The Institute for the History of Mediterranean Europe of the National Research Council (Isem) was born in 2001 from the merger of the Institute on Italo-Iberian Relations (Irii) with the Centre for the Study of the Literature and Cultures of Emerging Areas (Csae) and the Centre for the Study of the History of Technology (Cst).
The Institute’s thirty years of experience in dealing with themes of Mediterranean history – in particular the Iberian, Catalan-Aragonese and Castilian Mediterranean between the 13th and 16th Centuries in its historical, geographical and literary aspects, also through the study and edition of the relevant sources – was enriched in 2001 by the contribution of other scientific sensitivities that looked at the Mediterranean from different perspectives: artistic-literary in the Iberian, English and French-speaking spheres (Csae Milan, Turin), historical-technical, linguistic (Cst Genoa).
In 2010, the Institute expanded with the establishment of the Rome office and, following an internal reorganisation of the institution, in 2014 saw the detachment of the Genoa and Turin offices.
Isem has continuously operated in a highly interdisciplinary environment thanks to the multiple skills of its researchers: medievalist, modernist and contemporary historians, geographers and cartographers, literati and linguists.
–
The interdisciplinary skills of Isem researchers are a heritage to be preserved in their unity because their mission finds its fulfilment in the plurality of scientific perspectives.
Over the past few years, the Institute has addressed innovative applications for the knowledge, valorisation and fruition of the cultural and territorial heritage with technology transfer of the knowledge acquired, initiating meaningful transversal collaborations, engaging in dialogue with the physical and natural sciences, and thus committing itself to the definition of new methodological tools.
Isem is part of the Department of Social sciences and humanities of the CNR.
Director f.f. (from I July 2024): Dr. Raffaella Salvemini
The Institute was directed by: Prof. Francesco Cesare Casula (2001-2008); Prof. Luca Codignola Bo (2008-2012); Dr. Antonella Emina – f.f. (2012-2015); Prof. Marcello Verga (2015-2019); Dr. Alessandra Cioppi – f.f. (2019-2020); Prof. Gaetano Sabatini (2020-2024)
Currently, the Institute consists of offices in Cagliari, Rome and Neaples.
