Research Projects

Principal Investigator: Giampiero Brunelli 

The project aims to decipher the presence of bastioned fortresses in the Papal State during the 16th and 17th centuries, verifying whether they can be considered a prototypical manifestation of the modernity experienced by the popes, as proposed in the paradigm developed by Paolo Prodi in his seminal work Il sovrano pontefice (The Sovereign Pontiff, il Mulino, 1982). In doing so, an innovative approach is employed, not only delving into the historical context and the evolution of the cited architectural forms but also aiming to plan their restoration and adaptive reuse, ensuring these buildings' full and revitalized integration into contemporary urban and territorial contexts.

Principal Investigator: Anna Rinaldin 

The primary objective of the project is to explore the axes of linguistic variation by examining the mechanisms of standardization, the tension between norms and usage, the connection between decoding drives (political, social, etc.) and identity (including the link between language and power), and the outputs—both spontaneous and deliberate, linguistic and non-linguistic—of change dynamics. The study also focuses on the coexistence of dominant coding systems and marginal or non-canonical systems in a historical language, particularly at the morphosyntactic level and in a diachronic perspective. Interdisciplinary collaboration ensures that the project benefits from diverse scientific perspectives, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of linguistic variation. The project served as the foundation for the establishment of the International Centre NoUS (Norm, Usage, and Systems) – an Interdisciplinary Centre for Philological and Linguistic Research, created to advance the research conducted by the Department of Literary, Linguistic, and Philosophical Studies at Pegaso Telematic University.

Principal Investigator: Giampiero Brunelli 

In the wake of the eclipse of 20th-century meta-narratives, historiographical research has entered a phase of "strong turbulence" (an expression used by S. Loriga and J. Revel). To counter the risk of fragmentation, it is necessary to map the epistemological value of the discipline's key concepts, opening an interdisciplinary dialogue with geography and, more broadly, with the other humanities. The project specifically investigates three fundamental concepts: state, territory, and identity. It explores their enduring heuristic capacity in the 21st century and highlights their potential relationships to construct case studies.

Principal Investigator: Lucia Martiniello

The demand for mastery of soft skills is progressively increasing, driven by the rapid acceleration of the digital revolution we are currently experiencing, as well as by the need for new skills required by the educational, social, and national and international productive systems.The project has a twofold objective: firstly, it aims to deepen the epistemological reflection on the nature of soft skills or general personal competencies; secondly, it seeks to design a training tool that facilitates the process of acquiring professional identity for students in their fourth and fifth years of secondary school. This will be achieved by focusing on: 1) the mastery of soft skills; 2) work-based learning programs (PCTO); and 3) the student’s e-portfolio. The research group is interdisciplinary and involves three professors from the pedagogical field and two from the philosophical field.

Principal Investigator: Fabio Orecchio

This research project aims to focus attention on teacher training in intercultural education as a prerequisite for inclusion. In an era where globalization, the centrality of human resources, competence, and lifelong learning are challenges that require school professionals to create a more aware and capable school and society, the project seeks to address multicultural dynamics as a resource to achieve common values such as democracy, human rights, and pluralism. Specifically, the project intends to examine, using theoretical tools from pedagogical disciplines, to what extent teachers' sensitivity to the intercultural needs of the school population is correlated with the development of teaching practices that promote inclusion and academic success