Research visiting in times of Corona

In October, I visited the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society of the University of Turin as part of the research visiting programme of the Centro di Eccellenza Luigi Bobbio

After eight months of pandemic, meeting colleagues in person made me realise just how much our connections through conferences and research networks are more important than ever

It was only a week, but it almost made up for months and months of 2D meetings. We were all so starved for human real world interaction, that we really did not mind all the restrictions, such as having to wear a mask at all time, both outdoor and indoor, keeping the 2mt distance, disinfecting hands and surfaces very often, and so on. The fact itself that we could have a spontaneous conversation - as opposed to virtual, scheduled ones - was already a blessing.

The visiting programme

When last year in Pamplona, Massimiliano Demata, a colleague from the University of Turin told me about the programme, I was certainly enthusiastic but I could have not anticipated its wider importance back then. Thanks to this opportunity, generously supported by C²DH, I was able to present my research on the linguistic analysis of tweets through digital methods, meet old and new colleagues, and have great conversations for future research initiatives.

We were all so starved for human real world interaction, that we really did not mind all the restrictions

The workshop

The workshop aimed to bring together researchers on the topic of migration and metaphors and it was a fantastic opportunity to hear more about all the latest research on the subject. The workshop itself was in a blended format, streamed online and with some of the speakers on site. Have a look at the work presented in the poster below and feel free to watch my presentation

Work presented at the University of Turin, 15 October 2020

Looking at the future, keeping the past

Nobody actually knows when we will be able to host events like we did before, but I will keep the memory of my research visiting experience in times of Corona, as a reminder of the importance of meeting in person. Thank you Turin!