Department of
Humanities

News

Research sheds light on the ‘hidden’ history of Italian from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century: Ca’ Foscari wins a €2.25 million ERC Grant for linguist Daniele Baglioni
Research sheds light on the ‘hidden’ history of Italian from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century: Ca’ Foscari wins a €2.25 million ERC Grant for linguist Daniele Baglioni

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced that "ConScrIt – Concurring Scripts. Allography in Italy (1000–1800)", a project led by Professor Daniele Baglioni of the Department of Humanities at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, has been awarded the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant under the 2025 call, which is one of Europe's most competitive funding schemes for frontier research.

QS Rankings by Subject 2026: Ca’ Foscari ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide for Classics and Modern Languages
QS Rankings by Subject 2026: Ca’ Foscari ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide for Classics and Modern Languages

Ca’ Foscari stands out in the QS 2026 Rankings with 14 subjects listed. Classical studies and ancient history shine, ranking 24th worldwide, confirming the university’s international excellence. Anthropology also ranks prominently. Overall, the university continues to grow, particularly enhancing the humanities and strengthening its global academic prestige.

Ca’ Foscari Research on 8th-Century Venetian Glass Reveals the Earliest History of Glassmaking in Venice
Ca’ Foscari Research on 8th-Century Venetian Glass Reveals the Earliest History of Glassmaking in Venice

Recent scientific analyses of glass fragments reveal a city that was at the forefront of recycling and adopting the most innovative and advanced plant-ash glass technologies in the Mediterranean. The study was published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences by researcher Margherita Ferri. 

350 Million Voices Sharing One Root: A Journey into Bantu Languages with Prof. Félix Tembe
350 Million Voices Sharing One Root: A Journey into Bantu Languages with Prof. Félix Tembe

In the lecture halls of Ca’ Foscari, people are talking about kiSwahili, xiChangana and isiZulu: sounds and words that tell stories, identities and world views. Guiding this journey is Professor Félix Filimone Tembe, a lecturer in Bantu Linguistics at the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, who over the past few weeks has held at Ca’ Foscari the first introductory course dedicated to the great family of Bantu languages.

Francesca Rohr, Director of the Department of Humanities

She has been Full Professor at Ca' Foscari since 2020 and has taught at the University since 2002. She teaches Roman History, Roman Historiography and the History of Women in the Roman World. From 2015 to 2023, she served as the Rector's Delegate for Academic Guidance and has held several institutional roles within the Department. Her research focuses on political history in the late Roman Republic and early Imperial period, as well as the construction and codification of memory in ancient historiography.

Agenda

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Our research

Research areas

The Department of Humanities is an innovative research and development centre that operates in various branches of the humanities, such as history, archaeology, the science of texts and written documents, linguistics, classical literature, Italian literature, cultural and social anthropology, and art history from ancient to contemporary art.

The Department is developing projects and activities in the digital humanities (DH), innovative tools which integrate traditional research and teaching methods. Numerous national and international research projects are financed at the Department every year and contribute to the important scientific achievements of its scientific community.

The Department’s centres and laboratories promote, organise and coordinate its research and training activities. The Department is involved in the interdisciplinary research network Research for Global Challenges.

Research projects
DiLaDi - Digital Latin Dialectology: Tracing Linguistic Variation in the Light of Ancient and Early Medieval Sources

Researcher: Béla Adamik
Lenght: 60 months (31/08/2028)

WO-NAM - Women and Non-Alignment in the Cold War era: biographical and intersectional perspectives

Researcher: Chiara Bonfiglioli
Lenght: 60 months (31/10/2028)

Publications

The Department of Humanities promotes the dissemination of its research through contributions to journals, books, and conference proceedings.