Search EUI working groups

History and Civilization

As cities loom ever larger in the public, political and academic consciousness, the Cities Working Group aims to function as a laboratory from which to rethink the political, the economic, the social, the cultural, and the intellectual through the lens of the urban. With its base amongst historians working with, through or in cities, the working group aims to use a ‘cities perspective’, a multi-scalar sensitivity and a place-driven agenda to generate new questions in our research. We aim to engage with ideas from the social sciences, critical theory, political science, geography, anthropology and other disciplines, and demonstrate their fruitful interaction with historical perspectives. In this context, the working group is designed to facilitate interaction between disciplinary approaches, drawn together by the eclecticism and inclusivity which the dense, complex spatial frame of the urban demands. We meet regularly with a themed session based upon readings, media resources and personal experiences, complemented by presentations delivered by members of the working group. We are also aiming to develop workshops, lectures and events, involving researchers and staff from the EUI, as well as further afield. Finally we hope to situate our thoughts, reflections and research in the city of Firenze, as an urban environment, a social-political entity, and a civic space. Faculty liaison: Jorge Flores and Stéphane Van Damme Coordinators: Adam James Humphreys and Gilberto Mazzoli Co-organizer: Nazil Songülen

History and Civilization

Our working group on economic history and history of economic ideas (EHIWG) aims to bring together young and senior researchers working on economic history and related disciplines. In particular, it aims to foster the dialogue between early-modern and modern historians, intellectual historians, economists and all scholars interested in economic questions. Our topics range from – but are not confined to – economic development, the interaction between market structures and society, globalization, financial crises and inequality, to merchant networks, business elites and the origins of political economy. The group organizes student-run seminars and events with external speakers, encouraging the participation of students and scholars who wish to present their on-going research to a friendly audience of peers. Faculty liaison: Youssef Cassis Coordinators: Maria Stella Chiaruttini and Gertjan Schutte

History and Civilization

The History of Science Working Group has a broad scope, encompassing all aspects of the history of knowledge and science from the early modern period through to the contemporary world. Our discussions focus on the emergence, circulation and uses of knowledge in different places and contexts. We aim to explore traditional and new approaches, critically reviewing them in the light of our own research projects and using them to stimulate discussion on theoretical, methodological and practical issues. We hold informal monthly meetings which function as a “laboratory” to share and try out your work in progress and get feedback from other researchers. We will also be continuing our tradition of the “(Bring your own) Coffee with Historians” series where we will engage with invited scholars throughout the year, including Bruno Latour (Sciences Po, Paris) and Dagmar Schaffer (Max Planck Institut, Berlin). In the past, we have also organised excursions to places in Florence related to the group members interests, such as the Museo Galileo and the Biblioteca Nazionale. We also hope to expand our blog this year to provide researchers with an opportunity to communicate their research. Faculty liaison: Stéphane Van Damme Coordinators: Gabriele Marcon and Camille Sallé

History and Civilization

Since the 1960s the traditional field of imperial history has undergone significant evolution, especially in the wake of wider historiographical developments including the cultural turn and the challenges of post-structuralism. Scholars have delivered significant critiques of the more traditional economic and political/diplomatic perspectives on empire. New ideas about gender and race relations, the relationship between metropole and colony and the dissemination of knowledge have transformed the field. Importantly, Saidian and other theories have problematized imperial historians’ reliance on colonial archives. The Imperial History Working Group brings together researchers working on various manifestations of imperialism and (post-)colonialism in the modern world to engage with these developments and the ways in which they influence our work. Imperial history is often practiced in institutional environments that are regionally, and often nationally, focused. The EUI, on the contrary, brings together scholars of colonialism and imperialism who work on very diverse geographical spaces. The Imperial History Working Group aims to bring into dialogue researchers who are interested in deepening their understanding of imperial history across regional specializations. Faculty liaison: Corinna Unger Coordinators: Bastiaan Nugteren, Armel Campagne and Daphné Budasz

