The Future of Hope: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue
Three-year cycle of cross disciplinary international conferences
The European University of Rome proposes and organizes a a three-year “journey” of conferences and study days on the theme of Hope.
The conference activities will aim to highlight the practical implications of Hope in the economic and legal fields, emphasizing the concrete and tangible social repercussions of a specific mode of “action” – agere sequitur esse – based on the perspectives that will emerge from this three-year path of studies and reflections.
The scientific objective is to define the different ideas of Hope that emerged in the path of European culture, even including the concepts of: future, progress, innovation, scenario, projection, models of future, expectation, desire, salvation.
On this basis, any declinations within the different disciplinary areas will be outlined.
What needs for Hope and of future arise in the different scientific areas? What answers and what readings of the future are elaborated in the individual disciplines? What idea of the human being and society is emerging?
The research project is promoted in view of the Jubilee of 2025, dedicated the theme of Hope, and is focused on the Homo Viator and on the contemporary walking society, assuming that the human condition is based on change and that the future is an open challenge.
The program have been inserted in the plan of initiatives of CRUI (Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities) for the Jubilee Year and is officially participated by Fuce (European Federation of Catholic Universities), FIUC (Fédération Internationale des Universités Catholiques), and RIU (Red de Universidades Anàhuac).
Details
1st Year
In the first year, an international cross disciplinary Working Group meeting with panels and guided discussions will be organized at the APRA-UER venue, both in-person and online, with a specific focus on definitions and key concepts. A parallel session is dedicated to PhD students scientific discussions and panels. The proceedings of the conference will be published in both print and online formats as open access. The event is scheduled for December 6th, 2023
2nd Year
The Future of Hope: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue will arrive in Brussels to address the most pressing issues emerging in European society. The three-year research project aims to initiate a cultural and scientific dialogue with institutions and decision-makers based on investigations, scientific comparisons, and international academic exchanges centered around hope.
Promoted by the European University of Rome – Formazione Integrale, under the patronage of FUCE, it is particularly aligned with the activities of European community organizations. Consequently, the activities and public events of 2024 will take place in Brussels from November 19 to 21.
On Tuesday, November 19, the proceedings will be held in collaboration with COMECE, the association of European Bishops’ Conferences. The morning will feature an institutional presentation of the project aimed at the press and a select group of invitees. In the afternoon, a series of dialogues will be conducted between Members of the European Parliament, EU institution leaders, and professors and researchers involved in the project’s Working Groups. These roundtable discussions will be led by COMECE’s policy advisors, based on data and documentation gathered from previous research.
Key topics to be addressed include education, migration and European cultures, ethics and artificial intelligence, university and innovation, peacebuilding, and cultural processes.
On Wednesday, November 20, and Thursday, November 21, an international academic conference will be held, focusing on the theme of hope and its concrete implications in contemporary society. Participants will include members of the project’s Working Groups, professors and researchers from FUCE universities, invited lecturers, and researchers from various European universities, selected through an open call. The conference will adopt an interdisciplinary approach.
The conference sessions will take place at the Dominican complex, Avenue de la Renaissance.
For more information:
3rd Year
Finally, in the third year, in conjunction with the Jubilee of 2025, a world conference will be organized at one of the main Roman venues of the Vatican. This final conference, besides being the culminating moment of a three-year journey of studies on Hope. In this regard, the proceedings of this final conference, as well as the entirety of the main contributions from the three-year conferences, will be published. The event is scheduled for October 24th – 26th, 2025 (just before the Jubilee of Education, October 28th – November 2nd, 2025)
Topics
We welcome proposals for lectures and sessions on the topics listed below. Additional topics will be received gladly.
- Salvation, utopias and visions of the future – Readings of the future; philosophical overviews; psicological definitions of Desire; projections and predictions; eschatological visions, concepts of Salvation.
- Knowledge, science and building of the future – The role of sciences in contemporary society; Visions of the future inspiring scientific researches; Elements of Hope in the knowledge and research professions; Hope and Education visions.
- Humanism an Hope – Concepts of human being and humankind; Christian anthropology and its elements across different cultures; Ideas of human destiny and happiness; Humanism and post-Humanism; ICT and AI’s issues.
- Case studies and Case histories – Disciplinary implications; disciplinary declinations of the key concepts in specific situations; research projects; disciplinary perspectives, figures of scholars.
The conferences are intended for researchers and professors in all disciplines.
Lecture proposals should include the title of the lecture, an abstract of no more than 300 words and the speaker’s details (name, academic affiliation, email address), indicating also the year and the conference.
Proposals for sessions should include the title of the session, three lectures, the lectures’ abstracts and details of the chair, the speakers, and the organizers.
Submissions
Please submit proposals by October 1, 2023 to the following addresses: