Section 1. Institute description.
Institute for Mediterranean Studies (ISM)
Address: Via G. Buffi 13, CH-6904 Lugano
Telephone: +41 58 666 47 05
Fax: +41 58 666 47 40
Email: ism.com@usi.ch
Url: www.ism.com.usi.ch
The Institute for Mediterranean Studies (ISM) promotes scientific and cultural thinking on the Mediterranean, casting a critical eye on the complex political reality of the area with the tools afforded by the social sciences and the humanities.
The Institute stands out in the Swiss university landscape for its unique combination of approaches. It looks at the Mediterranean as a specific object of research and as an analytical category, which makes it a prestigious partner nationally and internationally.
Since its foundation in 1997, the Institute for Mediterranean Studies has acted as a forum of exchange between international organizations, institutions, researchers and scholars from different countries. It organizes meetings, seminars and conferences aimed at fostering dialogue and mutual understanding in the Mediterranean area.
If one assumes that a highly symbolic and cultural environment exercises a profound influence on the social, political, and economic dynamics of a territory, then we can see why representation, as a category, lies at the heart of the Institute´s studies and research.
ISM is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs (SDC). Its research activities place particular emphasis on the dialogue between academics, civil society, and international institutions.
ISM research addresses issues such as the making of a Mediterranean identity in the literary heritage from the eighteenth century to date, gender dynamics between social practices and cultural models in present-day Mediterranean societies, and migratory intentions in educational context within the Mediterranean area.