(Trans)missions: Monasteries as Sites of Cultural Transfers (25.-26.9., Prague, Czech Republic)

An International Workshop proposed by the Center for Ibero-American Studies of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University (SIAS FF UK), the French Institute for Research in Social Sciences (CEFRES), the Institute of Art History of Czech Academy of Sciencies (ÚDU AV ČR) and the University of Valladolid.

Time & Venue: 25(-26) September 2017, Prague, Czech Republic

https://transmissions.ff.cuni.cz/en/ The aim of the workshop is to set into focus the monastic space as a multifaceted research theme from a global and interdisciplinary perspective. For centuries, monasteries served as centers of education and culture. Literary works, sermons, translations and artefacts were created among their walls that never served merely as an impenetrable isolation from the outer world, but rather represented a conscious politics of structuring both the physical and the mental space. They kept contact not only with their closer environment, but also formed part of greater intellectual, spiritual and economic networks and interacted with different stakeholders of worldly power. They could serve as strongholds of cultural and religious missions that penetrated into new territories, triggered intercultural and interconfessional interactions and facilitated knowledge transfers, while their long-lasting presence in a territory could also ensure continuity and enables the investigation of long durée changes, reforms and renewals. Their evolvements and transformations unavoidably shaped both their inner spaces (including material culture and architecture), and the landscape around them and thus, they also contributed to the formation of such notions as identity, borders and migration.

The workshop is designed primarily for young researchers — especially Ph.D. and postdoctoral students — aiming to explore the future perspectives of the aforementioned themes in an innovative way and to lay down the foundations of further cooperation beyond disciplinary and national boundaries. Simultaneously, it also aims to create a forum that features well-known scholars among its speakers and disseminates information about ongoing research projects, academic working groups and relevant publications.