Is it possible to historicize peace in times of conflict?

Contemporary transnational biographies and activisms
for a culture of resistance and solidarity

Direction: Laura Branciforte and Rosario Ruiz Franco

 

Inscripción

Location: Room 2.A.01. Madrid Campus – Puerta de Toledo.

Target Audience

Undergraduate and postgraduate students, doctoral candidates from the PhD program and the program for seniors over 55, and the general public.

 

Speakers

Direction: Laura Branciforte and Rosario Ruiz Franco. Link to Curriculum Vitae.
Speakers:

  1. Montserrat Huguet, Professor of Contemporary History, UC3M.
  2. Giulia Quaggio, Associate Professor of Contemporary History, UCM.
  3. Laura Branciforte, Associate Professor of Contemporary History, UC3M.
  4. Sandra Blasco, Assistant Professor of Contemporary History (Defense Center of Zaragoza).
  5. Marisa Revilla, Associate Professor of Sociology (UCM).
  6. Anabel Garrido Ortolá, Assistant Professor of Sociology (UCM).
  7. Rosario Ruiz Franco, Associate Professor of Contemporary History (UC3M).
  8. Marta Iglesias. Head of the International Action Department of the Movement for Peace – MPDL and UC3M.

Program

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Monday, June 29
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The Birth of Environmental Security. The 1970s. Montserrat Huguet. Professor of Contemporary History (UC3M).
12:00 PM to 12:30 PM. Break.
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Crossing Ages and Borders: Intergenerational and International Encounters in Spanish Pacifism of the 1980s. Giulia Quaggio. Associate Professor of Contemporary History (Complutense University of Madrid).

Tuesday, June 30
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. International Humanitarianism: Karen Jeppe and her intervention in the Armenian genocide; Commission for the Protection of Women and Children in the Near East. Laura Branciforte. Associate Professor of Contemporary History (UC3M).
12:00 PM to 12:30 PM. Break.
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Between Solidarity and Political Strategy: Humanitarian Aid in Post-Franco Spain (1975–1982). The Case of Western Sahara. Giulia Quaggio. Associate Professor of Contemporary History (Complutense University of Madrid).

Wednesday, July 1
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Human Rights and Peace in the 70s-80s: Between Detente and the Nuclear Threat. Sandra Blasco. Assistant Professor of Contemporary History (Defense Center of Zaragoza).
12:00 PM to 12:30 PM. Break.
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Between the Global and the Local: International Theoretical Influences in Spanish Feminist Pacifism of the 1980s. Sandra Blasco. Assistant Professor of Contemporary History (Defense Center of Zaragoza).

Thursday, July 2
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. What Peace for Women? Women’s Activisms and the Definition of Patriarchal Violence. Marisa Revilla. Associate Professor of Sociology (Complutense University of Madrid).
12:00 PM to 12:30 PM. Break.
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. What Peace for Women? Discourses and Mobilization Repertoires of Women’s and Feminist Organizations for Peace since the second half of the 20th century. Anabel Garrido Ortolá. Assistant Professor of Sociology (Complutense University of Madrid).

Friday, July 3
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. “Discourses of Peace from Women”?. Rosario Ruiz Franco. Associate Professor of Contemporary History (UC3M).
12:00 PM to 12:30 PM. Break.
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Where is Peace Heading?. Marta Iglesias, Head of the International Action Department of the Movement for Peace – MPDL and UC3M.

Course Objectives and Motivations

The course “Is it possible to think about and historicize peace in times of conflict? Transnational biographies and activisms for a culture of resistance and solidarity” aims to analyze peace as an active practice of resistance and solidarity, rather than a simple absence of war. In a historical context such as the current one, marked by great international tension, the reconfiguration of a new international order, and a significant growth in armed conflicts and warmongering, it is interesting to analyze and reflect on how peace has been conceived in periods of conflict, as well as to examine the relationship between peace, violence, resistance, and social justice. The experiences of transnational movements and activisms, as well as the participation of men and women in favor of peace, allow us to identify different initiatives and strategies throughout the 20th century in various parts of the world. The course has a humanistic and multidisciplinary approach with the participation of historians, sociologists, and legal experts. Its organization has taken into account principles from the III Equality Plan of the Carlos III University of Madrid by integrating specific sessions that delve into women’s participation in favor of peace, as well as Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4, 5, and 16. This summer course is primarily aimed at students and the general public; given the relevance of the topic within the context of international relations, it will allow them to reflect on their own capacity for ethical and social action in the face of current conflicts and the new world order being constructed.

 

By the end of the course, students will realize that the most emblematic value of the classical world is not the elitist nature of its education or a specific monumental aesthetic (to cite two typical categories of the interpretation given throughout the 19th century), but the ability to problematize every human issue, transforming it into a source of personal and collective teaching that is fruitful and always enriching. From this experience, capable of converting the intimate drama of existence into a rational theme (thus allowing the birth of philosophy and Attic tragedy), or the difficulties of community life into political reflection, or the imitation of nature into art and technique, emerges that freedom of spirit that permeates all humanisms in history and remains one of the priority ideals of today’s world.

Furthermore, the classical tradition is much closer to the paradigms of digital culture than one might imagine: if “digital humanities” constitute, in a way, a form of reimagining traditional humanities—rethinking human development in relation to history and culture through new possibilities for the creation and dissemination of knowledge—it is well known that the legacy of Greco-Roman civilization has been performing this same task for centuries, updating itself in every era according to the urgencies of societies that return to study Antiquity to find answers about their own time.

