The study of memory is booming in the humanities and social sciences. Increasingly more scholars turn their attention to how the past informs the present and future, how people attribute meaning to past events that they haven’t witnessed, how competing memories of the past sustain present conflicts, and how commemoration and memory education can make the world a better place. But also outside of the university, memory is booming: statues are being toppled, history text books are being rewritten, and cultural heritage is becoming more and more constitutive of national and other identities.
To tackle these social and historical issues, and take on the scholarly challenge, the Department of Humanities and the Department of Sociology and Social Research have established an Interdepartmental Laboratory of Memory and Society of the University of Trento (LIMS). The lab was established in 2022 with a grant from the University of Trento, thanks to the joint effort of some memory scholars in the two Departments: Giorgia Proietti and Maurizio Giangiulio (ancient Greek historians), Giuseppe Sciortino, Andrea Cossu and Thomas van de Putte (sociologists).

The lab proposes to offer a platform for innovative research activities, stemming from the dialogue between the humanities and the social sciences. The respective departments have longstanding traditions and reputations of excellence in cultural sociology and cultural trauma, and in the mnemohistory and anthropology of the ancient world. The lab will bring these interests and expertise together in research seminars, workshops, supervision and publications, with a constant commitment in outreach, dissemination and education.

The lab works closely with another Laboratory of the University of Trento (LabSA – Ancient Civilization Lab) and is affiliated with TraMe – Center for the Semiotic Study of Memory in Bologna and with the Memory Studies Association; other affiliations with international memory networks, forums and associations will be established in due course.

The Lab is active in the field of dissemination and knowledge sharing on a local scale, and is very well connected with other research centers and public initiatives in its own region, Trentino Alto Adige. In June 2023 for instance it partnered and participated to an important initiative of the Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra on the decolonization of cultural heritage in Rovereto.

The Lab was officially inaugurated on Dec. 16th, 2022, with a round table on the theme ‘What is memory?’, with the participation of several memory scholars from different disciplines, as well as Sarah Gensburger (French National Center for Scientific Research), past president of the Memory Studies Association.

Two inaugural lectures were offered in 2023 by two eminent memory scholars, Prof. Dr. Aleida Assmann (University of Konstanz), who spoke on ‘The Transformations of the European Dream’ and Prof. Dr. Karl-Joachim Hölkeskamp (University of Köln), who spoke on ‘Futures Past. Augustus and the Power of Memory’, on 3rd March and 9th November, respectively.

A permanent interdisciplinary seminar (LIMS lunch seminars ‘Memory studies in Trento – Multidisciplinary perspectives’) has been set up in 2023 and takes place every year. It includes monthly discussions and debates among memory scholars on the big questions that are driving the field, around diverse topics and from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

The first LIMS Summer School in Memory Studies is scheduled in summer 2024, and so the first LIMS international and interdisciplinary conference.

The Lab is coordinated by Giorgia Proietti.