Upcoming Events

Elizabeth Povinelli – Geontologies: Story and Stories of a Concept 724 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

Elizabeth Povinelli – Geontologies: Story and Stories of a Concept

We are happy to announce the beginning of a new Environmental Humanities Seminar and Lecture Series with a special lecture:

Elizabeth Povinelli, Columbia University
Geontologies: story and stories of a concept
Discussant: Roberta Raffaetà
Welcome remarks: Franca Tamisari
Venice, October 12 2020, at 5.30 p.m.
Aula A, Ca’ Bottacin,  (Dorsoduro 3911)
Registration is required. Please email hsc@unive.it
To participate via Zoom, please use this link

This event is in English

The economy and life in pandemic times. A dialogue on a painful opportunity for thinking 724 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

The economy and life in pandemic times. A dialogue on a painful opportunity for thinking

29 September, 6 pm (Rome time) on Google meet (Click here to join)

Bill Mauer (School of Social Sciences and Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion, University of California, Irvine), and Luigi Doria (Department of Linguisticsand Comparative Cultural Studies and Center for the Humanities and Social Change, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Moderator: Shaul Bassi.

Humanities, Ecocriticism and Multispecies Relationships – international conference 724 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

Humanities, Ecocriticism and Multispecies Relationships – international conference
September 28-29, 2020 (full program below)

Aula Magna Silvio Trentin, Ca’ Dolfin – Dorsoduro 3825/e Venice

The conference, organised by the Department of Asian and African Studies in collaboration with our Center and the University of Turin, aims to investigate the interface of sustainability, ecology and the environment as reflected in religions, literature and folklore of indigenous people of Southern and Northern Asia, the Americas, etc.

Is it possible to declare that forests think? Are the stones moving? Can the mountains do politics? Who can speak for the non-humans? All these issues are becoming more and more relevant in contemporary debates, as they inevitably merge into the most global concerns for sustainability and exploitation of the planet’s resources.

The scholars taking part in the conference are expected to propose a reflection on the diverse ways the relationship human / non human (plant, animals, spirits) is imagined, produced and articulated in different contexts. At stake are the emerging challenges of climate change and environmental issues scenarios as dealt with by the humanities.
The conference is intended as an event which aims to stimulate a new international debate on the issues of ecocritcism.

(full description on Ca’ Foscari University calendar)

Due to current health regulations, seats are limited. If you wish to participate in person, please contact prof. Stefano Beggiora at beggiora@unive.it.
To participate via Zoom, please register through this link . Online registration also requires the following passcode: 5w039k
Environmental Humanities: A View from Venice – Virtual Dialogues 1024 890 Barbara Del Mercato

Environmental Humanities: A View from Venice – Virtual Dialogues

From July 7 until July 31  the Center for the Humanities and Social Change (HSCVenice) posted every day a dialogue around the environmental humanities, across time, space, themes, and cultures. This series celebrates the launch of the first master’s degree in Environmental Humanities in Italy, at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the amazing richness and variety of this academic field. The deadline for enrolling in the Master’s Degree in EH is August 18th.

Each dialogue is linked to the list below, and will remain available. The dialogues are also collected in a playlist published on Ca’ Foscari’s YouTube channel and on and on www.unive.it/ehvenice.

A View from Venice
Week 1: Explorations

July 7
Amitav Ghosh & Ca’Foscari students (Nour Al Amine, Santiago Alarcon, Alia Elsaady, Lilit Gharagozyan, Ilaria Lizzini, Buse Umur, Francesca Zordan): Banadig, Bundook, Venice….. Stories from Gun Island
July 8
Valentina Bonifacio & Kristina Lyons, Transdisciplinary Ethnographic Engagements

Valentina Bonifacio is Researcher of Anthropology and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Kristina Lyons is Assistant Professor in Anthropology at University of Pennsylvania

July 9
Christof Mauch & Carlo Giupponi, Narrating Nature, Modelling Environments

Carlo Giupponi is Full Professor of Environmental Economics at the Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Dean of the Venice International University and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.
Christof Mauch is Director (jointly with Helmuth Trischler) of the Rachel Carson Center as well as the Chair in American Culture and Transatlantic Relations (currently on leave) at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

July 10
Susanne Moser & Daniele Brombal,  Hope in the Anthropocene

Daniele Brombal is Associate Professor at the Department of Asian and African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.
Susanne Moser is Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Research Faculty in the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University New England

Week 2: Water

July 13
David Gentilcore & Craig Martin, Airs, Waters, Places: the Health of Early Modern Venice

David Gentilcore is Full Professor of Modern History at Ca’ Foscari University.
Craig Martin is Associate Professor of History of Science at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.

