Diasporic Communities in the Mediterranean: Between Integration and Disintegration
PIMo 1st Training School
El Museo Canario (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain)
24 – 27 February 2021

Conveners: Marta Bucholc (University of Warsaw), José María Pérez Fernández
(University of Granada), Giovanni Tarantino (University of Firenze)

OPEN CALL

Available in Pdf form here: Training School 2020

Cost Action CA18140 People in Motion: Entangled Histories of Displacement across the
Mediterranean, or PIMo, explores common forms of displacement and dispossession across
the Mediterranean from the fifteenth century to the present. Charting similarities – and
significant differences – in the experience and representation of human movement, our research
seeks to understand the emotional drives and significance of dislocation for individuals and
communities. With a focus on people – and the ideas, objects, and documents that accompanied
them – our goals include evaluating the ways and degree to which these historical events and
experiences continue to shape contemporary representation of migration and displacement in
the modern world, and to build a functional and highly-creative interdisciplinary network of
collaborators from around the world.

Goals and interests of the four Working Groups of PIMo:
Within the deeply entangled or intertwined history and cultures of the Mediterranean, the PIMo
project introduces the term ‘displacement’ as a way to reconceptualise the movement of people
with awareness, historical acuity, and compassion. Attending to the phenomenon of
displacement as a connective tissue of human experience does not presume (or judge) the
conditions of movement (voluntary or involuntary), but seeks to recover and understand
individuals and communities in light of their particular experiences of re/location. By tracing
the entangled movement of People, Objects, Paper, and Ideas this project understands
displacement and dislocation as shared human experience, while remaining attentive to their
geographical, political, and historical specificities. PIMo WGs investigate multiple historical
case studies of the movement of people, things, paper and ideas through religious proselytism,
conflict and persecution, slavery and indentured labour, trade, exploration, and imperialism,
curiosity, and environmental and social catastrophe.

Goals of the Training School:
Wide enough to support radically distinctive civilizations, and yet narrow enough to ensure
ready contact between them, the Mediterranean became, in David Abulafia’s opinion,
“probably the most vigorous place of interaction between different societies on the face of this
planet”. How should we go about historically studying the life aspirations and agency of
minority groups moving and settling between the shores of the Mediterranean basin where
religion, language, literacy, class, gender, political culture, music, architecture, clothing, food
and other identity signifiers unity and divide a large variety of religious and ethnic groups? The
PIMo Training School aims to explore the “visible and invisible networks” between cultures in
the Mediterranean area, from the fifteenth century to the present and to show the ways such
connections were (and are) artificially separated by ideological and literal borders. Its main
objective is to offer an opportunity for research development, training and exchange of ideas
for PhD and postdoctoral students working in the fields of Mediterranean Studies, Migration
Studies, Cultural Transfers and History of Emotions. The entangled intellectual, cultural, and
material histories of the Mediterranean will be unfolded following the displacement and
resettlement of minority groups and individuals and the emotional responses of both displaced
peoples and the communities they orbit and join. This school also aims to provide a critical
introduction to some of the most influential frameworks of explanation in historical work today
and to equip trainees with the skills they will need to find and gain access to all the primary
source materials they need for their projects. School sessions will consist of a series of lectures
and seminars delivered by prominent historians and sociologists from various countries and indepth
discussion sessions on the participating trainees’ PhD and postdoctoral research projects.
The language of communication for the School is English. The assessment will be in the form
of a written essay of 3,000 words to be handed in 2 weeks after the end of the School.

Highlights of the program:
Guided tours of the Las Palmas Cathedral and the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art (this is
where more than 2,000 Canarias stood trial before the Spanish Inquisition between the 16th and
19th centuries), and a talk and guided visit throughout the Museo Canario and the annexed
Inquisition archives, by the Museum Director, Dr Daniel Pérez Estévez. Departing from the
available materials related to the Inquisition, this may be a first step to think of the experience
of crossings in the Mediterranean. Given the jurisdiction of the Inquisitorial Court of the Canary
Islands, the archipelago stood at the crossroads between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and
as such can be a useful tool to look into Mediterranean mobility. The idea is not to necessarily
work on those materials alone, but they offer a starting point on how to translate, from written
and material sources (such as trial records, denunciation books and lists of confiscated assets
of prisoners) the four key elements that connect the different Working Groups in PIMo: Things,
Ideas, Paper and People.

