Learning outcomes

At the end of the School the students will be able to:

- analyze the concept of crisis.
- contrast and compare forms of crisis in different disciplinary fields.
- enhance ethical engagement toward crisis.
- understand the scientific, cultural, and societal impact of crises.
- integrate conceptual and historical analysis.
- apply qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
- increase their teamwork competence.
- present and discuss a research project with peers.

Program

The School will develop the following themes:

The historical and philosophical roots of the crisis. Over the course of human evolution, the experience of the crisis meant different things at different times. This is unsurprising in itself, but surprising in its premises and developments. While a crisis forces us to rethink the world as an ordered system of meanings, the process of re-orienting and re-semanticizing the world shows to be an essential part of this very system, and finally suggests that crises lie at the very origins of human culture as such. Thus, how did the experience of crisis change over the several “times of crisis”? What can we learn from past crises to better tackle the future ones? And what can we learn about ourselves as cultural and historical beings?

Science your way out of the crisis. Science has been traditionally regarded as the site of the “positive crisis”. A scientific crisis is oftentimes the preamble to a decisive breakthrough. However, is this true for any scientific discipline or rather different fields handle crises in different ways? And, more importantly, how do the research practices and work routines change over a period of crisis?

Policing the crisis. It has been claimed that our Neoliberal socio-economic system is particularly prone to crises. Far from being merely financial, such crises spread instability and uncertainty over the entire social fabric. How does this state of permanent crisis affect workers’ self-identity? How does it impact on work relations in terms of age, role, and gender?

Crisis? What crisis? A crisis generates different and contrasting emotions, which can range from desperation to sheer denial. What can psychology and neurobiology tell us about the emotions triggered by a state of distress? How can we make crisis emotion an object of scientific inquiry?

Today’s crisis is tomorrow’s opportunity. Crises are not only vectors of problems. By putting us in front of the unexpected, they might also bring about new scenarios and new resources. What are the ethical problems related to a situation of crisis? What are the abilities and competencies that can be learned and treasured for the future?