Welcome to ESTIDIA!
ESTIDIA has been set up to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners engaged in multi-level dialogue that transgresses traditional disciplinary and geographical boundaries in order to explore the interrelatedness and interdependence of languages and cultures in various social environments. Its aim is to enable an open and wide-ranging dialogue between senior and junior colleagues from different parts of the world and belonging to various disciplines and professional orientations, who are interested in establishing contacts and collaborating across cultural and disciplinary borders in Europe and beyond.
ESTIDIA promotes ongoing exploratory dialogue between different scientific perspectives on human communication, learning mechanisms, interpersonal relations and socio-political processes. Linguists, rhetoricians, anthropologists, literary scholars, education specialists, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, as well as researchers from other related disciplines are called upon to join a vibrant research and practice community.
In line with the Horizon Europe funding programme for research and innovation (2021-2027), ESTIDIA fosters intensified dialogue-driven collaborative networking, innovative project development, interdisciplinary education and research, interactive training initiatives and dissemination of best practices. It helps to enhance the correlation between dialogic academic enquiry and applied research, involving professionals, practitioners and the wider public.
A major goal is to stimulate brainstorming encounters in order to establish strong trans-national collaborative teams, to set up competitive research projects and to foster critical thinking in academic and professional writing in order to reach high publishing standards.
Last but not least, by means of dialogue, ESTIDIA is the starting point not only of professional relationships, but also of life-long friendships.
ESTIDIA’s three main goals
The activities initiated and carried out within ESTIDIA have three main goals: (1) Transcultural Dialogue; (2) Dialogue-reinforced Interdisciplinarity; (3) Dialogue-supported Mentorship.
1. Transcultural Dialogue
ESTIDIA facilitates dialogue and promotes collaboration across geographical, cultural and disciplinary borders in Europe and beyond. By initiating, organising and co-organising training courses, summer schools, meetings and events in different parts of Europe, it contributes to increasing awareness about linguistic and cultural diversity across borders, as well as within nation-state borders. In true intercultural spirit, the languages used for presentations at various events are English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, as well as other European languages, depending on the venue and the linguistic competence of a critical mass of participants.
2. Dialogue-reinforced Interdisciplinarity
ESTIDIA promotes cutting edge research and best practices in dialogue-based education, speaking and writing literacies, multilingual learning and transcultural curricula across the boundaries of disciplines and academic traditions. The goal is to stimulate training innovations and synergies within and across communities of scholars and practitioners, for the benefit of both junior and senior colleagues, as well as for the wider community in general. We aim to o share insights from research and experience, identifying common and different approaches and perspectives, achievements and challenges.
3. Dialogue-supported Mentorship
ESTIDIA enables the development of informal mentoring relationships whereby experienced professionals and practitioners share, through ongoing dialogue, their insights and expertise with junior colleagues to help them grow and excel. Particular attention is paid to improving critical thinking skills in connection with currently changing cultures of learning, communicating and socialising. With a view to assisting junior scholars with guided research and preparation of MA theses or PhD dissertations, as well as with article submissions to international journals, special conference sessions are devoted to work-in-progress where students and young researchers have the opportunity to present their ongoing research projects and receive constructive feedback from senior scholars.
