International Doctoral Conference: The Mediterranean In-Between: Archives, Landscapes and Mediations of Cultural Heritage.

The PhD candidates in Cultural Heritage at the Department of Cultures and Societies, University of Palermo, invite PhD candidates and early-career researchers in Italy and abroad to participate in the international doctoral conference “The Mediterranean In-Between: Archives, Landscapes and Mediations of Cultural Heritage”, to be held in Palermo from 24 to 26 February 2027.

The conference aims to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue on cultural heritage within the Mediterranean, understood as a space of encounter, exchange, dialogue and transformation among cultures from Prehistory to the Early Modern period, as well as the result of layered historical, material, biological and cultural processes.

Through a series of thematic sessions, the conference welcomes contributions exploring cultural heritage as a repository of material and biological traces, as a space for the production and circulation of sources, and as a field for methodological and technological innovation in the management, analysis and communication of cultural heritage.

In a constantly changing geopolitical context, the Mediterranean continues to represent a crucial framework for research and critical reflection on cultural heritage.

THEMATIC SESSIONS

SESSION 1
Material and Biological Archives: Bodies, Remains, Artefacts and Traces

Topics include:

– Bioarchaeology and Paleoanthropology;
– Historical Ecology, Archaeozoology and Archaeobotany;
– Material Culture, Iconography, Production and Exchange Networks;
– Landscape Archaeology, Topography and Urban Studies;
– Human Mobility and Cultural Interaction.

SESSION 2
Sources: Texts, Archives, Books and Images

Topics include:

– Museums, Archives and Collections;
– Manuscript and Printed Sources from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period;
– History of the Book and Libraries;
– Visual and Photographic Sources in the Construction of Cultural Heritage;
– Digitisation, Digital Scholarly Editions and Data Interoperability.

SESSION 3
Translating Heritage: Diagnostics, Digitisation, Visualisation and Communication

Topics include:

– Heritage Diagnostics and Material Characterisation;
– Virtual Archaeology and Digital Reconstruction of Cultural Contexts;
– Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Integrated Data Management;
– Digital Heritage, Digital Museology and Heritage Education;
– Heritage Dissemination and Public Communication.

ELIGIBILITY

The Call for Papers is open to PhD candidates and researchers who obtained their PhD no more than two years ago and whose research falls within the following fields:

– Classical Archaeology;
– Christian and Medieval Archaeology;
– Archaeology and Art History of the Ancient Near East;
– Historical and Archaeological Methodology;
– Ancient Topography;
– Museology and Museum Studies;
– Art Criticism and Conservation;
– Medieval and Early Modern Art History;
– Medieval and Early Modern History;
– Paleoanthropology, Bioanthropology, and Scientific Methods Applied to Cultural Heritage.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Proposals should consist of:

– an abstract of no more than one page;
– Times New Roman, 12 pt;
– line spacing 1.15;
– five keywords.

Proposals may be submitted in Italian, English, French or Spanish.

Abstracts should be sent to:

[mediterraneo.intermedio.palermogmail.com]

Submission deadline: 15 October 2026
Notification of acceptance: mid-November 2026

CONFERENCE INFORMATION

Dates: 24–26 February 2027

Location: Palermo, Italy

Conference venues:

– Botanical Garden of the University of Palermo;
– State Archives of Palermo, “Catena” Branch;
– Palazzo Branciforte, Fondazione Sicilia.

ORGANISATION

The conference is organised by Danae Du Chaliot Maresca, Fabio Francesco Grippaldi, Federica Palumbo, Vito Polizzi and Arianna Romano, PhD candidates of the 39th and 40th cycles of the PhD Programme in Cultural Heritage at the University of Palermo, with the support of the Doctoral Board and the Department of Cultures and Societies of the University of Palermo.

Contact:
mediterraneo.intermedio.palermogmail.com

Further information and the complete Call for Papers are available onthe official web site:
https://mediterraneointermedio.carrd.co/

and on the University of Palermo website:
https://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/cultureesocieta/Mediterraneo-intermedio--Convegno-dottorale-internazionale--Call-for-papers/