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C
L E
Centrum
Latinitatis Europae (Summer
2006)
Who
are we? Ten
years ago a new centre for studies which is based in Aquileia and has
subsidiaries in different parts of Italy and also north of the Alps
(Austria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic) has been established: the
“Centrum Latinitatis Europae” was founded in 1997 and is based in
Aquileia. It has an extensive programme since 1998 and by now a network of
bases, connected associations and representatives in some European
countries. It is dedicated to the preservation und reinvigoration of the
heritage of the classic cultures (Latin and Greek) and (Christian)
humanism, and tries to engage the public’s attention to the importance
of these cultural treasures and the meaning they have today. It is based
in Aquileia in the north-east of Italy because of the place’s symbolic
meaning as mediator between heathen antiquity and Christianity from
antiquity until this very day. Besides, it lies between various cultural
spheres of influence of the north and south, and the west and east. During
the whole Middle Ages, Aquileia had especially cultural and spiritual
meaning also for the area north of the Alps. The place is within easy
reach from all directions (railway line Venice – Trieste, international
airport Trieste/Ronchi) and therefore ideal as a basis of an international
association for the protection and reinvigoration of the Greek-Latin and
humanistic culture. The subsidiaries, representatives and teams that have
been created in the last few years expand our range of activities
considerably (also by specialization of some subsidiaries) and, at the
same time, make it possible to work “at the scene of action” in order
to take into consideration also regional needs. After
having established an organizational structure in Italy, we managed to
realize subsidiaries in Austria (Vienna, Linz, Graz), Germany (Berlin) and
other countries, and are now planning to establish further subsidiaries,
particularly in the Anglo-Saxon and Slavic area. Furthermore, we are
anxious to find a permanent representative in Greece. We also have a
partner in the United States with whom we are trying to establish
intercontinental cultural and scientific exchange. Finally,
we are contributing regularly to the philological
magazine “ZETESIS” (Milan) for half a year now. How
were we set up? More
than ten years ago the secondary school professor from Linz Dr. Rainer Weißengruber
had the idea to establish a small Europe-oriented cultural centre in the
north-east of Italy, meant to round off the job of the philological and
philosophical study groups. The initiative “Centrum Latinitatis Europae”
was set up together with colleagues from Italy and the support of the
dioceses Gorizia and Linz, and soon moved to the renovated rooms next to
the Basilica of Aquileia where it organizes meetings since May 1997 on the
education of Latin and the problem of sensitising the public with respect
to the classic European cultures and humanism. Moreover, we have always
been interested in the relations between ancient and modern foreign
languages. Our task has always been interdisciplinary. More and more
people show an interest in our meetings, at first only in Aquileia, during
the last six years also in other parts of Italy and now even in Austria,
Germany and other countries. At the moment our organization embraces about
30 subsidiaries which operate as thematically autonomous delegations. Most
of the main collaborators are professors of Latin and Greek, but also
representatives of other disciplines. Furthermore, we maintain
deliberately our relationships with scientific institutions. Through the
establishment of subsidiaries we gained collaborators from various parts
of Italy and adjoining foreign countries. The “CLE” has a well-tried
“federal” structure. Each “Punto-CLE” works with a certain
autonomy which is adjusted to local conditions. This will be particularly
important to our (future) subsidiaries. Apart
from the “Punto-CLE” there are some specific offices that look after
various concerns: science and research, philosophy and intercultural
affairs, art and music, didactics and pedagogics, publishing. Since
2004 we are an officially acknowledged organizer of further education (according
to the guidelines of the Italian Ministry for Education and Research, MIUR)
and thus in the position of a private academy. In this sense, we also
cooperate with university departments and institutions. At the moment we
cooperate with the Università degli Studi in Trieste and the Humboldt
University in Berlin. What
is our purpose? To
put it short: our purpose is to do our best in order to sensitise the
public – politics, economy, culture etc. –
with respect to the protection and reinterpretation of the Latin
and Greek culture (not only ancient culture) and, in a wider sense, of
humanistic values and meaning. We direct our attention to the field
“Applied Humanism”. Our target groups are scientists and teachers as
well as “unprofessionals” who are interested in this field,
politicians, people who are interested in culture, writers and journalists,
those who teach and those who study, the old and the young, people from
all European countries. For the next few years we are aiming at the
europeanization of our association. We are especially interested in
building a bridge between the classic culture and modern cultural trends,
in current cultural activities in Europe and in discussing traditional,
however valid values at different levels. We
try to achieve our aims by means of meetings (lectures, conferences,
discussions, seminars, “summer academies”…), public relations
(press, different media), direct politico-cultural contacts, offers on the
Internet and cooperation with professional journals and partnerships with
schools, academies and other institutes. We
do not want to and cannot be a private university with extensive training,
but serve as an addition to already existing offers with a strongly
interdisciplinary purpose. We deliberately do not focus on the antiquity
alone, but consider “Latinitas” a wide concept that embraces all
epochs until this very day. Our main purpose is to discuss humanistic
values in our modern society, in the European sense, with an intercultural
approach while keeping in mind the idea of peace and the common European
cultural heritage at the same time. We
consider the Latin and Greek cultural heritage as something complex and
therefore think that a complete experience-oriented approach is possible,
but also necessary to grasp the whole concept of it. A purely scientific
approach is simply not enough. However, the statements and presentations
are based on scientific facts. As we are particularly interested
in the cooperation with the youth, we work a lot with pedagogic and
didactic methods. It
is a strong wish of the “Centrum Latinitatis Europae” to liven up the
notions of “Latinitas” and “Humanitas”. We invite you warmly to
accompany us. Based
in Aquileia / Italy: Basilica Patriarcale Central
office: c/o Prof. Loredana
Marano, Via Udine 62, I- 33052 Cervignano (Udine) Chairman: Dr.
Rainer Weissengruber, Beethoven-Str.12, A-4020 Linz
(Intern.Büro des CLE) Tel/fax:
0043-732-772534 Mob:
0043-676-9179321 E-mail:
r.weissengruber@eduhi.at
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