Inaugural Workshop
Theme: Volcanic Cultures of Naples
September 2026

The very first offering of the Multispecies Futures Global Institute will focus on the volcanic cultures of the complex and multi-layered metropolitan region of Napoli in Southern Italy. Students and collaborating scholars will explore approaches to cultivate attentiveness towards the innumerable co-becomings of nature and culture in this ancient urban region that is also one of the most geologically active areas of the world. 

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Some of the primary questions that the workshop will explore are: how does Naples’ active geological and volcanic terrain constitute the foundations of its cultural matrix? How does the unique materiality of volcanic environments co-become with the city’s lived fabric, both past and present, both human and nonhuman? How do literature, cinema, TV series and popular culture reflect on the unique ontological, material and ecological elements of this complex ecocultural system? How are some new methods proposed by the Multispecies Futures Lab able to aggregate, analyze, visualize and narrate these natural-cultural co-becomings? How can the multispecies future of this region be better safeguarded and rendered sustainable?

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The workshop will provide the means for participants to conceive research for their own specific projects, internships and theses. They will have the opportunity to contribute to the building of a multispecies thick-map of the region after the completion of the workshop, which will be co-created by Professors Gaudiosi and Nathan. This map, created in collaboration with the research project FRA2024 “Archetypos. Mapping Pompeii on Screen”, will become a bilingual public resource for the public and researchers alike to explore Naples’ volcanic cultures. A prototype example of such a map developed by the Multispecies Futures Lab can be found here HERE.

 

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TENTATIVE DATES

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Pre-reading Activities: September 1-15 (Virtual)

These readings will allow participants to become familiar with the basic concepts and ideas from the fields of Cultural Studies and Environmental and Multispecies Studies that form the foundational knowledge that will be used in the actual workshop.

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DAY 1: Discussions of Theory, Basic Concepts: September 15

The first day will feature a talk addressed to both workshop participants and a wider general audience of scholars, students and administrators at the University of Naples. Workshop participants will then convene separately to begin discussing the basic concepts of in the new field of “naturalcultural studies.”

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DAYS 2 and 3: September 16 and 17 

Possible Field Trips: Pozzuoli; Historical center of Naples

These days will feature visits to develop the analytic skills to undertake naturalcultural data-collection.

 

DAY 4: Conclusions: September 18

The final day of the course will feature planning for the development of the “Volcanic Cultures of the Bay of Naples” Multispecies Thick-Map