We are pleased to announce the Summer School Corpo a Corpo. Transhistorical and Transmedia Perspectives on Corporeality in Italian Culture, to be held from September 16-19, 2025, at Palazzo Giustinian Lolin, the Venetian venue of the University of Warwick. The Summer School, winner of the AIPI 2025 call for proposals, aims to explore the representation of the body in Italian culture through an interdisciplinary and transmedia approach.
Aimed at doctoral students and young researchers, the initiative will delve into the cultural, social, and political dynamics related to corporeality, focusing on three macro-themes: the relationship between conforming and nonconforming bodies, the intersections between body and science, and the dichotomy between public and private bodies. The program will include lectures, interactive workshops, and research presentations, encouraging dialogue and collaboration among participants.
SUMMARY SCHEDULE
- Deadline to apply: 01/04/2025
- Notification of acceptance: 15/04/2025
- Summer School: 16-19 September 2025
APPLICATION
To apply, please fill in this form with all your details (including your bio, an abstract for the Poster Presentation, and, if applicable, a Motivation Letter for the Scholarship Request) by 1 April.
Please be aware that the working language of the Summer School is Italian (only one of the lectures will be held in English). However, the poster presentation can be given in English.
Participation is restricted to AIPI members. Registration must be done prior to the start of the Summer School by completing the appropriate form on the website and paying the membership fee via PayPal or bank transfer: https://www.infoaipi.org/iscrizioni/.
Application Form: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=vc-6Ce9HZUSSZTVG8ur2vHiLNFWUwZhFud619qrsrcRUOE1QMlIwWjlKUjdDOVBGUEVIUFVYRDdTMC4u&route=shorturl
SUMMER SCHOOL THEMES
A pivotal element of cultural and academic debate, the body has spanned the centuries, taking on multiple meanings: from medieval grotesque visions to contemporary reflections on physicality from a sociopolitical perspective. The Corpo a Corpo Summer School aims to explore the theme with a transhistorical and transmedia gaze, interweaving literature, cinema, comics, and other artistic expressions from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Through a critical analysis of the representation of the body and its relationship to cultural, social, and political dynamics, the project invites questions on three major lines of research:
- Conforming and nonconforming bodies: The tensions between idealized aesthetics and representations of the marginal, deviant, or rebellious body. Examples include the grotesque and the deformed from the fourteenth century to the postmodern, representations of the female body, racialized bodies and colonialism, disability, the queer body, and intersectionality.
- Body and science: The dialogue between corporeality and scientific knowledge, between anatomy, technology, and self-perception. Examples include the anatomical body from Renaissance dissection to contemporary biopolitics, representations of illness and medicine, the criminal body and degenerationist theories, post-human bodies (technologies, cyborgs, and bionics), and the body between science and the occult (mesmerism, spiritualism, neuroscience).
- Public body and private body: Physicality as a space of power, resistance, and identity, between collective and intimate dimensions. Examples include performance body (theater, dance, art, and ritual), censorship and control of bodies among religious and state institutions, bodies at war (trauma, resistance, and memory), autobiographical body (illness, transition, and female experience), and body politics in contemporary society (feminism, postcolonialism, and queer activism).
PROGRAMME
LECTURES
The Summer School includes six face-to-face lectures of approximately 90 minutes, including discussion, by faculty members specializing in literary disciplines and visual arts. Lectures will be given by:
- Prof. Jennifer Burns (University of Warwick)
- Prof. Fabio Camilletti (University of Warwick)
- Dr. Francesco Casales (University of Turin – University of Bologna)
- Prof. Angela Fabris (Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt)
- Prof. Annalisa Perrotta (Sapienza University of Rome)
- Prof. Andrea Torre (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa)
WORKSHOP
The Summer School features three workshops focused on its main themes. These workshops will be collaboratively held by members of the organizing committee and designed as peer-to-peer spaces for research, dialogue, and collaboration, paying particular attention to the research themes of individual participants.
POSTER PRESENTATION
Two Poster Presentation sessions will be held, allowing participants to share their research and receive feedback from other researchers.
ROUND TABLE
A concluding Round Table will feature Dario Sostegni and Marco Libardi, cartoonists and members of the cultural association Hamelin, discussing the role of the body in Italian comics and its representation across time and space.
- Activities begin: Tuesday, September 16, at 2:30 p.m.
- Activities end: Friday, September 19, at 1 p.m.
- Social dinner: A voluntary social dinner will be organized for the evening of September 16 with an individual contribution.
- Coffee and lunch breaks will be provided by the Summer School.
A detailed program with all activities, lecture titles, and workshop descriptions will be shared with participants after the selection process.
SCHOLARSHIPS
The Summer School provides a limited number of Fellowships to support partial coverage of travel and living expenses. The allocation of scholarships and their amount will be determined by the Organizing Committee based on the Scholarship Request Justification included in the Participation Form.
Criteria for selection:
- Absence of institutional funds and/or scholarship
- Geographical distance of affiliation site from Venice
- Relevance of the research project to the themes of the Summer School
INFO & CONTACTS
Applicants will be contacted via email regarding the outcome of their application. Any subsequent information will also be provided via email.
For inquiries, contact the Organizing Committee at: corpoacorpo2025@gmail.com
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF
Ca’ Foscari University Venice – PhD in Italian Studies; Alpen Adria Universität Klagenfurt – Institut für Romanistik; Hamelin cultural association; Society for Italian Studies; Humanities Research Centre (University of Warwick); The Revolving Century; Warwick Comics Research Network; Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia.
COMMITTEES
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
- Prof. Jennifer Burns (University of Warwick)
- Prof. Fabio Camilletti (University of Warwick)
- Prof. Angela Fabris (Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt)
- Prof. Andrea Torre (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa)
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
- Gennaro Ambrosino (University of Warwick)
- Michele Baldaro (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia – Alpen Adria Universität Klagenfurt)
- Stefano Dilorenzo (University of Modena-Reggio Emilia)
- Enrica Leydi (University of Warwick)
- Silvia Vari (University of Warwick)