Historical, geographical and anthropological studies
The PhD Programme in Historical, geographical and anthropological studies is a Degree Programme and advanced research programme that promotes the development of original and innovative research, enhancing an interdisciplinary perspective and drawing on the expertise and excellence found in the departments in which the PhD is based: the Department of Historical, Geographical and Ancient Sciences (Dissgea) of the University of Padua, the Department of Humanities (DSU), and the Department of Comparative Linguistic and Cultural Studies (DSLCC) of Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia. Starting from the XXXVI cycle (2020-21), this Degree Programme is structured as a 4-year programme. At the end of the four years, the PhD candidate will defend an original research thesis. Candidates who pass the final examination will be awarded the title of Doctor of Philosophy with a joint diploma, issued by the rectors of the two partner universities.
PhD programme website: www.dottoratogesta.it
Further information
Course objectives
The PhD in Historical, geographical and anthropological studies of the University of Padua and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice is an advanced four-year postgraduate programme of study, research training and research leading to the award of the title of Doctor of Philosophy with a joint diploma issued by the rectors of the two partner universities.
The PhD aims to enhance the best historical, anthropological and geographical research of the University of Padua and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and to build a centre of attraction for the development and promotion of original and innovative research, in a context that values inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. From this perspective, the programme is characterised by a strong propensity for internationalisation, developed by encouraging doctoral students to undertake study and research experiences abroad through joint supervision arrangements with foreign universities; through exchanges, summer and winter schools, and opportunities for discussion with PhD schools in Italy and abroad.
The partner Departments to which the PhD belongs are the Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World (DISSGeA) of the University of Padua, the Department of Humanities (DSU) and the Department of Comparative Linguistic and Cultural Studies (DSLCC) of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The PhD teaching board also includes several lecturers from other departments of these universities and from other universities in Italy and abroad.
Training activities
The PhD programme in Historical, geographical and anthropological studies offers a training pathway for doctoral students that includes advanced seminar activities for the development of methodological tools for interdisciplinary research, teaching modules aimed at acquiring specific skills in the languages and tools of scientific research, and cycles of subject-specific seminars that enable doctoral students to refine their analytical and synthesis skills in their areas of interest. These activities take place over the four years into which the programme is organised, with a progressive reduction in teaching load and a progressive increase in doctoral students’ responsibility and autonomy. The programme also offers the possibility of attending optional activities, both organised internally and externally, and arranges opportunities for discussion dedicated to doctoral students’ research.
In internal teaching activities, 1 university credits (ECTS credits) corresponds to 6 hours of seminar or teaching activity and to the study, reading and preparatory work necessary to attend these activities with adequate preparation.
Research areas
The Historical Studies curriculum pays particular attention to the History of European societies, exploring it through research that reflects on identities and identity constructions (national and transnational, professional, religious and gender-based); on the relationship between cultural, socio-economic and political development; and on the transformation of cultures, political cultures and institutions from ancient history to contemporary history. Considerable attention is also devoted to intersections, hybridisations, and the mobility of men and women, objects, texts and ideas, within an analytical dimension that values global and transnational experiences and comparative approaches, without neglecting conflicts, inequalities and power struggles. Another area of interest for this Degree Programme is the digital humanities, including in relation to the public dimension.
The Geographical Studies curriculum explores the natural and human aspects of space in their indispensable interweaving, including facts and representations, materiality and ideas, anchors and movements, and therefore both the world and the discourses through which we try to make sense of it. Through qualitative, quantitative and creative methodologies, the curriculum offers a learning environment and scientific profile development for doctoral students from a wide range of backgrounds (social sciences, humanities, natural sciences) who are particularly interested in the dimension of space in its many facets.
The curriculum in historical-religious and anthropological studies offers a training pathway aimed at the study of complex cultural and social phenomena and transformations through the acquisition of ethnographic research methods and the development of theoretical-comparative approaches and/or theoretical-methodological reflection on individual religious traditions of East and West, of the ancient world and modernity.
As regards religious studies, religions are examined both in their founding moments and in their mature phases, in internal comparison, in polemics and negotiations with other cultural and religious subjects, in the organisation of community life, and in the codification and expression of individual experiences.
For anthropological studies, particular attention is devoted to the documentation and analysis of dynamics of encounter and conflict in cross-cultural contexts, of continuities and discontinuities between pasts and presents, and of practices of response and re-signification in colonial and postcolonial contexts.
The PhD is structured into three curricula: Historical Studies, Geographical Studies, and Historical-Religious and Anthropological Studies
Career opportunities
The professional figures trained by the PhD in historical, geographical and anthropological studies are oriented both towards an academic perspective and towards working in the public and private sectors, at various territorial levels of competence. As regards academic career prospects, for doctoral students trained in the three curricula, these are linked to the availability of positions in the fields of historical, geographical and anthropological disciplines. Up to now, such placement has taken place steadily, enabling the PhD graduates who have attended this programme to obtain positions as research fellows and post-docs, but also as associate professors, lecturers and maîtres de Conférence at foreign universities; clearly, future changes may arise due to amendments to national legislation concerning access to university roles. As regards non-academic career opportunities, the skills of the PhD graduates trained within this PhD may be enhanced, across the three curricula, in research centres, national and
international organisations, companies and businesses, archives and libraries, cultural offices, in the field of journalistic and radio and television communication, and in specialised publishing. These are professionals with the skills to operate in highly interdisciplinary contexts characterised by flexibility, with particular sensitivity to historical research — and with specific reference to skills relating to the organisation and management of cultural heritage; to geographical research — with regard to environmental and territorial issues from the perspective of analysing phenomena and case studies; and to anthropology — with attention to areas of social research. These vocations have meant that in recent years some of our PhD graduates have found work as consultants for museum institutions, in public administration, as business consultants and as entrepreneurs in cultural projects.
Curriculum
- Historical studies
- Geographical studies
- Historical-religious and anthropological studies
Further information
Syllabus
Contacts
Historical, geographical and anthropological studies
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL AND ANCIENT STUDIES (DiSSGeA)
via del Vescovado, 30 - 35141 Padua
Gianmarco De Angelis (Coordinator)
gianmarco.deangelis@unipd.it
Administrative Contacts
dottoratogesta@unipd.it