LECTIO Research Axis 4

Challenging Ideas for Societal Challenges 

Axis 4 unites humanities and social science scholars engaged in the Classical Tradition  and its modern fortunes to emphasize the methodological aspects of historical research. Its core members conduct research that encompasses scholarly questions across intersecting disciplines, including Greek, Latin and Neo-Latin Literature, Legal Thought, Biblical Studies, Ancient and Medieval Theology, Medieval History, Art History and Philosophy. The group aims to bring fresh perspectives to basic assumptions in the Humanities: instead of focusing on one predominant direction of inquiry, it attempts to explore the premises, conditions, and possible consequences of “societal challenges” on the above-mentioned areas of scholarly investigation.

One particular challenge that is also faced by pre-modern and modern societies alike is their relationship to other cultures. Following the expansion of LECTIO with new specialists in Arabic and Japanology, as well as in several vernacular languages spoken in early modern Europe, a new line of research is beginning to emerge within LECTIO regarding transcultural encounters and the societal challenges they pose. This line of research should not only help us understand how cross-cultural exchanges led to intellectual and societal innovations but also how such confrontations can put our European cultural and intellectual traditions in new perspectives (one could think in this respect for instance of recent discussions on canon formation and decolonization). Somewhat related to examples of East-West encounters is also the research of several LECTIO members on multilingualism and translation practices in the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age – not only from Greek to Latin and from both classical languages ​​to the vernaculars, but also in interaction with Arabic, Hebrew or the vernaculars among themselves.