The present project is hosted by the Institute for Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the Center for Hellenic Studies of Harvard University, the Laboratory for the Study of Human Relations, the Marie Blanche Library and the AINOS Cultural Society. 

 

The aim of the project is to investigate aspects of emotions in psychology, to determine the schools that could prove profitable for the study of emotions in history, taking into consideration recent developments and findings in neuroscience, psychological perspectives, and more specifically the precepts of the systemic approach. We reckon that the systemic perspective allows space for the synthetic use of elements deriving from various theoretical models that can be used according to the desiderata of specific cases. 

 

Our aim is to focus on the aspects of time, gender and society and the way they are influenced by and themselves influence human emotions. The questions we hope to tackle refer to the necessity of relating the study of emotions in history to psychology, the endurance of emotions, their relevance and dependance to historical circumstances, their relation to ideological, religious, societal, family and personal frameworks. Furthermore, we hope to examine ways in which we may employ modern epistemological tools for the investigation and further understanding of past societies but also to enrich our understanding of the person in the 21st century set against the background of its historical past and its present context. 

 

We hope through this project to establish an interdisciplinary dialogue between historians and psychologists that will prove insightful and mutually fruitful for the study of history but also for the study of human systems, in relation to the contexts within which humans are born, develop, set goals and live meaningful lives. 

 

The organizing committee of the project summons a colloquium that will take place in hybrid form on Saturday, 11 March, 2023. The in-person meetings will take place at the Marie Blanche Library (Attica, GR) and will be broadcast live.