Research and future projects.
Every year, CIRCI collaborates with major educational and cultural institutions to fund post-doctoral research and initiate projects, nurturing and deepening the investigation of the culture of childhood..
Books without words.
Classroom settings often put children who have not mastered the language at a severe disadvantage.
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Children in Their Own Words.
Following on the pioneering work of Peter and Iona Opie, CIRCI will be developing two oral history projects in 2022.
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Every year the Centre funds a young post-doctoral scholar, in collaboration with a leading educational institution.
The first CIRCI scholars are:
Federica Rossi
2020 CIRCI Scholar
Modernist Architecture in Soviet Children’s Books
In collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Rossi curated the exhibition on the Adler Collection, and is organizing an international study day on the Modernist architecture illustrated in the Adler Collection, clearly the result of their interest as architects in the Soviet built environment.
Giulia de Florio
2021 CIRCI Scholar
The first museum of children’s books
In collaboration with the University of Modena/Reggio Emilia, De Florio will research the ferment in early childhood education in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s, with special attention to the involvement of artists, sculptors, playwrights, writers, dancers and theatre professionals in educational projects. Of special note is Jakov Meksin, who founded the first museum of children’s literature before he died in a gulag in 1941 after being sentenced during the 1937/8 Purges.
Lara Verena Bellenghi
2022 CIRCI Scholar
Vienna of early 20th century
Lara is currently engaged in a project to contextualise the children’s books collected by the Viennese architect Otto Prutscher. This project looks at the intellectual ferment of early 20th century Vienna, Prague and Berlin, with special attention to new forms of pedagogy and performance-based learning, highlighting the importance of multilingualism as a source of both vulnerability and creativity.
