The Third Edition of the Philological Happy Hours Focuses on the Words of the Future

Change, diversity, journey, design, culture: these are the keywords of the five meetings of the "Aperitivi filologici. Lo spazio della parola" (Philological Happy Hours. The space of the word) series, starting on Wednesday 13 March. Organised by Francesca Florimbii, Professor of Philology of Italian Literature at the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies of the University of Bologna, the meetings will take place at Cantina Bentivoglio (Via Mascarella, 4/B - Bologna), at 6:30 p.m.

The first edition focused on ancient (Ivano Dionigi) and modern (Paola Italia) philology, psychoanalysis (Vittorio Lingiardi), the Bible (Ludwig Monti), and semiology (Stefano Bartezzaghi), while the second edition dealt with the word in poetry (Alberto Bertoni), in the media (Pietro Del Soldà), in theatre (Stefano Randisi and Enzo Vetrano), in song (Francesco Guccini), and in university classes (Loredana Chines). This third cycle will focus on the Words of the Future.

The word “Change” will be the focus of the first meeting (on Wednesday 13 March) with Alec Ross, advisor to Barack Obama, author, and Professor at the Business School of the University of Bologna.

Guido Barbujani - writer and Full Professor of Genetics at the University of Ferrara - will reflect on the word “Diversity”, on Tuesday 23 April.

In the second half of May (date to be determined), Lino Guanciale - one of the best-known and accomplished Italian actors - will discuss the word “Journey”.

On Thursday 6 June, Luciano Floridi - Director of the Yale University’s Digital Ethics Center and Professor of Sociology of Communication at the University of Bologna - will reflect on the word “Design”, questioning the challenges of AI.

On Thursday 13 June, Nicola Grandi - Head of the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Bologna - will end the meetings with some reflections on the word “Culture”.

“In the era of total and all-encompassing communication,” says Professor Florimbii, “it is all the more important to reflect on the value, origins, uses, changes and destiny of the word in the personal, social, historical and political dimensions. After all, Aristotle identified the word (logos) and the city (polis) as the primary characteristics of humans. We found it appropriate to move the reflection and debates from the university lecture rooms to a more accessible city venue, giving to renown and competent scholars and intellectuals the opportunity to reflect on various fields of knowledge.”

Admission to the meetings is free and subject to availability. Reservation is required and will be made by collecting the invitation on the date prior to each evening, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Cantina Bentivoglio Bologna: on 11 March (for the 13th), 17 April (for the 23rd), 9 May (for Lino Guanciale), 3 June (for the 6th), 10 June (for the 13th). The venue (Cantina Bentivoglio) will be accessible from 6 p.m. We thank Emil Banca for supporting this initiative.