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DIGITal ENcyclopedia of European Sociability

Project description

Digital mapping of British and continental models of sociability

Why is the eighteenth century so crucial for the understanding of our current forms and practices of sociability? What role did it play in the emergence and circulation of models of sociability in Britain and on the continent at a time where the idea of nation was in the making? The EU-funded DIGITENS project will answer this question. It will establish an innovative framework for understanding the formation of European forms of sociability in the long eighteenth century (1650–1850). The project will create the first open-access digital encyclopaedia of sociability that will benefit researchers and everyone interested in eighteenth-century social and cultural history. The solution relies on a high-level interdisciplinary network and intersectoral collaboration between academic and non-academic partners.

Objective

The Digital Encyclopaedia of European Sociability (DIGITENS) project will produce the first open-access digital encyclopaedia and anthology of sociability in Europe throughout the long-eighteenth century. The purpose of the DIGITENS project is to build an original framework for understanding the interactions, tensions, limits and paradoxes underlying European models of sociability and to reflect on the following question: Can the emergence and formation of European models of sociability be traced throughout the long eighteenth century (1650-1850)? Drawing upon the expertise of international members from different disciplines and national traditions, the project will create a toplevel interdisciplinary network and facilitate intersectoral communication between its academic and non-academic partners.
The nine international universities will work together with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Musée Cognacq-Jay in France, and The National Archives in Great Britain, allowing members to explore how understandings of sociability might be enhanced through dialogue, international collaboration, and digital technology, developing a broader contextualisation of the research into European sociability. As the first digital encyclopaedia of its kind, the expected impact of the resource will not only benefit researchers, but anyone interested in the history of European models of sociability.
The project is not, however, of purely historical or academic interest. Through the implementation of outreach events, workshops and the production of the accessible digital platforms, the DIGITENS team will promote a wide investigation of the value of eighteenth century principles in twenty-first-century private and public lives throughout Europe. The interdisciplinary and international aspects of the DIGITENS project, and coherent methodology, are innovative, and the scope broad and ambitious.

Coordinator

UNIVERSITE DE BRETAGNE OCCIDENTALE
Net EU contribution
€ 55 200,00
Address
RUE MATTHIEU GALLOU 3
29238 BREST
France

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Region
Bretagne Bretagne Finistère
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 55 200,00

Participants (9)

Partners (2)