Research

Over the past decades, the advent of the mobility turn has given rise to a series of new theories, methodologies, and research questions regarding mobility. Both in the social sciences and in the humanities, mobilities are analyzed as an integral part of all human activity. In ISIG we focus on the history of mobilities concerning people, objects, and ideas, in a transnational and global context. Image: FBK Library D 861569 - s-ar 1 B 30

In past societies, communication was not something abstract, but a set of practices and activities, of people and objects, of sounds, words and images, omnipresent in cultural, political and social life. Media and communicative acts had an impact on the existences of men and women, contributing not only to their perception but also to the construction of reality. Historicizing communication is necessary in order to understand a society of the past and, consequently, our present. Image: Cover M. Cau, C. Cornelißen, I media nei processi elettorali, Il Mulino, 2020

In order to increase the presence of history in the public debate and to reduce the gap between research and society, ISIG is committed to using different media and languages to communicate history to a wider public. Particular attention is paid to digital media. ISIG has a number of projects that experiment with the use of new technologies, not only as a research tool, but also as a means of communicating history to a wider audience.

Environmental history uses an interdisciplinary approach to study the mutual relations between humanity and nature and investigates the environmental and climate changes caused by society. In ISIG we focus on the Alpine areas in the early modern and contemporary period by studying the environmental impact resulting from the exploitation of forests and rivers, employed both as transit routes and sources of hydraulic energy. Image: Tiroler Landesarchiv, Landschaftliches Archiv, Codex III, picture of the river Adige from Aldeno to Volano, author Hans Schorr, 1615

Since its foundation, ISIG has focused on the study of the political and legal organization of society. In dialogue with new methodological and thematic approaches of contemporary historiography, we analyze various aspects related to the trajectories of Western democracies, the role of institutions and individuals in the steering of society, and the political and cultural processes that influence the course of events and revisit their memories. Image: FBK Library at 3-A-20 (1)