July 14
Jeffrey McCarthy & Francesca Santoro, The Ocean Around Us

Jeffrey McCarthy is the Director of Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah.
Francesca Santoro is Programme Specialist of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

July 15
Daniela Zyman & Markus Reymann, Oceanic Post-humanities

Daniela Zyman is Artistic Director of TBA21 and curator of Territorial Agency: Oceans in Transformation exhibition, which will open at Ocean Space in August. Markus Reymann is the Director of TBA21–Academy, and Chair of the Alligator Head Foundation

July 16
Carlo Barbante & Francesco Vallerani, Paesaggi di ghiaccio e di acqua: memoria del clima e idrografie culturali

(in Italian with English subtitles)
Carlo Barbante is Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Director of the Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes – CNR, University Ca’Foscari Venice.
Francesco Vallerani is Full Professor of Human Geography at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

July 17
Emma Critchley & Neal Hartman, Water, Connectivity, and Breath: Art at Science Gallery Venice

Emma Critchley is an artist who uses a combination of photography, film, sound and installation to continually explore the human relationship with the underwater environment as a political, philosophical and environmental space.
Neal Hartman is the the Director of Science Gallery Venice.

Week 3: Crossings

July 20
Tim Ingold & Massimo Warglien, The Perception of the Environment

Massimo Warglien is Full Professor of Economics at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Tim Ingold is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Anthropological Theory at the University of Aberdeen

July 21
John Haldon & Alessandra Bucossi, The Science of Reconstructing the Past: the Contribution of Environmental Studies to Medieval History

John Haldon is emeritus Shelby Cullom Davis ’30 Professor of European History and Professor of Byzantine History and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University and director of the Climate Change and History Research Initiative at Princeton.
Alessandra Bucossi is tenure-track assistant professor (RTDb) of Byzantine Civilisation at the Department of Humanities of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.

July 22
Sabrina Marchetti & Stefania Barca, Labour, Ecology, Care

Sabrina Marchetti is Associate Professor at Dept. Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Principal Investigator in ERC Starting Grant project “DomEQUAL” (2016-2020) and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.
Stefania Barca is senior researcher at the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (CES/UC)

July 23
Alessandra Viola & Jonathon Keats, From Plant Rights to Phytodemocracy

Alessandra Viola is an author and producer, currently scholar in residence at HSCVenice.
Jonathon Keats in an American conceptual artist and experimental philospher

July 24
Antonella Bundu & Igiaba Scego, Afroitalian Visions

(in Italian with English subtitles)
Antonella Bundu is an activist and a politician.
Igiaba Scego, former fellow of HSC Venice, is a writer, jornalist and activist. Her latest book is La linea del colore (Bompiani, 2020)

Week 4: Venice

July 27
Antonio Marcomini & Pietro Omodeo, History and Environmental Science Meet in Venice

(in Italian with English subtitles)
Antonio Marcomini is Full professor of Environmental Chemistry at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.
Pietro Omodeo is Associate Professor at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, a historian of science and philosophy and a professor of philosophy of science and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.

July 28
Serenella Iovino & Shaul Bassi, Roots and Routes of the Environmental Humanities

Shaul Bassi is the director of HSCVenice Associate Professor of English Literature and Director of the new Master’s Degree in Environmental Humanities at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Serenella Iovino is Professor of Italian Studies and Environmental Humanities at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

July 29
Jane Da Mosto & Diego Calaon, Making Venice? Archaeology, Environment and Urban Ecology

Jane Da Mosto is an is an environmental scientist, and co-funder of the NGO “We are here Venice”.
Diego Calaon is Professor of Ancient Topography at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.

July 30
Marco Armiero & Gilda Zazzara, Bodies of Workers, Bodies of Waters. Venice as an Industrial Ecosystem

(in Italian with English subtitles)
Marco Armiero is an environmental historian (with a PhD in Economic History), currently working as a the Director of the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory in Stockholm and Senior Researcher at the National Research Council, Italy.
Gilda Zazzara is a Researcher of Contemporary History at Ca’ Foscari Unversity of Venice and member of the faculty of the new Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Humanities.

July 31 – Special double feature
6.00 p.m.
Lucia Veronesi & Pietro Del Soldà, On the Wings of Art and Friendship

(in Italian with English subtitles)
Lucia Veronesi is an artist based in Venice.
Pietro Del Soldà is an author and radio host.

July 31, 7.00 p.m.
Elizabeth Coffman & Ted Hardin, Venice is Thinking: a film project

Elizabeth Coffman and Ted Hardin are producers and film makers, working together at their company Long Distance Productions

Anna Antonova: The Maritime Anthropocene: Social, Environmental and Political Change on the Coast 1024 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

Anna Antonova: The Maritime Anthropocene: Social, Environmental and Political Change on the Coast
June 18, 2020 at 5 p.m. CEST on GoogleMeet

If you would like to participate, please email hsc@unive.it to receive the access link.

