“The Awakening of Enceladus: A Transdisciplinary Inquiry into Geological Risk and Disaster”
From December 17th to 19th, 2025, the international conference The Awakening of Enceladus: A Transdisciplinary Inquiry into Geological Risk and Disaster will be held in Pisa. The conference represents an important milestone in the P.R.I.S.M.A. project, from which this event will draw new impulses for the development of future research. The research project P.R.I.S.M.A. – Pondering Risk and Imagining Resilience: A Digital Atlas of Seismic and Volcanic Events in Literature is the winner of the Return cascading grant for Spoke 3-VS3 “Earthquakes and Volcanoes” and is coordinated by Professor Biancamaria Rizzardi (Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics, University of Pisa). Through a transdisciplinary dialogue on geological risk, resilience, perception and memory of disaster, the event aims to highlight how different methodologies and languages can contribute to risk education and the creation of an integrated critical perspective, capable of reading, representing, and addressing with awareness and responsibility the challenges posed by the environmental, social, and cultural risks of our time. The conference brings together scholars from multiple disciplines and combines forms of knowledge that range from the empirical observation of the territory and seismic and volcanic phenomena to the reflection on the sociocultural, symbolic, and linguistic dimensions of risk. The programme of the event comprises meetings with writers and artists, three keynote lectures, and six thematic sessions, whose titles evoke the plurality of approaches in dialogue: Gaia, Prometheus, Mnemosyne, Typhon, Atlas, and Hephaestus. ● Gaia spans across philosophy, ecology, and theology, reflecting on the ethical and spiritual bond between human beings and the Earth, which is understood as a living organism; ● Prometheus explores the languages and narratives of disaster in media, literature, and linguistics; ● Mnemosyne delves into history, memory, and language, investigating the relationship between calamity, trauma, and resilience; ● Typhon opens to a psychoanalytic and symbolic perspective, investigating the planetary unconscious and human fragility in the face of catastrophic phenomena; ● Atlas interrogates art, literature, and philosophy to explore the symbolic weight of catastrophe in European culture; ● Hephaestus addresses the social, scientific, and juridical dimensions of risk, with special attention to global responses to disasters. The six sessions combine literary, linguistic, philosophical, artistic, theological, juridical, psychological, and scientific perspectives, offering a shared reflection on disaster as a form of knowledge and collective memory. Furthermore, during the conference the digital atlas L.A.V.A. – Literary Atlas of Volcanic and seismic Activities will be presented. Keynote Lectures: David Alexander (University College London); Frank Westerman (Writer and Freelance Journalist, The Netherlands); Isak Winkel Holm (University of Copenhagen). Conversations with the writers: Elleke Boehmer (University of Oxford) and Esther Kinsky (Kleist Prize 2022). Performance Lecture: “I Am a Disaster” by Matteo Belli (actor, playwright, and theatre director, Bologna). Speakers: Henry Albert (Chimera Project); Carla Benedetti (University of Pisa); Matteo Bettini (Chimera Project); Alice Bisio (Chimera Project); Roberto Bondì (University of Calabria); Domenico Cecere (University of Naples Federico II); Fausto Ciompi (University of Pisa); Virginia De Micco (psychoanalyst and national coordinator of GruppoPER – SPI); Elena Dell’Agnese (University of Milan-Bicocca); Piero Di Domenico (Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna); Marcello Di Filippo (University of Pisa); Francesco Fiorentino (University Roma Tre); Marina Foschi (University of Pisa); Michela Lazzeroni (University of Pisa); Mons. Giuseppe Lorizio (Pontifical Lateran University, Rome); Matteo Marcheschi (CNR- ILIESI, Rome); Sofia Morabito (University of Pisa); Stefano Parolai (University of Trieste); Federico Poni (Chimera Project); Claudia Principe (CNR-IGG, Pisa Branch); Biancamaria Rizzardi (University of Pisa); Giovanni Sampaolo (University Roma Tre); Chiara Savettieri (University of Pisa); Niccolò Scaffai (University of Siena); Arianna Soldati (North Carolina State University); Carlo Tirinanzi De Medici (University of Pisa); Tania Zulli (University “G. d’Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara). Chairs and Moderators: Giovanni Bassi (University of Bari “Aldo Moro”); Rita Calabrese (University of Salerno); Andrea Carosso (University of Turin); Alberto Casadei (University of Pisa); Pierfrancesco Dellino (University of Bari “Aldo Moro”; Spoke Leader PNRR RETURN – Spoke 3-VS3 “Earthquake and Volcanoes”); Marina Foschi (University of Pisa); Fabrizio Franceschini (University of Pisa); Flavio Gregori (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice); Angelo Monaco (University of Bari “Aldo Moro”); Biancamaria Rizzardi (University of Pisa); Antonietta Sanna (University of Pisa); Valérie Tosi (University of Pisa). SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE: Biancamaria Rizzardi, Stefano Brugnolo, Fausto Ciompi, Marina Foschi, Michela Lazzeroni, Carlo Tirinanzi De Medici (University of Pisa). ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Elena Bastianoni, Silvy Boccaletti, Chiara Cernicchiaro, Francesco De Sorbo, Sofia Mangiaterra, Benedetta Rosi, Valérie Tosi (University of Pisa). Contacts: prismaconference@fileli.unipi.it Venues: Aula Magna Storica, University of Pisa, Palazzo della Sapienza, Via Curtatone e Montanara, 15 (17th December 2:30 PM). Auditorium of Palazzo Blu, Lungarno Gambacorti, 9, Pisa (December 18th 19th). Sponsors: University of Pisa, Fondazione Return, Funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Italiadomani National Recovery and Resilience Plan, FILELI (Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics – Department of Excellence, University of Pisa), CFS (Department of Civilization and Forms of Knowledge – Department of Excellence, University of Pisa), University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, ANDA (Italian National Association of English Studies), AIA (Italian Association of Anglistics), AISNA (Italian Association of North American Studies), AIG (Italian Association of German Studies), AGEI (Association of Italian Geographers), Compalit (Association for the Study of Comparative Literature Theory and History), AISCLI (Italian Association of Studies on English-language Cultures and Literature), AISC, Italian Alexander von Humboldt Association, CLI (Language Center Pisa), SBA (University Library System, University of Pisa).
