Agenda

18 March - James Coleman (University of Pittsburgh)

Networks and Books of Islands in the Early Modern Mediterranean

Abstract
This talk will assess what we can learn about the functioning of different types of networks in the early modern Mediterranean world by studying the genre of books known as isolari. This genre of book, combining visual and cartographic representations of islands with textual accounts, had its origins in the early fifteenth century and flourished through the seventeenth century, particularly in Venice. Analyzing the content of these texts reveals the lively interest, on the part of their authors and early readers, in islands as hubs of maritime networks of trade and travel, while research into the circulation of the texts themselves sheds light on networks of information exchange with connections across the interface between Venice with the Ottoman Empire. The talk will also offer and invite reflections on the value of digital tools for the study of these texts.

James Coleman is Associate Professor of Italian at the University of Pittsburgh. His research publications deal with Italian literature between the 14^th and 18^th centuries. He holds a PhD in Italian from Yale University, and a BA in Classics, also from Yale. While in Venice as Visiting Scholar at the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities of Ca’ Foscari University he is pursuing research as part of a book project entitled Reading Archipelagos: Italian Humanism and Early Modern Books of Islands, with the support of a Giles Constable Award from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. He uses digital approaches in both his research and teaching, with particular interests in applications of network analysis and mapping tools.

Registration for online participation: link

The event is part of the seminar series organized by the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH), Department of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.