Changing concerns have led the LUHCIE to define three research strands for 2014-2019 :
- Conveyors
- Signatures
- Italies and Mediterranean worlds
- Collections, Literature and Society
Strand 1 : Conveyors
Ideas – Sciences – Revolutions – Books – Languages – Types of language – Cultural and political transfers – Migrations – Transitions – Reception – Wars – Exile – Travel – Transformations – Migrations – Communalisms – Sciences – Innovation – Historiography
Recent revived interest in transnational history and world history has bolstered the already longstanding research of the laboratory’s members on the movements of people, goods and ideas. The history of journeys, migrations, wars, book collections, other collections or education are all examples of group and individual projects ongoing at the LUHCIE.
Strand 2 : Signatures
Anthropology – Images and image rights – Markings – Bodies – Uses – Rituals – Identities – Myths – Heritage and acquisition of heritage status – Arts and artists – Creation – Inscriptions
Running central to research in the humanities and social sciences these past thirty years or so, the notion of identity allows for a truly cross-disciplinary approach – a defining feature of the LUHCIE. Through the different media and stakeholders conveying the signs of identity, it is possible to reconsider such diverse research themes as political violence, copyright or musical composition.
Strand 3 : Italies and Mediterranean worlds
Politics – Identity of communities – Portrayals and perceptions – Cultural interactions – Circulation of ideas and knowledge – Colonisation
The Italian peninsula provides an ideal setting for archaeological, artistic, historical and literary research, from the earliest antiquity right up until contemporary times. Cultural and social exchanges with all of the Mediterranean worlds form the backdrop for comparative approaches that are a hallmark of LUHCIE’s working methods.
Strand 4 : Collections, Literature and Society
Public belief – Portrayals and perceptions – Rhetoric – Narrative – Translations – Corpora. – Digital humanities
The movement underpinning cultural and literary facts leads to philological or stylistic analysis, scholarly editions of corpora on paper or in digital format, consideration of the sociological dimensions of varied modes of expression, from the novel to poetry, theatre to cinema, which translation practices steer towards an intercultural dimension by which the LUHCIE sets great store.