Early Career Scholars
Final programme now available!
The International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) is pleased to announce the 2023 International Seminar for Early-Career Eighteenth-Century Scholars. Colleagues from all fields of eighteenth-century studies are invited to submit abstracts for this one-week event. Formerly called the East-West Seminar, the International Seminar for Early-Career Eighteenth-Century Scholars brings together young researchers from several countries each year.
In 2023, the meeting will take place in Monte Porzio Catone (Rome) in the week preceding the ISECS international congress in Rome (http://www.isecs-roma2023.net/). The meeting will be sponsored by SISSD, «Società italiana di studi sul secolo XVIII». The International Seminar will be held from 27 to 30 June 2023 and will be directed by Gabriella Catalano, Chiara Lucrezio Monticelli, Elisabetta Marino, Giuseppina D'Antuono and Paolo Quintili. The seminar will take place in Villa Mondragone, a patrician villa built in the sixteenth century in the Metropolitan City of Rome, and owned by the Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata since 1981 (https://www.villamondragone.it/)
This year, the seminar’s theme will be The Shapes of Time in the Age of Enlightenment.
The seminar will compare the different experiences of the Time in the eighteenth century. We want to foster dialogue on one of the themes that have guided research on the Enlightenment, identified through temporal categories, aimed from time to time to mark caesuras, changes, continuities and passages. Last but not least, the parameter of modernity coincides with an idea of acceleration imposed by the French Revolution, which embraces the world of technology and knowledge. This means that the notion and cognition of time take on a specific dimension even in the different meanings that are suggested. The various forms of Time (and of the Story) involve the world’s objects and the phenomena of nature, the gaze and emotions. Linearity and cyclicality, lived time, and perceived time represent ways of coping with this acceleration that is becoming increasingly important towards the end of the century.
Among the possible leads of investigation, it is worth mentioning:
- Static time / dynamic time (natural sciences, epistemology)
- Construction and reconstruction of time (in historical, philosophical, literary, artistic narration etc.)
- Past and future (the myth of antiquity, ukronia, etc.)
- Lived time / perceived time = constructed time (in art, literature, etc.)
- Natural time / time as an intellectual concept that humans use to understand and sequence events
- The discovery of free time
- Time paradigms: linearity and cyclicality
- Time and Eternity (metaphysics, Spinozism, etc.).
Submission of proposals: The seminar is limited to 12 participants. The proposals should be based on an original research project. Preference will be given to scholars at the beginning of their academic career (PhD or equivalent, graduated less than six years ago). The official languages are French and English. (Passive) knowledge of both languages is essential. Applications should include the following information:
- a brief Curriculum Vitae with the date of PhD (or equivalent)
- a list of principal publications and scholarly presentations
- a brief description of the proposed paper (approx. two pages, single-spaced)
- one confidential letter of recommendation (sent separately by recommender)
Deadline: The deadline for submission of proposals has been extended to February 1, 2023. Applications should be submitted electronically, with the proposal and CV as an attached document, to: earlycareerseminar@isecs-roma2023.net
Lodging and travel: Hotel costs will be fully covered by the organisers. Lunch will be served on-site. Participants will each be offered a reimbursement of their travel expenses (up to 500,00 euros) to facilitate their participation in the Seminar.
Programme: The programme will consist of keynote lectures, paper presentations by the participants, excursions and other meetings with the Italian academic community and heritage world.
Paper presentations: Each of the 12 participants are invited to give a 45/60-minute presentation, followed by 20 minutes for discussion directed at the paper. Powerpoint presentations are welcome. Completed papers by selected participants will be circulated 6-4 weeks in advance of the Seminar. Each participant will also be scheduled to chair another session to consolidate chairing skills.
Publication: As in the case each year, the Seminar papers will be published by Honoré Champion (Paris) in the «Lumières internationales» series.