The 1st International Congress of Transcultural Studies in Italy: Project Development—Conference Realization—Enquiring Outlook

Abstract

The essay summarizes the results of the 1st International Congress of Transcultural Studies held at the University of Macerata (April 9-10, 2025), reviewing the development of the project, the organization of the conference, and the conclusions drawn from the discussions. The introduction reproduces the metatheoretical approach, the practical premises, and the programmatic concept, focusing on the neologism of transculturality proposed by the German philosopher Wolfgang Welsch. Implemented systematically in Italy at the academic level in Cultural Studies since 2006, the conference sought to focus on the proactive power of transculturalism. Summarizing the individual methodological contributions, we can see a growing European unification on a scientific level, while finally recognizing in the usefulness of transcultural methods, means, and tools a (re-) constructive progress that favors cooperation rather than competition on both a higher education and sociocultural level.