History and Civilization

Since intellectual history is nowadays associated with a wide range of methodologies and practices, historical periods, and research topics, it lacks a clearly defined institutional identity. These differences form the starting point of this working group, which aims to function as a platform to discuss historical research and methods that can be associated with the intellectual historian as an ‘eavesdropper on the past’, to use the words of John Burrow, ranging from the Early-modern period to the present. It welcomes disagreement and dialogue on the practice, theory, and limits of intellectual history. The working group organizes meetings with visiting scholars, workshops, and lectures. The group meets every two weeks, and the meetings usually consist of an introductory presentation and a general discussion. Please check the webpage of the working group. Faculty liaison: Ann Thomson Coordinators: Bert Drejer, Tom Ashby, Elias Buchetmann, Henning Schuler, Gertjan Schutte

History and Civilization

The Political History Working Group (PHWG) is an open platform to address Early Modern and Modern political history, with special attention paid to the juncture between these two: the so-called long 19th century (1750-1917). The main goal of this working group is to address new perspectives and methodologies of researching political history, discussing about them and enrichening our historiographical approach. Some of the topics to be approached and discussed are political cultures (and cultural approaches to politics), identities (with a special focus on gender, class and nationalism), politicization, state-building, social control and revolutions, all of them addressed mainly with a from-below perspective. Coordinators: Ignacio García de Paso and Stefano Poggi. Faculty liaison: Lucy Riall

History and Civilization

The Public History Working Group aims to be a platform for researchers interested in the transmission of historical knowledge outside of academia. Secondly, it will offer the opportunity to discuss the relationship between memory and history and the connections between historical sources and popular audiences. While the term ‘Public History’ remains difficult to define, it might primarily be regarded as a practice. Public historians work with and for people outside of the profession through collaborative studies or through practices of history that make historical research accessible and useful to the public. Secondly, public history meets the interests of historians working on the public understanding of the past, memory, and the political usage of history and heritage. More widely, public history is a way for historians to reflect on their field. One of the purposes of this Working Group is to encourage researchers to think about the communication of the results of their research to the public, using different tools and formats. Academic historians could engage in public history activities in various ways including publications for a non-academic audience, podcasts, TV documentaries and museum work. Through the organisation of workshops and events with PhD researchers as well as external speakers, this Working Group is an opportunity to discuss examples of successful public history projects and approaches. In this way, it will present professional perspectives for HEC researchers who consider pursuing a career outside academia. Coordinators: Anastasia Remes and Daphné Budasz. Faculty liaison:Joanna Wawryzniak

History and Civilization

The Visual and Material History Working Group offers a platform to discuss how historical research relates to the issues of visuality and materiality. How do historians engage with visual and material sources? What specific challenges does it bring forth? What are the different methodologies and theoretical approaches available to historians using images and objects as sources? Our group aims to discuss a wide range of visual sources, including paintings, drawings, objects, popular artefacts, photography, cartography, architecture. The topics approached in the working group are not chronologically-bounded and they may include (but are not confined to) cultural propaganda, arts and politics, the exploration of taste, visual styles, cross-cultural exchanges of images and objects, material culture, construction of landscapes. The working group wishes to encourage the discussion among researchers through a variety of session formats. Some sessions will offer to the researchers the opportunity to present and receive feedback on their questions, challenges and preliminary findings. In other sessions, key academic works, selected according to an interdisciplinary criterion, will be discussed. Other meetings may focus on specific thematic questions (e.g. types of sources, interpretation, historical context). The question of how to communicate our own research visually (e.g. printed format or exhibitions) will be also raised, and this may lead to meetings with Florence-based curators. Finally, the organisers will also invite external speakers willing to share their experience with all of us. Coordinators: Elena Rizzi, Anastasia Remes and Moïra Dato. Faculty liaison: Jorge Flores