Spatial and Social Mobilities in the Medieval and Early Modern Alpine Regions: Political, Religious, and Social Dynamics in Boundary Areas

The International Conference Spatial and Social Mobilities in the Medieval and Early Modern Alpine Regions: Political, Religious, and Social Dynamics in Boundary Areas (27-29 March 2024) is relevant in that it is fully in line with the mission of LabiSAlp, one of the organizers, and is part of a course of study that has been carried out for years in collaboration with Japanese colleagues studying the Alpine world.

Format of the event

As several Japanese colleagues and universities will be connected online, it was decided to adopt the format of three half days for time zone reasons.

Why USI

USI, through LabiSAlp, has been carrying out activities with Japanese researchers involved in the study of the Alps for years and has been collaborating with some of them since 2016.

Main research topics of the event

This event aims to develop integrated research of spatial and social mobilities in the medieval and early modern Alpine regions, which are to be accounted for some of the most representative examples of European boundary zones and communicative spaces existing in the transitional period between the Middle Ages and the early Modernity. The project intends to contribute to a new understanding of European history of such period by analyzing its' boundary area's spatial and social frameworks in their in-the-course-of-changing, forming, creating, acting, and reacting aspects. For this purpose, the focus of the research will be how the mobility of people across linguistic and cultural borders or territorial and institutional frameworks of political bodies –often bringing the transfer or the circulation of knowledge, techniques, and various cultures— connected with social mobilities, changes or crisis of their new and old conditions, and how such people acted in and reacted to the situations created by their moving.

Why the event is important.

The event is in line with the mission of LabiSAlp and will focus on several topics useful to better understand the alpine world of the past. For the Japanese counterpart, it is one of the collateral activities of a research project supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Scientific Research (B), Grant number 20H01340

Who the speakers are.

The speakers are all lecturers, researchers, or doctoral students working on historical research on the period and topics in question. Professor Hattori, one of the pioneers of Japanese historical research on the Alpine world, is one of the most prominent researchers and lecturers.

Involvement of women and young researchers

A number of women researchers and young researchers are involved in the event: Yasuko Hasegawa, Junko RAI, Hiroko Sekine, Marta Gravela, Yuki Ikari, Hitomi Sato, Borut Žerial and Lorenzo Freschi.