Crossroads 29.8.2010 - 4.9.2010

After an earlier emphasis in historical research on boundaries and ruptures, historians and critics have become increasingly interested in the continuities, connections and transitions which always complicate the confident assessment of new departures. As such transitions necessitate research on the micro-level, the summer school 2010 Crossroads explores the significance of specific figures, places and discursive fields which were, through exchange and interaction, part of the process that shaped Europe between 1500 and 1600. Basel as a centre of humanism, printing and science offers an ideal setting  for a discussion of the first summer school’s three topics:

“Networks of Communication” places two figures, Erasmus of Rotterdam and Hans Holbein, at the centre. Both acted locally but contributed at the same time to the re-formation of European culture.

The second topic, “Sites of Mediation”, examines two specific sites of production and dissemination of European knowledge: the press of the Frankfurt editor de Bry, who specifically produced for a European market, and the collection of the internationally active merchant-banker Manuel Ximenez in Antwerp.

The third focus “Intersections of Knowledge” explores the cultural exchanges in fields such as anatomy, alchemy and natural philosophy, which proved to be formative for early modern Europe.

The summer school offers keynote addresses by high-profile scholars, talks by specialists who will be available for extended discussion, as well as preliminary reading material. Excursions in relation to the summer school’s topics, advice about PhD projects, informal exchange with other graduate students and networking opportunities complete the Shaping Europe summer school.