The seminar is in English/Seminario in inglese

Anna Antonova (Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Munich): The Maritime Anthropocene: Social, Environmental and Political Change on the Coast

Abstract:

Visiting two stories of maritime change from opposite ends of Europe, I
will explore the idea of looking at the Anthropocene from the vantage
point of the coast. I will argue that awareness of humanity’s deep
impact on the planet arrived early on the coast, and that the stories
that maritime communities have to tell could help us think through what
it means to navigate social, environmental, and political change in the
Anthropocene.

Anna S. Antonova, director of environmental humanities development at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, studies social and environmental change in the contemporary European context, particularly in coastal landscapes, and examines the relationship between societal transformations and environmental governance in the EU. Her research is highly interdisciplinary, combining approaches from the environmental humanities, critical policy studies, and political ecology. More here

 

This seminar is part of the “Water, water every where… Interdisciplinary online seminar series organised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari’s Research Institute for Digital and Cultural Heritage and Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities
Gabriella Giannachi: Performing Nature: Redefining Ecological Practice in the Era of Climate Change 1024 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

Gabriella Giannachi: Performing Nature: Redefining Ecological Practice in the Era of Climate Change
June 11, 2020 at 5 p.m. CEST on GoogleMeet

If you would like to participate, please email hsc@unive.it to receive the access link.

The seminar is in English/Seminario in inglese

Gabriella Giannachi (University of Exeter): Performing Nature: Redefining Ecological Practice in the Era of Climate Change

Abstract:
In this seminar I build on past research into the performativity of nature to revisit a framework suggesting that artists have engaged with climate change largely through three strategies: representation, performance and mitigation, to affect our understanding of our changing relationship to nature and climate.

Gabriella Giannachi is Professor in Performance and New Media, and Director of the Centre for Intermedia and Creative Technologies at the University of Exeter, which promotes advanced interdisciplinary research in creative technologies by facilitating collaborations between academics from a range of disciplines with cultural and creative organisations. More here

 

This seminar is part of the “Water, water every where… Interdisciplinary online seminar series organised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari’s Research Institute for Digital and Cultural Heritage and Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities
Gilda Zazzara: Operai anfibi, acque nocive: appunti sul rapporto tra lavoratori e acque a Porto Marghera 1024 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

Gilda Zazzara: Operai anfibi, acque nocive: appunti sul rapporto tra lavoratori e acque a Porto Marghera
June 4, 2020 at 5 p.m. CEST on GoogleMeet

If you would like to participate, please email hsc@unive.it to receive the access link.

The seminar is in Italian/Seminario in italiano

Gilda Zazzara (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia): Operai anfibi, acque nocive: appunti sul rapporto tra lavoratori e acque a Porto Marghera – a seminar on the relationship between workers and water in the industrial plant of Porto Marghera (in Italian)
Abstract:
Nel progetto politico ed economico che ha condotto all’invenzione di Porto Marghera, le acque – del mare, della laguna, del sottosuolo – sono state un elemento decisivo. Una risorsa simbolica (il dominio imperialistico di Venezia sull’Adriatico) ma soprattutto una risorsa materiale per la realizzazione del disegno industriale: infrastruttura per l’approdo delle materie prime, componente fondamentale di lavorazioni altamente idrovore, sterminato bacino di scarico di rifiuti liquidi e solidi. Questo rapporto strumentale ed estrattivo con le acque ha cominciato ad essere messo in discussione solo a partire dalla fine degli anni ’60: prima dall’ambientalismo borghese della città storica e poi da quello operaio delle fabbriche. L’intervento affronterà diversi momenti ed espressioni della cultura operaia dell’“acqua industriale”: dalle prime opere di bonifica alle lotte contro la nocività degli anni ’70; dalla battaglia contro lo scarico a mare dei “fanghi” chimici negli anni ’80 alla curiosa vicenda dello “stagno del petrolchimico”.
Gilda Zazzara è ricercatrice in Storia contemporanea presso l’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, dove insegna Storia del lavoro e del movimento operaio. Dal prossimo anno accademico (2020-2021) insegnerà Storia ambientale nell’ambito del nuovo corso di laurea in Environmental Humanities, occupandosi dei conflitti tra lavoro e ambiente. Si è interessata di storia della storiografia italiana, con particolare riguardo alla rifondazione della storiografia sul movimento operaio dopo il fascismo, e di culture operaie e sindacali del Nordest, tra piccola e grande impresa. Segue qui

This seminar is part of the “Water, water every where… Interdisciplinary online seminar series organised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari’s Research Institute for Digital and Cultural Heritage and Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities

HSC Venice issues 5 Post-doc positions in Environmental Humanities at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with ECLT 367 131 Barbara Del Mercato

HSC Venice issues 5 Post-doc positions in Environmental Humanities at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with ECLT

The Center for the Humanities and Social Change at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with ECLT, issues  5 Postdoctoral Fellowships in Environmental Humanities.

