The Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F. Datini” and the European School for Training in Economic and Social Historical Research (ESTER) announce their eighth jointly-organized Datini-ESTER Advanced Seminar for economic and social historians on 14th-20th May 2023, in Prato (Italy). The topic of the seminar is “Economic Exchanges”.

The topic of the Datini-Ester seminar is closely related to the theme of the congress yearly organized by the "F. Datini" International Institute of Economic History and devoted in 2023 to Alternative Currencies. Commodities and Services as Exchange Currencies in the Monetarized Economies of the 13th to 18th Centuries. The 2023 Datini-Ester seminar will deal with Economic Exchanges. We particularly welcome papers on the exchange of goods and services, on the role of markets, monies, trade, transaction costs and institutional contexts, which might foster market integration or, alternatively, constrain economic performance. Our purpose is to clarify the role of economic exchange and markets in past economies. Papers can cover any relevant aspect and any period from Antiquity until today.

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: Paolo Malanima (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 (LIV Settimana di Studi), devoted in 2023 to Alternative Currencies, that is to payments in kind or commodities and services employed as means of barter in the monetarized economies of the thirteenth-eighteenth centuries. The congress will be held in Prato, from May 14th (opening 18.00 with the inaugural speech in the municipal building) until May 18th (afternoon) 2023.

For information on the congress:
http://www.istitutodatini.it/temi/eng/temi54.htm

b) a two-day workshop from May 19th (morning) until May 20th (late afternoon), in a reserved room of the Datini Palace in Prato.

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 14th (in) until Sunday May 21st morning (out). On May 20th, 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 on economic exchanges and markets, 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 (deadline is the 15th of March 2023);
• the paper must be of sufficient academic quality and the level of the English used in the paper must be sufficient.
The language of the papers, such as that of the seminar, will be English.

Dates and location
The Advanced 2023 Seminar will take place in Prato, Italy, from May 14th (Sunday with the inauguration of the congress) to May 20th (Saturday), so the day of arrival will be Sunday May 14th and the departure Sunday morning May 21st. Both the students and instructors will meet on Sunday evening (14th May) at 7 o’clock for a dinner together.

The seminar will start on Friday 19th at 9 am. Students wishing to participate are requested to send their application no later than the 15th November 2022. For this purpose the students will use the online form. The selection of students will be completed by the end of November 2022. Deadline for submission of papers by accepted students is March 15th 2023. Following that date, the papers will be made available to all participants.

Application forms are available on the ESTER website
https://posthumusinstitute.org/2022/05/30/cfp-ester-datini-2023/

Dates: a summary (2022-23):
June 2022 - Call for Applications
15th November 2022 - Extended Deadline for Applications
15th March 2023 - Deadline paper submission
31st March 2023 - Papers online for reading
14th May 2023 (morning or afternoon): arrival in Prato
14th May 2023 (18 o’ clock; inaugural speech in the municipal building)
15th (9 am)-18th May (afternoon) 2023 – International Datini Congress
19th (from 9 o’clock)-20th May 2023 (late afternoon) – Advanced Seminar
20th May 2023 (end of the seminar) delivery of diplomas
21th May 2021 (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 Utrecht University
E-mail: posthumus[at]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: letizia[at]istitutodatini.it