The organisation of the course

 

Who can participate?

The school is aimed at students from the European Union and the rest of the world who have completed a first degree, doctorate, or similar qualification and who are interested in comparative literature. Numbers are limited to a maximum of seventy, chosen by a special committee on the basis of the documentation submitted with each application: a curriculum vitae, an account of the students' current work/research in the field of comparative literature, plus an indication of the languages known.

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How does the school work?

Every year the academic committee chooses a topic for the course and invites some of the most renowned international specialists in the field. The weeklong residential course includes a dense timetable of lectures, seminars, individual tutorials, movies, and a theatre workshop, and ends with a presentation of the main results of each seminar and of the research projects developed by the students. The lectures given during the summer school and some of the students' essays will be published in the proceedings of Synapsis (edited by Le Monnier publishing house, Florence). The official language of Synapsis is English. Lectures may be held in English, Italian, French or Spanish (when not in English they will be accompanied by an English summary or full translation). The discussion will take place in English. Questions may be asked in all the major European languages; the organisers will provide on-the-spot translation into English. The seminars will be held in several major European languages (English, Italian, French, and German).

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What do the participants do?

The participants are required to attend the lectures held every morning from Tuesday to Saturday at 9.15 am and 11 am and to attend one of the seven seminars held in the afternoons from Tuesday to Saturday at 3 pm. Students are asked to indicate in their application which seminar they prefer to attend. They must also indicate their second choice, as it may not always be possible to accommodate all preferences. The organisers reserve the right to follow the alternative preference in order to ensure that numbers do not exceed six to twelve participants per seminar. Students will receive a basic reading list from the tutors together with the letter of acceptance and are expected to follow it in the preparation for their seminar.The evenings will be devoted to cultural events linked to the theme of the course. Participants are required to develop a personal research project as a result of their seminar work; in the following months, they will have the opportunity of continuing their work, under the supervision of the professors who held the seminars and the tutors, with the collaboration (wherever possible) of the students' professors at their home universities. The Executive Committee of the school will then select the best essays for publication in the proceedings of the school, the "Quaderni di Synapsis", published every year by Le Monnier, Florence.

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Certificate of participation

Synapsis issues a certificate of participation worth six ECTS credits which correspond to approximately 150 hours of study, including the preparation for the seminars (with the help of the provided reading lists), and attendance of the seminars, lectures and the evening sessions.