The present paper aims at placing the Mediterranean within the cultural perceptions and literary productions of the Arab World, particularly the Maghreb. How do collective consciousness and cultural representations in the South see the Mediterranean as a heritage of civilization? Does the Mediterranean exist at all for Arabs? Is it completely absent, or does it holds at least a marginal place in the Arab cultural and scientific productions? If the latter hypothesis were true, what are the underlying reasons for this relative marginality of the Mediterranean? These are some of the questions we will try to answer, the goal being to make some clarifications on the outlook of Southern Mediterranean countries towards the Mediterranean cultural heritage.

The aim of the paper is to highlight the difficulties that characterise the intercultural dialogue in specific contexts and situations of emergency. The paper focuses on the interference of the mass media and their representations in the dynamics of the intercultural dialogue among emergency operators and migrants, at the borders . These aspects will be examined relating the results of the researches carried out on the mass media representations of the landings and those obtained by the participating observation in the island of Lampedusa island, during the landings and the migrants’protestes. The results show how the frames of the mass media representation in its alarmist/pietistic approach may be reiterated in the models of the intercultural dialogue between operators and migrants.

In a globalised world the intercultural dialogue and the interaction – different from integration - among different peoples and cultures is more and more necessary. The article deals with the issue of interculturality, considered an intelligence to live together in the diversity. The intelligence to do it is found on the basis of an approach to the processes of integration of Latin American countries that must be based on mutual dialogue, learning and enrichment, in order to promote the human development by mechanisms of intercultural communication – able to lead to the valorisation of their own things– and by the relation with the different, understood as bioethical, intercultural and prudential fundaments. The article analyzes the Latin-American thought on the matter, so addressing problems relevant for all the world and for the Mediterranean basin in particular.

In the last decades, new forms of interculturality are emerging as a consequence of economic and cultural globalisation. Within these experiences, tourism in ethnic neighbourhoods can represent an innovative way to create new spaces for intercultural encounter in western cities. The aim of this paper is to analyse this new social phenomenon thanks to the results emerging from an exploratory ethnographic research focused on Mygrantour, an intercultural network which aims to create new forms of intercultural encounter between migrant communities and tourists in some Mediterranean cities. Adopting a responsible tourism approach, this paper will analyse the social and cultural consequences of this growing phenomenon in terms of social integration and inter-cultural encounter.

The language, a human species-specific activity, permits of knowing, organizing and recounting the reality that around us. Although the vocal level represents the preferred channel of expression, everyday experiences are shared in many ways in the community. Facial expressions, gestures, but in general, our action are reflection of the culture that has shaped us. In this paper, the authors report some considerations about the typical communication dynamics of a Secondary Reception Centre, in the context of the province of Avellino (Italy). The descriptive observation realised in the fieldwork, shows that a designed and oriented educational communication looks after of the distinctive characteristics of each. Consequently, a reflection on the individual and collective communication practices could allow overcoming the mere reception and predicting

This paper aims to discuss the influence of interdependently effective political discourses and cultural differences in early modern Mediterranean regarding the motives for official state portraiture. Therefore, the paper will focus on the portraits of monarchs, foremost the depictions of Philip IV of Spain by the court painter Velázquez and works of Titian under the patronage of Charles V and Philip II in order to analyse, how the conservative portraiture culture was established and maintained during the so-called Siglo de Oro. In contrast to the western Mediterranean, the intercultural portraiture style of the Ottoman Emperor Mehmed II will be given to emphasize the significant role of political inclinations of monarchs on their portraits. A multi-layered approach lies therefore at the basis of full socio-political and cultural comprehension of the paintings to overcome a simple analysis and to contextualize the work of art within both macro and micro historical perspective.

Report of the Seminar