SYNAPSIS – European School of Comparative Literature

Organized by Scuola Normale Superiore, in collaboration with the Italian Association for the Theory and Comparative History of Literature, the School is funded by the PNRR through the MERITA, the network for talent project*.
 
Date: September 22–26, 2025
Location: San Miniato, PI (Italy)
Synapsis 2025 Theme: Knots, Bonds
 

Synapsis is an annual summer school that brings together students and lecturers from diverse backgrounds to collaborate and exchange ideas on a specific interdisciplinary topic. The program is open to students from EU countries who hold an MA, PhD, or equivalent degree and have an interest in studying literature from a comparative perspective. Participation is limited to 40 students, selected by a committee based on the application materials submitted.

Upon completion, Synapsis awards a certificate of attendance equivalent to 6 ECTS credits, reflecting approximately 100 hours of academic activities and independent study.

Programme

September 21, 2025
Conservatorio Santa Chiara

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Registration
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Welcome aperitif
8:00 PM: Dinner at Hotel Miravalle
 

September 22, 2025 – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Aula Magna
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Registration
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Institutional greetings, presentation of Synapsis 2025, with Massimo Fusillo, Helena Buescu, Barry McCrea

Panel 1 
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM 
Thomas Pavel (University of Chicago): Human Interactions, Links and Bonds, a Literary Specialty.
Chair Simona Micali

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM Coffee break

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Gino Roncaglia (Università di Roma Tre): Generative AI and the Humanities: Connecting the Dots
Chair Simona Micali

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Lunch at Conservatorio Santa Chiara

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Sala Museo, Sala Consiglio, Sala Rosa
Seminars by Massimo Fusillo, Helena Buescu, Barry McCrea

8:00 PM: Dinner at Hotel Miravalle
 

September 23, 2025 – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Aula Magna

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Registration
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Institutional greetings

Panel 2
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Giulia Sissa (UCLA): Drinking, seducing, laughing, talking. From connivance to philosophy
Chair Alessandro Grilli

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Coffee Break

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Luca Barra (Università di Bologna): Weaving and Unweaving Authenticity in Contemporary Reality Television. A Writing and Production Perspective
Chair Anna Chiara Corradino

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Lunch at Conservatorio Santa Chiara

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Sala Museo, Sala Consiglio, Sala Rosa
Seminars by Massimo Fusillo, Helena Buescu, Barry McCrea

9:30 PM - 11:00 PM: Social event
 

September 24, 2025 – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Aula Magna

Panel 3
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Hilary Duffield (Universität Trier): Character Bonds in Narratives of the Anthropocene
Chair Mattia Petricola

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Coffee break

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Donata Meneghelli (Università di Bologna): On the impossibility of untying the knot: from Melville and Poe to Patrick Modiano
Chair Biagio Castaldo

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Lunch at Conservatorio Santa Chiara

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Sala Museo, Sala Consiglio, Sala Rosa
Seminars by Massimo Fusillo, Helena Buescu, Barry McCrea

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM: Coffee Break

6:15 PM - 8:00 PM: Workshop with Giorgina Pi and Aurora Peres

8:30 PM: Dinner at Hotel Miravalle
 

September 25, 2025 – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Aula Magna

Panel 4 
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Arnaud Schmitt (Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour): Narrative Knots and the Modular Novel
Chair Irene Fantappiè

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Coffee break

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Marco Caracciolo (Universiteit Gent): Knots of Complexity in Contemporary Anglophone Fiction
Chair Matteo Colombi

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM Lunch at Conservatorio Santa Chiara

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM – Sala Museo, Sala Consiglio, Sala Rosa
Seminars by Massimo Fusillo, Helena Buescu, Barry McCrea

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM: Coffee break

6:15 PM - 8:00 PM: Workshop with Giorgina Pi and Aurora Peres

8:30 PM: Dinner at Hotel Miravalle
 

September 26, 2025 – Conservatorio Santa Chiara, Aula Magna

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Registration - Distribution of Certificates of Attendance

9:30 AM - 1:00 PM: Presentation of seminar projects

11:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Coffee break

1:00 PM: Lunch at Conservatorio Santa Chiara

3:00 PM: Closing remarks and final farewells

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* MERITA, the network for talent project is the result of a collaboration between five Italian academic institutions: the Scuola Normale Superiore, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, the Collegio Superiore dell’Università di Bologna, the Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori dell’Università di Padova and the Scuola Superiore di Studi Avanzati della Sapienza Università di Roma.
The MERITA project is funded within the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR), Missione 4 – Istruzione e Ricerca, Componente 1, Investimento 3.4 "Didattica e competenze universitarie avanzate"- "Rafforzamento delle Scuole universitarie superiori". (National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Mission 4 – Education and Research, Component 1, Investment 3.4 "Advanced university teaching and competences" - "Enhancement of the institutions for higher education").