
The discussion of “cancel culture” and historical monuments, including the General Lee statue and the Monument to Victory in Bolzano, highlights the ongoing debate over the removal or reuse of controversial symbols. Alessandro Manzoni’s reflections and romantic irony illustrate how these acts are not new but part of a long history of social discourse, urging…

Talking about war after more than 100 days of the current conflict in Ukraine is something that seems natural and unavoidable. The devastating event of the war has penetrated the life of the world population through the media and various sources of information, including the millions of Ukrainian refugees forced to flee their country,…

Exploring the Dolomites: Landscape, History, and Ecology in Northern Italy Field seminar I look forward to leading a group of UO students in the exploration of the astonishing natural history and geological wonders of the Dolomites and the traces of human history in these sublime mountains. During the 2-week journey, we will experience the best…

This reflection on borders begins with the Monument to Victory in Bolzano, built by the Fascist regime in 1928 to remember Italian soldiers who fell in the First World War and to celebrate the victory over the Austro-Hungarian army. A reading from Hermann Hesse’s Wandering will follow. The monument was controversial and opposed by the…

According to historian George Duby, the contemporary situation in the Mediterranean appears to be characterized by two trends that are the result of tendencies already established in previous centuries. On the one hand, there are the consequences of European colonialism that make the difference between the North and the South, between Europe and the rest…