Fondazione F. Datini posthumus


Datini - ESTER
Advanced Seminar 2027
“The Role of Foreigners in Economic and Social History”

deadline abstracts 15 October 2026

Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” and the European School for Training in Economic and Social Historical Research (ESTER) will organise their 13th jointly-organized Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar for economic and social historians on 9th-15th May 2027, in Prato (Italy) on the theme of

“The Role of Foreigners in Economic and Social History”


The organisers
ESTER, established in 1991, is an international postgraduate network incorporating more than 60 European Universities. ESTER organizes research training in the form of both the annual Research Design Course for starting PhD-students and a series of Advanced Seminars on special themes within economic and social history.

"F. Datini" International Institute of Economic History was founded in 1968 by Federigo Melis and Fernand Braudel. The aim of the Institute is the study of pre-industrial economic history (thirteenth-eighteenth centuries) and the creation on the topic of a space for historical culture, making comparison between different methodologies and schools of research easier and supporting young scholars during their formative years.


Topic
The topic of the Datini-Ester seminar is closely related to the theme of the yearly congress organized by the "F. Datini" International Institute of Economic History and devoted in 2027 to “The role of foreign communities in the economic growth of pre-industrial Europe and the Mediterranean Area (13th-18th centuries)”.

The 2027 Datini-Ester seminar will deal with the role of foreigners in economic and social history.

Foreigners - merchants, craftsmen, professionals, and labourers - occupied intermediate legal and social positions that made them both vulnerable and indispensable within historical societies. They also were central to economic growth, trade networks, and cultural exchange. Their mobility enabled the circulation of skills, capital, and innovations, fostering transregional integration in history.

We invite papers on legal status, professional roles, networks, and institutional frameworks, as well as conflict, xenophobia, generation of trust, adaptation, and cultural transfer. Comparative perspectives are encouraged to deepen understanding of economic interdependence.

We welcome scholars working on both the macro and micro level. Papers can cover any relevant aspect and any period from Antiquity until today.

Participants in the Datini-ESTER advanced seminar can receive 4 ECTS credits.

[download the Call for Papers]

Description and organization of the Advanced Datini-ESTER Seminar

The seminar is jointly organized by the members of the board of the Datini-Ester Seminar: Guido Alfani (Fondazione Datini), Ben Gales (ESTER), Jaco Zuijderduijn (ESTER), Francesco Ammannati (Fondazione Datini). The members of the board, together with other colleagues, specialist in the field, will participate in the seminar as instructors.

The Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar consists of two complementary parts:

a) the participation in the international Datini congress (LVIII Settimana di Studi), devoted in 2027 to “The role of foreign communities in the economic growth of pre-industrial Europe and Mediterranean Area (13th-18th centuries)”. The congress will be held in Prato, from May 9 (opening 17.30 [exact time to be confirmed] with the inaugural speech in the municipal building) until May 13 (afternoon) 2027. For information on the congress:
https://www.istitutodatini.it/temi/htm/temi58.htm;

b) a two-day workshop from May 14 (morning) until May 15 (late afternoon) 2027, in a reserved room of the Datini Palace in Prato [place to be confirmed].
The workshop will bring together a number of senior researchers from different countries. Prior to the workshop, students will be asked to prepare a paper. They will have the opportunity of presenting their research project dealing with one or more core problems of their research field and discussing them with both senior researchers and other fellow students. Each paper will be presented by the author during the seminar and then examined and discussed by one of the participating students and by one of the instructors, after which a general discussion among all participants will take place. The students will be guests of the Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” from Sunday May 9 (in) until Sunday May 16 morning (out). On May 15, at the end of the seminar, the students will receive diplomas attesting their participation in the Datini congress and Datini-ESTER.
The diplomas will be delivered only to the students who will take part BOTH in the Datini congress AND the seminar.
Besides providing a feedback opportunity for ongoing projects, the seminar will provide the opportunity to attend the international Datini congress, and foster cooperation between economic and social historians coming from different countries.
This Advanced Datini-Ester Seminar is open to 15 PhD-students and Post-Docs (who finished their doctorate less than five years prior to the seminar).

Applications and admission
Students should apply online, and present a 800 words abstract of the content of their paper dealing with economic exchanges.A first selection of students (by ESTER and Datini) will take place on the basis of the abstracts. After this stage, students who are accepted will be asked to draft their research paper. The final admission to the course depends upon the following points:
  • the student must meet the deadline for submission of his/her paper (whose deadline is the 15th of March 2027);
  • the paper must be of sufficient academic quality and the level of the English used inthe paper must be sufficient.
The language of the papers, such as that of the seminar, will be English.

Dates and location
The Advanced Seminar will take place in Prato, Italy, from May 9 (Sunday with the inauguration of the congress) to May 15 (Saturday), so the day of arrival will be Sunday May 9 and the departure Sunday morning May 16. Both the students and instructors will meet on Sunday evening (9th of May) at 8 pm o’clock for a dinner together (the place to be defined). The seminar will start on Friday 15 at 9 am. Students wishing to participate are requested to send their application no later than the 15th October 2026. To this purpose the students will use the online form. The selection of students will be completed by the end of October 2026. Deadline for submission of papers by accepted students is March 15th 2027. Following that date, the papers will be made available to all participants.
Application forms are available on the ESTER website https://posthumusinstitute.org/

Dates: a summary (2025-26):
- August 2026 - Call for Applications
- 15th October 2026 - Deadline for Applications
- 31st October 2026 - Selection completed, applicants informed
- 15th March 2027 - Deadline paper submission [The paper will be due to posthumus@uu.nl]
- 31st March 2027 - Papers online for reading
- 9th May 2027 (morning or afternoon): arrival in Prato
- 9th May 2027 (17.30 inaugural speech in the municipal building)
- 9th-13th May (afternoon) 2027 – International Datini Congress
- 14th-15th May 2027 (late afternoon) – Advanced Seminar
- 15th May 2027 (end of the seminar) delivery of diplomas
- 16th May 2027 (morning) departure

Funding
Costs for accommodation and catering will be covered by the organizers. The organizers will not cover travel costs (possibly covered by students’ home institutions). Travel arrangements to and from Prato have to be organized by the selected participants themselves. The workshop will be funded by the Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” and by the ESTER Graduate School.

Contact
For inquiries concerning this course, please contact ESTER:
ESTER/N.W. Posthumus Institute
Faculty of Arts
P.O. Box 9103
The Netherlands
E-mail: posthumus@uu.nl

For inquiries concerning the hospitality in Prato, the students have to contact the secretary of the Datini Institute on the dates of their arrival and departure:
Letizia Finocchiaro - Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” di Prato
E-mail: datini@istitutodatini.it

Download CALL FOR PAPERS 2027

Link to APPLICATION FORM

© Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica "F. Datini"