ALMA MATER STUDIORUM UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA
DIPARTIMENTO DI LINGUE E LETTERATURE STRANIERE MODERNE
Evaluation in the
Human Sciences:
Towards a Common European Policy
Bologna, December 12-13 2008
Aula Prodi, Piazza San Giovanni in Monte, 2
Organized by Keir Elam and Sergio Scalise
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Dear Colleagues, On
December 12 and 13 2008 a conference, organized by our Department, was
held on the topic “Evaluation in the Human Sciences: Towards a Common
European Policy”. In addition to praise for the high quality and
international character of this meeting, we have received many requests
to make its contents publicly available. We are therefore pleased to be
able to ‘publish’ material presented at the conference in the Department
web page. This material is provisional, and represents speakers’ notes
for oral presentations in their original, unrevised form. We would like
to take the opportunity to thank all the speakers concerned as well as
colleagues who participated in the discussion.
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This conference, the first of its kind to be held in Italy, aims to discuss the evaluation of research in the field of the human sciences. This topic is at the centre of attention not only in the United States but also in Europe, while in Italy there is currently a lively debate on the forms evaluation should assume in the humanities. The University of Bologna, through this event, intends to contribute to a discussion that is of vital importance to present and future generations of researchers. The meeting will offer the opportunity to reflect on the aims and methods of evaluation of research, of publications, of journals, of departmental structures and of centres of research. In particular, the field of the human sciences is especially problematic with regard to evaluative methodologies, especially since methods borrowed from other areas, such as the natural sciences, have often proved inappropriate. Conference speakers will compare the approaches and goals of evaluation in the human sciences in other European countries, especially those with a consolidated tradition of evaluative practice, in the hope of providing proposals for shared principles and procedures.
The conference is divided into three thematic moments. In the first of these (the morning of Friday December 12), leading experts from a number of important European countries (France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Great Britain) will illustrate and comment on evaluation in their own university and research systems. The second (the afternoon of Friday December 12) will concern the policies and philosophies of evaluation of research, of publications and of journals in Europe and the United States, addressing such issues as peer reviews, impact factor, metrics and the classification of journals and Universities. The third and last thematic moment (the morning of Saturday December 13) will be dedicated to a debate on prospects for a common European policy on evaluation in the Human sciences.
Conference Sponsors
Progetto Strategico ENLM di Sergio Scalise - Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature Straniere Moderne - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna
For any further query on the conference, please contact Fabio Liberto