Diasporas and Religious Minorities in Early Modern Europe and the Mediterranean:

3. Diasporas, Movement, and Identification: Methodological Questions

The third module is devoted to methodological questions relating to the study of religious diasporas and mobility. We will examine the main sociological theories of groups and approaches known as Diaspora Studies to test their pertinence to the study of religious diasporas of the early modern period. We will focus on the identification and classification systems developed by ruling authorities and their strategic use at the hands of diasporic groups. We will devote particular attention to the latter’s deliberate creation (or concealment) of multiple identities, focusing, for example, on their deployment of names and aliases, clothing and safe-conducts. 
In order to study concrete problems that emerge from these perspectives, we will make use of the DiasporicRenaissance database developed in recent years by Professor Pastore and her team. In so doing, the module will also provide a basic introduction to the possibilities offered by the Digital Humanities to the study of early modern Europe, with particular regard to the possibilities of codifying and visualizing diasporic phenomena.