in Brasile hanno portato avanti la propria sfida al modello egemonico dell’agrobusinnes brasiliano attraverso una particolare pratica femminista conosciuta come “Feminismo Camponês Popular com Identidade e Revolucionário”, ossia un femminismo che è apertamente contadino, popolare, rivoluzionario e che riconosce le diversa identità che lo compongono. In questo incontro, Adriana Rodrigues Novais, ricercatrice e attivista nel Movimento, introdurrà l’organizzazione delle donne contadine e presenterà I quattro pilastri del loro approccio contro l’agrobusiness: lotta diretta, formazione politica, contrasto alla violenza e agroecologia.

Adriana Rodrigues Novais
Laureata in Scienze Sociali presso la Facoltà di Scienze e Lettere dell’Università Statale Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho. Ha completato il suo master presso l’Università Federale di São Carlos con una tesi su: Cinema e memoria della dittatura civile-militare in Brasile: un’analisi dei film “Pra Frente Brasil” (1982) e “Açao entre Amigos” (1998).
È dottoressa di ricerca in Scienze Sociali presso l’Università Statale di Campinas, (tesi “Contadini e popoli indigeni e la lotta per la memoria della verità e della giustizia in Brasile” – sulla memoria politica, la giustizia transizionale e i diritti umani, concentrandosi su contadini e popoli indigeni in Brasile). Attualmente sviluppa ricerche sulla violenza contro le donne contadine e su genere e nuova estrema destra in Brasile. È una militante del Movimento dei lavoratori rurali senza terra.

Landless Women and the fight against Agribusiness
Abstract
The aim of this talk is to discuss how the women of the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement in Brazil “Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra” have been building ways to challenge Brazil’s hegemonic agribusiness model by developing a particular feminist posture known as “Feminismo Camponês Popular com Identidade e Revolucionário”, in other words, a feminism that is overtly peasant, popular, revolutionary, and which recognizes the diverse identities of its members. In this lecture, I will introduce this women’s peasant movement and present the four pillars of their approach to challenging agribusiness: direct struggle, political training, combating violence and agroecology. The talk draws on my own 12 years of experience, both as an active member of the movement, and as a sociological researcher.

Adriana Rodrigues Novais
Graduated in Social Sciences from the Faculty of Sciences and Letters of the Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho State University.
She has completed your master’s degree from the Federal University of São Carlos. The title of the dissertation is: Cinema and memory of the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil: an analysis of the films “Pra Frente Brasil” (1982) and “Açao entre Amigos” (1998).
She is a PhD in Social Sciences at the State University of Campinas, the title of the thesis is “Peasants and indigenous peoples and the struggle for the memory of truth and justice in Brazil” – on political memory, transitional justice and rights humans, focusing on peasants and indigenous peoples in Brazil.
Currently develops research on violence against peasant women and on gender and the new far right in Brazil.
She is a militant of the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement.

ONLINE, June 15th, 5.00 p.m. CEST

LINK: https://unive.zoom.us/j/84861746457

Evento in italiano/This event is in ITALIAN, part of  Environmental Humanities Seminar and Lecture Series – V

4th June 2021, 3.00 PM (CEST)

A ECLT / HSC Joint Seminar. The European Centre for Living Technology and the Center for the Humanities and Social Change

present:

Contemplating Borders: From Machine Learning to the Environment

with  Ifor Duncan (HSC), Francesca Foffano (ECLT), Emiliano Guaraldo (HSC), Teresa Scantamburlo (ECLT)

To participate via Zoom, please use this link.

Abstract

This joint seminar intends to critically address the common ethical problem of bordering from different disciplinary perspectives. Firstly, the session will consider how geophysical environments have been co-opted, both directly and indirectly, as infrastructures of the border. Secondly, by considering how biometric data and machine learning is used to categorise minority groups. Finally, by presenting recent work by artist-researcher Hito Steyerl, the session will address the limits and political implications of the introduction of AI-based technologies as policy-making tools. By considering borders in these ways we intend to critically question what is meant by borders and ask how the humanities and computer sciences can contribute to a common discourse regarding borders, migration and asylum.

Bio sketch

Ifor Duncan
is a writer and inter-disciplinary researcher whose research concerns the relationships between political violence and watery spaces and materialities. He completed his PhD at the Centre for Research Architecture (CRA), Goldsmiths, University of London, where he developed the concept of necro-hydrology, which addresses the ways hydrologic properties are instrumentalised through border regimes, as technologies of obfuscation, and weaponised against marginalised communities. His current research project, Submergences, proposes to explore the ways hydrologic knowledges and practices can be mobilised to imagine alternate strategies of resistance against such forms of environmental weaponisation.

Francesca Foffano
received her Master in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Trento, and previously her Bachelor in Psychology at the University of Padua. During her studies, she collaborates with the research centre for Analysis and Design of Intelligent Agents at Reykavik University. Her research interest is in the user’ understanding and perception of AI, social and ethical influences, and a definition of more human-centric design approaches.

Emiliano Guaraldo
Emiliano Guaraldo’s research focuses on the visual culture of the Anthropocene, with a particular interest in the relationship between contemporary art and the production of technical and scientific images. He obtained a PhD in Italian Studies from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Before joining the Center for the Humanities and Social Change at Ca’ Foscari, Emiliano worked at the University of St. Gallen as a research assistant and public lecturer in Italian literature and culture.

Teresa Scantamburlo
Her main research interests lay at the intersection of Computer Science and Philosophy and include the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on human-decision making, the role of data and algorithms in social regulation, and the ethical assessment of AI systems. She is also interested in studying AI from the point of view of epistemology and the philosophy of science (e.g. some topics of interest include the problem of induction, the problem-solving approach and the notion of progress).

This event is part of the Environmental Humanities Seminar and Lecture Series – V