Visualizing Jewish Cultural Heritage. Toward a Digital and Dynamic Atlas: People, Artifacts, Books and Manuscripts in Global Italy (15th-20th Centuries)

Areas: SH - Social Sciences and Humanities

Abstract:
This project is part of a larger plan that aims to innovate Jewish intellectual and social history in the long term by focusing on spatiality and on the creation of a new tool for historical research: the first ever open-access digital and dynamic “Atlas of Jews’ Intellectual Heritage in Global Italy”. This result will be achieved through a multidisciplinary approach, that is instrumental in deconstructing and overcoming the old - but still present in the general public and among many non-specialized scholars - paradigm of the insularity of Jewish history and culture, thus reaffirming the importance of the social and cultural exchanges between the Jewish minority and the surrounding society. The project is structured in two steps: a) The qualitative and quantitative investigation of a series of case studies based on archival research and a spatializing approach; the collection of both qualitative and sets of standardized quantitative data on the spatial position and circulation of people, artifacts and manuscripts or books. b) A dissemination plan that will share historical know-how and its technological implementation within the scientific community, previously identified cultural institutions, and civil society at large. The project places strong emphasis on dissemination, by prioritizing the task of raising social awareness around Jewish socio-cultural heritage and identity. Its focus on material culture, art, books and maps will foster collaborations with art museums, archives, libraries, Jewish communities and other cultural institutions. The analysis of the different perspectives will be carried out by two separate projects that will contribute to the construction of the digital and dynamic atlas by collecting sources in different fields. The project deals with the socio-cultural aspect through the analysis of manuscripts, books, people and objects. A distinctive and innovative feature of this project is its multidisciplinary approach to the study of the Jewish past within the Italian academic framework. In fact, the project's team is made up of three Units which include experts in different fields and historical periods and will work within three Italian State universities. Members of the team include scholars of Judaism and Hebrew language, Hebraists, historians of books and manuscripts, social historians, generalist historians of the Middle Ages, early modern and modern eras (some of whom are publicly engaged in gender equality, minority issues, and in the field of anti-discrimination). Another strength of this project is the construction of an information database and its digital, freely accessible presentation, which is currently rare in this field. It is intended as part of a larger database that will contribute to the elaboration of the atlas.

Duration of the project: 28/09/2023 – 28/09/2025

Principal investigator: Saverio Campanini

Partnership: University La Sapienza, Rome; University of Pisa

Budget of the University of Bologna: 69.932 EUR

ERC sectors:
1. SH6_13 Gender history, cultural history, history of collective identities and memories, history of religions
2. SH5_8 Cultural studies, cultural identities and memories, cultural heritage
3. SH7_10 GIS, spatial analysis; big data in geographical studies