Project Aims

Objective of the present application is to strengthen research cooperation among the research units described above, through two exploratory and research-foresight workshops and to open up with experts in related fields and design coherent interdisciplinary developements within the research area .

The area we aim to address in the research foresight workshops (Language and Religion) is a promising area in view of an enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration, since it touches upon several connected fields from cognitive studies to linguistics to memory studies and it provides new avenues of connecting contemporary gobal challenges with the historically deep and geographically wide connections that characterize the different cultural worlds.

According to classical, sociological and anthropological definition, the term “enculturation” indicates the process of transmitting culture from one generation to another, in which the complementary aspect is the socialization of the individual through language learning, education, imitation and assimilation of behavioural rules, competitions, dances and ceremonies, memorization of traditional tales, association with age groups, secret and cult societies, initiations.

Enculturation, sometimes referred to as “acculturation”, referring, more properly, to processes of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. In the process of acculturation an individual adopts, acquires and adjusts to a new cultural environment. As enculturation used to describe the process of first-culture learning, acculturation can be thought of as second-culture learning.

Besides modern civilizations, acculturation is also a characteristic feature in the settings of ancient civilizations and, just like for modern civilizations, processes and policies of ancient enculturation / acculturation are all widely reflected and deeply sedimented in language.