Conditions of application:

  •  The applicants must be engaged in an official research programme as a PhD Student or
    an Early Career Investigator (ECI, less than 8 years between the date of the
    PhD/doctorate and the date of application) employed by, or affiliated to, an institution,
    organisation or legal entity which has within its remit a clear association with
    performing research.
  •  Eligible Applicants must be based in PIMo Full Members / PIMo Cooperating Member
    or come from Approved COST Near-Neighbour Country (NNC) Institutions (the list of
    the NNCs is available here:
    https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA18140/#tabs|Name:parties).
  • Places are limited, with a maximum of 24 participants.
  • All application documents should be submitted as a single .pdf file to the attention of
    Professor Marta Bucholc via the e-Cost platform.
  • The deadline for applications is 15 November 2020.

Application documents:
An application should include:

  1. A motivation letter indicating reasons to apply including the connection between the
    candidate’s research interests and PIMo profile (up to two pages);
  2. A CV including a list of published and accepted publications and a description of research
    experience (up to two pages);
  3. A description of the PhD research project or the ECI research project (up to three pages);
  4. A reference letter (one page)
  5.  Information on any additional funding made available to the applicant by his/her home
    institution or third parties to support the participation in the Training School, if
    applicable.

Selection criteria:
The selection committee including Giovanni Tarantino (Action Chair), Katrina O’Loughlin
(Action Vice-Chair), Marta Bucholc (PIMo Training Schools Coordinator) and the four WG
Leaders will evaluate the applications based on the following criteria:

  • The connection of the applicant’s research project to PIMo (30%);
  • The quality of the applicant’s CV (30%);
  •  The applicant’s motivation to participate (20%);
  • The applicant’s research experience (10%);
  • The reference letter (10%).

The selection committee will prepare a ranking list of applicants. Please note that the
committee will strive for a reasonable gender and nationality balance concerning trainee
participation. 24 best applicants will be notified of the acceptance before 15 December 2020
and they will be given one week to confirm their intention to participate. If an applicant
declines or fails to confirm, their places will be allocated to the next candidate on the list.

Funding:
Expenses (up to 700 EUR per trainee) will be reimbursed in line with relevant COST rules.
In order to be eligible for the reimbursement, each participant will be required to daily sign the
School attendance list. For details please consult the COST Vademecum
(https://www.cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Vademecum-V8-1-May-20202.pdf) as well
as the COST guidelines on travel reimbursement rules (https://www.cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Travel-Reimbursement-Rules-Feb-2019.pdf)

All participants will be required to register for an e-COST profile at https://e-services.cost.eu
– each participant must add their bank details to their e-COST profile prior to receiving their e-
COST invitation.

Neither the COST Association nor the local organizer of the Training school can be considered
the applicant’s employer. The applicants must make their own arrangements for all provisions
relating to visa, personal security, health, taxation, social security, and pension matters.
Please note that PIMo STSM (Short Term Scientific Mission) Grants cannot be used to fund
the participation in a Training School.

Accommodation and board:
The organizers will assist the participants in finding suitable accommodation and board
options. The participants will be obliged to make their own hotel reservations and travel
arrangements.

Enquiries: Please send your enquiries to Prof. Marta Bucholc (bucholcm@is.uw.edu.pl).

COVID-19 Prevention Guidance
The PIMo Training School will follow the rules in place at the Canario Museum and more
generally in Spanish education settings. Practices will be adapted to allow physical distancing
of at least 6 feet whenever possible. Detailed hygiene instructions will be communicated to
the participants in due time. Should travel restrictions be implemented by local or global
authorities we will post updates on the PIMo website. If needed, the School would be turned
into a remote learning setting, using Zoom. Accepted participants and trainers will be kept
regularly informed by email. We strongly suggest that the participants purchase a travel
insurance policy when making their travel arrangements.