The call opened on May 26th, and will close on June 10th, 2020 at 12.00 (Italian time)

Here the links to the call in English and in Italian 

On the grants page, please scroll down to:

“ANNOUNCEMENT AREA- AREA CUN 10 – AREA CUN 11-N. 5 Research fellowships on “Environmental Humanities”- THE APPLICATION FORM NEEDS ALSO A PROJECT PROPOSAL BY THE CANDIDATE-DEADLINE The research project, between 1500 and 3000 words in length, written in English-DEADLINE June 10th 2020 AT 12:00 ITALIAN TIME”

The Venice flooding of 29 October 2018 and 12 November 2019: physics, future and predictability 1024 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

The Venice flooding of 29 October 2018 and 12 November 2019: physics, future and predictability
May 28, 2020 at 5 p.m. CEST on GoogleMeet

If you would like to participate, please email hsc@unive.it to receive the access link.

The seminar is in English/Seminario in inglese

The Venice flooding of 29 October 2018 and 12 November 2019: physics, future and predictability, with Luigi Cavaleri and Marco Bajo (CNR-ISMAR)
Abstract
The presentation focuses on the heavy floodings that affected Venice in October 2018 and November 2019. We discuss the physics of the events, what happened, what could have happened and the related forecasting systems.
Sommario
La presentazione descrive i due pesanti episodi di acqua alta che hanno colpito Venezia nell’ottobre 2018 e novembre 2019. Si discute la fisica degli eventi, cosa e’ successo, cosa avrebbe potuto succedere, e i relativi metodi di previsione.
Luigi Cavaleri, nato 1940. Ingegneria Meccanica 1965, Master of Aeronautics presso il California Institute of Technology (California, USA) 1969. Dal 1969 opera presso CNR-ISMAR principali interessi: onde del mare (teoria, modelli di previsione, fisica, misure) ed argomenti collegati.
Marco Bajo, laurea in Fisica all’Università di Padova e dottorato in Scienze  Ambientali all’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia. Collabora con il CNR-ISMAR interessandosi dello studio della circolazione marina e della previsione del livello del mare. La sua ricerca si articola attraverso studi, osservazioni e modelli che descrivono l’evoluzione idrodinamica di un ambiente marino.
Further reading: here (VENICE: The exceptional high sea level event of 12/11/2019. Preliminary analysis of the data and description of the phenomenon. By Christian Ferrarin, Jacopo Chiggiato, Marco Bajo, Katrin Schroeder, Luca Zaggia, Alvise Benetazzo – CNR – Ismar Venezia)
This seminar is part of the “Water, water every where… Interdisciplinary online seminar series organised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari’s Research Institute for Digital and Cultural Heritage and Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities
Francesco Vallerani: Water, heritage and sustainable development: a new Unesco Chair at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice 1024 1024 Barbara Del Mercato

Francesco Vallerani: Water, heritage and sustainable development: a new Unesco Chair at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
May 21, 2020 at 5 p.m. CEST on GoogleMeet/21 maggio ore 17

If you would like to participate, please email hsc@unive.it to receive the access code to the online seminar.

Scrivere a hsc@unive.it per ricevere il link per l’accesso

The seminar is in Italian/Seminario in italiano

Francesco Vallerani, professore ordinario di Geografia Umana a Ca’ Foscari, illustrerà la genesi e le finalità della “Cattedra UNESCO” su Acqua, Patrimonio e Sviluppo Sostenibile che è stata recentemente istituita a Ca’ Foscari e di cui è stato promotore.

Ca’ Foscari è entrata così nella lista delle quasi 800 Unesco Chairs (30 in Italia) che dal 1992 coinvolge una rete di oltre 700 istituzioni di 116 Paesi del mondo, promuovendo collaborazione e scambio di conoscenza su temi cruciali in campo educativo, scientifico e culturale. Questa collaborazione premia una prolungata attività di ricerca dedicata alla conoscenza e alla gestione dei patrimoni delle civiltà dell’acqua e alla promozione degli obiettivi dello sviluppo sostenibile e l’attività dei geografi cafoscarini coordinati da Vallerani ed Eriberto Eulisse, direttore della Rete Mondiale UNESCO dei Musei dell’Acqua, sviluppata con il supporto del Programma Idrologico Internazionale (UNESCO-IHP) e del Centro Internazionale Civiltà dell’Acqua onlus.

Qui maggiori informazioni

Questo incontro rientra nella serie di seminari interdisciplinari intitolata “Water, water every where… organizzata in collaborazione con Research Institute for Digital and Cultural Heritage and Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities dell’Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia

This seminar is part of the “Water, water every where… Interdisciplinary online seminar series organised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari’s Research Institute for Digital and Cultural Heritage and Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities