Séminaire UNESCO’s Role in Post-War Educational Transformation and Decolonization
March 26, 2025
Panel 1. Beyond the Empire? UNESCO, Education, and the Contested Terrain of African Decolonization
Chair: Hugo Gonçalves Dores, University of Coimbra Discussant: Caterina Scaveldi, Hutton Honors College of Indiana University Bloomington Speakers:
Pedro Gonçalves & Érica Pontes, FCT, Foundation for Science and Technology, Lisbon – Reforming Empire? UNESCO and the Challenges of (De)Colonial Education in Portuguese Territories (1960s–1980s) Silvia Benini, Department of Arts, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna – Reforming Post-Colonial Education: The Influence of UNESCO Principles in the School Systems of Senegal and Zambia Domenico F.A. Elia, Department of Humanistic Research and Innovation, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” – The UNESCO Guidelines and School System of Somalia in the 1950s Anja Marine Rakotonirina, Department of Political Science, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne – UNESCO and the Malagasy Independence: A Transnational Construction of the Role of History? join link: bit.ly/panelunesco1 <teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_Yzc1MGUwNDQtZjE2Yy00NjY3LWE0ZWQtOGRkNDZkN2U5OTc2%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257B%2522Tid%2522%3A%2522ffb…>
Panel 2. Whose Knowledge for Development? UNESCO, Technical Education, and the Remaking of Pedagogies in Postcolonial Asia and Africa
Chair: Federica Guazzini, University for Foreigners of Perugia Discussant: Michele Mioni, Centre d’histoire sociale des mondes contemporains (CHS), University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne Speakers:
Chiara Maria Pulvirenti, Sapienza University of Rome – UNESCO’s Arid Zone Program (1950–1964) and Colonial Legacies Yarong Chen, School of International Organizations, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Institute of Global and Area Studies, Capital Normal University. – Amidst the Politics of Development Regime: UNESCO Technical Aid to Taiwan, 1950-1971 Lourens van Haaften, University of Groningen – UNESCO, Higher Education and Anticolonial World-Making: The Case of Early-Postcolonial India Bidisha Dhar, Department of History, Tripura University – World Crafts Council: Defining Pedagogies 1960s-1980s join link: bit.ly/panelunesco2 <teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_YjEyMjRmOWEtZjY2Zi00MTMwLWE3ODEtNzI1YzE2OWM2MTMw%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257B%2522Tid%2522%3A%2522ffb…>
April 16, 2025
Panel 3. Bridging Divides? UNESCO’s Influence on Education and Culture in Cold War Eastern Europe
Chair: Antonio D’Alessandri, Roma Tre Univerity Discussant: Mikuláš Pešta, Charles University, Prague – Research Center for the History of Transformations (RECET), Vienna Speakers:
Kyrill Kunakhovich, University of Virginia – “Sometimes It’s Hard to Find a Common Language”: UNESCO Summer Camps in Communist Poland, 1958-1989 Maja Lorbek, Technische Universität Wien and Project Coordinator, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Research (IOER), Dresden – Experimental Schools and UNESCO Technical Assistance Program in Socialist Yugoslavia (1952-1958) Andrei-Dumitru Olteanu, Faculty of History and Philosophy, Babeș-Bolyai University – UNESCO’s Role in Propaganda Diplomacy: Romanian Cultural and Educational Policies (1980–1989) Gian Lorenzo Zichi, University of Cagliari – UNESCO and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE): Education and Security in a Multilateral Perspective during the Cold War. join link: bit.ly/panelunesco3 <teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_Y2M4M2EwYmUtOWFlYy00Njk5LWI3OWYtYjM0MTJlZDQxMzM5%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257B%2522Tid%2522%3A%2522ffb…>
Panel 4. UNESCO: Universal Aspirations, Diverse Realities? Exploring Education, Social Justice, and Gender Equality in a Global Context
Chair: Elena Zizioli, Roma Tre Univerity Discussant: Veronica Riccardi, Roma Tre Univerity Speakers:
