Historical Studies Seminars. //Far from where: sensations, aspirations, directions, spaces

For almost thirty years now, each May, the Institute for the History of the Venetian State and Society has organised a seminar bringing young and more experienced scholars together to report on and discuss a topic, thus stimulating the desire to understand and the commitment to enquiry. The title for the 2008 seminar is Far from where: sensations, aspirations, directions, spaces. The issue referred to by the title is explored through various narratives: Friulian nobles bound for courts, especially the Habsburg court; Carnian merchants in Austria; students from the Nautical Institute, Trieste, on a cruise; Trieste Jews in Salonika; Venice seen by French travellers; a Caribbean adventure involving the Order of Malta; a Venetian priest travels to the mainland (1536); and pictorial representations of Venice in European courts. Naturally the idea of distance, symmetrical to that of proximity, is ingrained in the practice of travel. Moving elsewhere may involve a sense of bewilderment. Those who travel afar may feel nostalgia for their native place and long to return home. There is a great fascination with the unknown, but a sense of security is always rooted in the known.

Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
12 – 14 May 2008

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Institute for the History of the Venetian State and Society
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e-mail: storia@cini.it