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International Conference on "Globalization and Latin Humanism" From April 30th to May 3d, 2000 an International Conference on 'Globalization and Latin Humanism' will be held at the New Yorker Hotel in New York. The Conference is sponsored by the Cassamarca Foundation of Treviso (Italy), by the World Latin Federation, the World Association of Triveneti, St. John's University and the Institute for Italian-American Studies of New York. The conference concludes and ricapitulates a series of similar International Conferences held, over the past two years, in Treviso (Italy), Toulouse (France), San Paolo (Brazil), Bukarest (Romania), Manila (Philippines) and Cape Verde. The aim of this series of International meetings is to reflect at the international level on the role that the cultural patrimony (inherited from Rome, Christianity, the Renaissance and the classical European experience) known as Latin Humanism can and should play as human society becomes progressively globalized. The reflection relates also to the fundamental need for objective and collaborative confrontation between Latin Humanism and the variety of Humanisms dominating in various parts of the world to day. The Conference intends to call attention to the fact that for the past several centuries Latin Humanism has been at the avantguard of the process of globalization, but in a format and modality much different from the current one, based mostly on the principle of the hegemonic and economic priorities of the Anglo-Saxon world. It is the ambition of this Conference to outline the methodology to be followed in order to begin a process of harmonization between contrasting and opposing humanistic positions, which today compete to be the dominant world culture, from the Anglo-Saxon version to the Islamic, to the Oriental, the African, the Slav, etc. Attending the Conference will be over 150 scholars and university professors from the six continents, thirty countries and one hundred universities all over the world, in addition to 150 graduate students and young leaders representatives of World Associations of Latin Origin. After a religious service at St. Patrick's Cathedral, headed by the representative of the Holy See, His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Cheli, the opening ceremony will take place in the Grand Ballroom of the New Yorker Hotel with the intervention of: The Hon. Dino De Poli, Esq., President of Cassamarca Foundation, Conference sponsor; The General Segretary of the Wolrd Latin Union, Ambasssador Gerardo Cavalcanti; The Italian Foreign Ministry's Director General for the Promotion of Cultural Cooperation , Ambassador Gianfranco Facco Bonetti; The Director, Division for the Renewal of Academic and Professional Training of the UNESCO, Paris, Ambassador Armoogum Parsunamen; and the Consul General of Italy in New York, his excellency Giorgio Radicati. In the sessions that will follow eminent scholars will present a report on the Conference theme for the six continents: For Europe, Prof. Jean Dominique Durand, of the Universitè Lyon 3, France, For Africa, Prof. Elvira Azamedo Mea, of the Universidade do Porto, Centro de Estudos Africanos, Portugal, For Latin America, Prof. Jaime Paviani of the Pontifical Catholic University pf Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, For North America, Prof. Sergio Maria Gilardino, of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, For Asia, Prof. Ana Paula Laborinho, of the Instituto Portogues do Oriente, Macao, and for Australia, Prof. Giovanni Carsaniga, of the University of Sidney, Australia. In the course of the remainign sessions of Tuesday various panel thematic discussions of the more than 60 papers written for the Conference will be held. In the concluding session od Wednesday, the Conference Coordinator, professor Rocco Caporale of St. John's University will recapitulate the sense of the conference and the participants will be asked to vote on a Manifesto of Latin Humanism to be distributed to all interested persons and institutions and on an appeal to the Unites States Congress to rejoin UNESCO. During the Conference there will take place also an announcement of the creation of an Interuniversity Center for the Study and Research on Latin Humanism, with campuses in Italy and in the United States, and the creation of a North American Italian Endowment for the Humanities, Science and Culture. The Endowment is set up to manage several Endowed Itinerant Chairs in the Humanities that will be made available to American and Canadian Universities for the promotion of studies and research on the topic of the conference. The prestigious chairs will be assigned to eminent scholars from all over the world and be 'loaned' to Universities that will apply and qualify for them. The Conference sessions are open to the public. For further information, please, call the Conference Segretary, Antonella Stelitano, at 212-244-0719 at the New Yorker Hotel (34th Street and 8th Avenue, New York). For this purpose has been created the site http://www.latinhumanism.net. Comunicato Stampa |