A joint doctoral seminar of the University of Nova Gorica and the University of Udine "Re-thinking Borders"

On Friday, 14th November 2025, a joint doctoral seminar titled “Rethinking Borders” took place at Xcenter in Nova Gorica. The doctoral seminar was co-organised by Prof. Dr. Peter Purg from the School of Arts at the University of Nova Gorica and Vice-chancellor Prof. Dr. Francesco Pitassio from the Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage at the University of Udine. The seminar was held under the auspices of the ACROSS European Cross-border University Alliance, of which the University of Nova Gorica and the University of Udine are members, and as part of the Pixxelpoint Festival Symposium and the 2025 European Capitals of Culture Nova Gorica – Gorica.

The seminar was the first pilot implementation of the Across Think Tank, established in October 2025 within the Team Task 4.3, which aims to promote cross-border cooperation in the fields of education, culture, economy and environment. The joint doctoral seminar also took place within the Team Task 3.2, which strives to promote cross-border projects among member universities and external partners in the field of research and science.

The seminar created a shared space for reflection on borders through an inter- and trans-disciplinary lens for students of the doctoral programs Humanities at the University of Nova Gorica, Cultural Heritage Studies at the University of Nova Gorica, Art History, Film Studies, Media Studies and Music at the University of Udine, as well as students from partner institutions of the University of Nova Gorica. No matter whether the term ‘border’ designates a physical, metaphorical, political, ethnic, linguistic entity, referring to temporal or spatial parameters, it always addresses a boundary prompting a comparison and/or confrontation between two distinct entities.

The seminar was divided in two parts. The morning session was moderated by Prof. Dr. Ana Toroš from the School of Humanities at the University of Nova Gorica and focused on cultural, political, and linguistic borders, The afternoon session was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jasna Fakin Bajec from the School of Humanities at the University of Nova Gorica and explored border issues primarily through the prism of various media. The seminar was co-moderated by Prof. Dr. Cecile Sandten from the Chemnitz University of Technology, which is also an ACROSS member. Prof. Sandten contributed the opening lecture for the Pixxelpoint Festival Symposium titled Postcolonial Cities on Screen: Heterotopic Border Spaces, Diasporic (Un)Belonging, and Cinematic Experimentation. The seminar was attended by around 30 students and sparked a lively debate among speakers and the audience.