The main research areas of the Department are:
a) Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures. The object of study are texts and their codification and transmission in chronotopic variables. Special attention is paid to the production, circulation, reception and updating of the common cultural heritage. Linguistic phenomena are addressed in their historical development both in written texts and in oral communication in contemporary times. Research is developed through philological-linguistic and historical-critical analysis from a comparative perspective applied to languages and literatures from antiquity to the present day.
The study of Greek and Latin languages and literatures is carried out with the help of the sciences involved in the constitution, analysis and exegesis of literary and documentary texts, in the historical and cultural context of the ancient, classical and late-antique periods.
The classical tradition and the European languages and literatures are examined in their continuity and evolution, both thematic and expressive, up to the current results in modern cultural and linguistic variants. This line of research finds its natural extension in the broader field of investigation of non-European languages and literatures, also in relation to the current processes of globalization.
The Italian language and literature are investigated in relation to the history of Italy from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Italian language is studied in a diachronic perspective from Vulgar Latin to the formation of local languages and dialects up to the establishment of a common language and dialectal varieties. Italian literature, genetically considered in relation to Middle Latin and Romance languages and literatures, is investigated in its historical and social dimension, in its formal components (literary genres, stylistic, linguistic and metrical choices), and in its contacts with modern European literatures.
European and non-European languages and literatures are analyzed as phenomena affected by historical and geographical variables. Great importance is given to the text, from which linguistic and literary discourse develop, transposed into the various paradigms of "literaryness" (genres, codes and techniques, tropes and figures). Attention to the semiotic dimension of the text goes hand in hand with consideration of the "mediating" role of languages. The acquisition of international communication skills as an integral part of the European identity built on multilingualism is actually one of the foundations of the Department.
Great importance is attached to philology as an essential discipline for the history of the writing and transmission of texts, and for their critical edition. Also crucial is linguistics as the analysis and study of languages, and of the cognitive and social processes linked to verbal communication.
b) The Historical and Geographical Disciplines. These disciplines are a necessary prerequisite for humanistic studies in the historical-critical perspective. Historical research addresses social and economic, political and institutional, cultural and religious phenomena from antiquity to the contemporary world.
The Department encourages the critical study of the written sources of the different eras, and of monumental and oral testimonies. It also pays special attention to the institutions of memory (archives and libraries). The study of sources and the reconstruction of historical phenomena are conducted in the light of the historiographic tradition and the current debate, including its theoretical and methodological aspects. Critical reflection on memory as the foundation of collective identities depends on historical research. Linked to historical studies are geographical studies with which they interact in the analysis of forms of territorial and landscape organization, with particular reference to the man-environment relationship of the physical-environmental, socio-economic, political-administrative components, and with theoretical and applicative values that are functional to planning and programming. An indispensable tool of analysis for the study of demographic phenomena, population structures and settlement is cartography, especially thematic cartography, which is integrated with the construction of geographic information systems (GIS), and with multimedia imaging techniques.
c) Archaeology and History of the Arts. Historical and artistic phenomena from antiquity to the present day are studied in relation to related historical and literary events. The main objective is to encourage a dynamic reading of art testimonies, seen not only as individual products of the spirit, but also as languages and forms of expression related to historical, social, economic, religious, and cultural contexts. The programmatic pursuit of research objectives based on the interaction between different specificities and skills can only strengthen the quality of the project, the operational scope, and above all the teaching profile. Therefore, the Department’s activities aim both at national and supranational contexts, and at the regional territory, which is the repository of a widespread heritage (also in terms of museums) of archaeology, medieval, and modern art. Structured in this way, the archaeology and art-historical field can satisfy a very wide range of users, and provide consultancy in the field of archaeological excavations, museology, the organization of art exhibitions, the creation of editorial products, the promotion of events aimed at the study and enhancement of cultural heritage. It can also ensure specific preparation for access to the Sovrintendenze, and to the management roles of museums. The musicological and theatrical fields also belong to the art-historical discipline, sectors that have significant connections with the classical tradition as well as with medieval and modern art (and also with other areas, such as history and linguistics-literature). The privileged areas of research are classical civilization, the early and late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Modern and Contemporary art, the history of Ancient and Modern music, theatre and performance.
The close link that traditionally unites Philology and the study of Classical Literature, Archaeology and Ancient History, guides research in the field of the Sciences of Antiquity. This link, determined by the specific nature of the documentation, and of the hermeneutic and historical problems, gives research into the ancient world its own particular character.