 

CURRICULUM VITAE

Direction: Laura Branciforte and Rosario Ruiz Franco
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Laura Branciforte is an Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the Carlos III University of Madrid and teaches the subjects Contemporary History and History of Contemporary International Relations. In 2017, she received the Excellence and Entrepreneurship Award from the Social Council of the Carlos III University of Madrid. She is currently Vice-Dean for Promotion, Academic Exchanges, and International Relations and Director of the Julio Caro Baroja Institute of Historiography. Among her most recent publications are: (2025). “Il campo per la pace delle donne a Comiso e a Greenham Common: Connessioni transnazionali. In S. Vezzosi & F. Chiaricati (Eds.), I laboratori e le piazze: Scienziate e attiviste per la pace e la giustizia ambientale. Viella; (2024). Mujeres pacifistas en los ochenta en España: Vínculos y redes transnacionales. Ayer. Revista de Historia Contemporánea, 136(4), 125–152. https://doi.org/10.55509/ayer/1468; (2024). Reti e connessioni transnazionali del pacifismo antinucleare negli anni Ottanta: Attivismo femminile in Inghilterra, Italia e Spagna. DEP – Deportate, Esuli, Profughe (Special issue “Femminismo e disarmo”), 151–166. https://www.unive.it/pag/31776; (2022). The women’s peace camp at Comiso, 1983: Transnational feminism and the anti-nuclear movement. Women’s History Review, 31(2), 316–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2021.1984026

Rosario Ruiz Franco is an Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M). Throughout her extensive academic career, she has been a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota (USA) and has completed research and teaching stays at various prestigious foreign universities. Her main line of research focuses on the history of women and gender relations in contemporary Spain, on which she has numerous publications and presentations at national and international academic forums. In 2013, she received the Excellence Award for Young Researchers, granted by the Social Council of UC3M and Banco Santander. She has held various academic management positions, most notably serving as Vice-Rector and Deputy Vice-Rector at UC3M from 2011 to 2023. Among her latest publications on the central theme of the course are: “Más allá de los Pirineos: diálogos e intercambios políticos transnacionales de las mujeres del PSOE (1975-1988)” published in the journal Ayer. Revista de Historia Contemporánea, 2024, 136(4), pp. 103-126: 125–152 https://www.revistasmarcialpons.es/revistaayer/article/view/ruiz-mas-alla-de-los-pirineos/3144; and «”Lo personal es político”: acción y compromiso de las feministas socialistas en España (1964-1983)»,
in: Desafiar los límites: Mujeres y compromiso entre lo público y lo privado en el siglo XX, Mónica Moreno Seco (coord.), Granada: Editorial Comares, 2023, pp. 189-215.

Teaching Team

The teaching team for the course “The Classical World in the Digital Age: New Challenges” consists of six people, including the Directors, with equal representation between men and women (3+3). Coming from different but complementary disciplines such as Philology, Law, Archaeology, and History, they have all cooperated for many years, working together on the research lines of the “Lucio Anneo Séneca” Institute of Classical Studies at UC3M. This institute is at the forefront in Spain and internationally in the field of “digital humanities,” developing a series of projects for the online publication of databases and the digitization of documents related to the classical world and its survival throughout history. Regarding the educational activity related to the promotion, updating, and scientific presentation of various aspects of the classical world, the six instructors of the course have a long teaching history, with the following activities being particularly noteworthy:

Francisco L. Lisi Bereterbide was for many years the coordinator of the Classical Studies area in the Department of Humanities at UC3M and taught the undergraduate subjects “Classical Culture” and “Transmission of the Classical Legacy,” as well as the postgraduate subject “The Transmission of the Classical Legacy.” He was the founder and first director of the “Lucio Anneo Séneca” Institute of Classical Studies.

Rosa M. Carreño Sánchez has been teaching the Humanities course “Daily Life and Norms in Rome” in both Spanish and English for over five years. This course is taught at the Getafe and Colmenarejo campuses and is offered to students of different nationalities from a wide range of degree programs (Law, Economics, Business Administration, Computer Engineering, etc.). She has experience in creating digital libraries and participated in the digitization and publication of the ancient legal collection “Antecessores” at the University of Girona Library.

Ana M. Rodríguez González was the coordinator of the Conference on Greco-Roman Criminal Law: Crimes and Punishments in Antiquity, organized by the “Lucio Anneo Séneca” Institute of Classical Studies back in 2008. From then until today, one of her lines of teaching activity has been dedicated to disseminating how criminal justice was perceived and organized in ancient history. On this subject and others related to Roman culture, society, and law, she has taught numerous Humanities courses and published several educational works aimed at explaining these matters through a careful selection of texts. She has also participated in various research projects aimed at analyzing the relationship between Law and religion in the past of Greece and Rome.

Jesús Bermejo Tirado is the director of the “Open Digital Archaeology Laboratory,” which aims to integrate citizens into the process of digitizing, analyzing, and functioning of the archaeological and documentary heritage of the Community of Madrid; this activity was recently awarded the Yerun Open Science Award. Additionally, JBT is the coordinator and instructor for the undergraduate subject “Classical Culture” in the Faculty of Humanities, Communication, and Documentation, and Director of the Department of Humanities: History, Geography, and Art.