Anna Ascenzi & Elena Girotti, Department of Education, Cultural Heritage, and Tourism, University of Macerata – Multilingual Education, World citizenship, Fundamental Education and Literacy: UNESCO and the Relationship with the Emerging European Community (1948-1963) Serena Sani, University of Molise – UNESCO and the Fight Against Educational Inequalities in Postcolonial Societies: From Fundamental Education to Intercultural Education Flavia De Lucia Lumeno, Università degli Studi “Nicolò Cusano” – From Peace to Tolerance: Marisetta Paronetto Valier’s Perspective on UNESCO’s Transformations Agnes Desmazieres, Centre d’études en sciences sociales du religieux, EHESS, Paris – Education as a Women’s Right: Feminist NGOs and the UNESCO join link: bit.ly/panelunesco4 <teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_OWNlMWRiNDMtOGU3NC00ZDM3LTk5NmYtMTc0OTlhODFjYTVh%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257B%2522Tid%2522%3A%2522ffb…>
May 14, 2025
Panel 5. Reimagining Heritage and Decolonial Cooperation: What Role Do Transnational Networks Play in Shaping Post-Colonial Cultural Identities?
Chair: Juliet Thondhlana, UNESCO Chair in International Education and Development, University of Nottingham Discussant: Elisa Prosperetti, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Speakers:
Maëlle Gélin, Sciences Po Centre for History, Paris – Building up a Transnational and Decolonial Program With(out) States? Africa, UNESCO, and the Society of African Culture (1956-late 1970s) Sarah Dwider, Department of Art History, Northwestern University – Displaced Forms: Pharaonic Imagery and New Cultural Imaginaries in Modern Egyptian Art Lou Jacquemet, Département d’Histoire Générale, Université de Genève & Institut für Kunstwissenschaft, Technische Universität Berlin – The “Mobile Museum for Africa” Experiment: Improvising Informal Education Spaces in Newly Independent States. join link: bit.ly/panelunesco5 <teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_OWQ4YzE5NTQtNDg0NS00NjU1LTgyMjctMjU2ZTcyNWZlMmY4%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257B%2522Tid%2522%3A%2522ffb…>
Panel 6. South-South Cooperation: Global Perspectives on Development and Transnational Cooperation from Latin America to Africa
Chair: Ellen Vea Rosnes, VID Specialized University, Stavanger Discussant: Lavinia Bianchi, Roma Tre University Speakers:
Elisabetta Bini, University of Naples Federico II – Establishing a School for Community Development: The Centro de Cooperación Regional para la Educación de Adultos en América Latina (CREFAL) during the 1950s Francesca Frisone, Department of Political and Legal Sciences, University of Messina – Transnational Experiences of Community Development Between Italy and Latin America: The Pilot Project for Abruzzo and the Role of UNESCO (1957-1962) Carlotta Mozzone, Roma Tre University – The Inclusive Approach of IASSW: a Bridge Between Local Knowledge and Global Standards for Social Work Education in line with UNESCO join link: bit.ly/panelunesco6 <teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_ZDBjYjVhNGUtNGQ4Mi00ZjAzLWIxNzUtNDYwODJkNGEzMjYw%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257B%2522Tid%2522%3A%2522ffb…>
Organized and introduced by
Marialuisa Lucia Sergio, Roma Tre University Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo, University of Coimbra Damiano Matasci, University of Geneva
———————————— Damiano Matasci Senior Research Associate Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences University of Geneva SNSF Project Decentering the Sciences of Childhood <degesud.hypotheses.org/> Co-editor-in-chief of Histoire de l’éducation <journals.openedition.org/histoire-education/> Personal Website: www.dmatasci.org <www.dmatasci.org/>
Dernier ouvrage/Last book: Internationaliser l’éducation. La France, l’UNESCO et la fin des empires coloniaux en Afrique (1945-1961), Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2023 www.septentrion.com/fr/livre/?GCOI=27574100324310