BIP - Hortus Spinozanum II: Diversity beyond Borders

The project BIP - Hortus Spinozanum II: Diversity beyond Borders aims to use Spinoza's philosophy to create a shared reflection on the pressing issues of the present. Blended Intensive Programs (BIPs) are a new funding scheme of the Erasmus+ Program. They consist of international educational activities that combine virtual collaboration and brief physical mobility, offering challenge-based activities. The project, coordinated by Department of Philosophy (FILO) of the University of Bologna, is part of the activities of the Sive Natura - International Centre for Spinozian Studies and involves multiple European and non-European partners.

The project explores the potential of blended learning by combining in-person and online activities involving teachers, students, and lecturers to foster the development of a broad, multidisciplinary collaboration network. The activities are structured in two phases: the first will take place at the University of Bologna from May 19 to May 30, 2025, while the second will be conducted online on June 2, 2025. The phase that will take place in Bologna will consist of workshops, collective readings, presentations and discussions in which students and lecturers from the partner institutions will take part. It will use part a bottom-up approach aimed at fostering collective dialogue. The online phase will consist of a closing seminar aimed at consolidating the knowledge acquired and reinforcing the outcomes of the in-person activities. The programme carries 6 ECTS credits, for a total of 30 teaching hours (between F2F and online).

Activities will be conducted mainly in English and French.

In addition to providing critical tools for interpreting the present era from a Spinozian perspective, the project also offers an opportunity to study multiple aspects of Spinozism and Spinoza's thought. The project foregrounds critical-analytical reading of his texts, the study of its theoretical roots and the historical-philosophical context in which Spinoza lived and worked, as well as an exploration of how his thought has been inherited, commented on and criticised or extended by later thinkers. The objectives pursued will include the acquisition of a vocabulary appropriate to the students' orientation towards the historical and philosophical issues in question, as well as knowledge of the secondary literature essential for contextualising these issues within the historiographical debate.

The project has a long-term goal of helping to consolidate the international dimension of Spinoza studies. The participation of members of Sive Natura - International Centre for Spinozian Studies and partners from other institutions will enable the integration of a multiplicity of perspectives and methodologies that reflects the cultural richness of the continental philosophical landscape.

Partner universities:

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Université Paris Nanterre, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Galatasaray Üniversitesi, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,  Europa-Universität Viadrina, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université de Reims, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität