Call for Papers: Universities and CNR

Call for Proposal

First National Conference

Embodiment and the Educating Community: Literature, Developments and Perspectives

Following the seminars held, or scheduled to take place by May 2025, across Italy in collaboration with UNIPA, UNIBA, UNIPEGASO, UNIKORE, UNIMOL, UNIMC, UNIMORE, IUSVE and UNIBG, the series concludes with the First National Conference on Embodied Education (Schools and Local Communities), organised and promoted by the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio.

The conference will feature two internationally renowned scientists: Professor Giacomo Rizzolatti, Emeritus Professor of Physiology at the University of Parma, speaking on mirror neurons and Embodied Education on the afternoon of Friday 20 June; and Professor Joseph LeDoux, Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University, USA, delivering his keynote remotely on the afternoon of Saturday 21 June.

Who can submit

Universities and Research Centres: university lecturers, researchers, doctoral candidates and research fellows.

Conceptual framework

In a constantly changing society, where the pace of life is increasingly shaped by algorithmic procedures and the perceived need to use time productively, the concepts of education, teaching and school are becoming progressively more fluid. Educational institutions are increasingly called upon to focus less on transmitting content and knowledge and more on ways of being and becoming: being citizens of a world of endless possibilities, without being overwhelmed or constrained by assumptions suited less to a culturally globalised world than to an economically globalised market, where every component is necessary but not indispensable, useful yet replaceable. In this phase of the Anthropocene, marked by the growing presence of artificially intelligent machines, research and scholarly debate need new contributions that can clarify the place of humanity and the human, particularly as beings situated in and shaped by time. We can no longer confine ourselves to the online world:onlife is already here (Floridi, 2016). From this perspective, research should focus less on the relationship technologies may establish with humans than on the relationship humans establish with technologies. The body acquires renewed centrality through neuroscience and the need for a new principle of ethics and responsibility (Jonas, 2014). We adopt Embodied Education (EE), particularly the Embodied Cognition paradigm, as a scientific lens for understanding embodiment as central to human cognition. Recognising the unique individuality of everyone involved, intentional teaching, research design and educational activities should be structured around inclusive thinking that embraces the full range of human conditions. An approach concerned with more than assistance: an existentialand substantive approach, attentive to each person’s particular characteristics and explicitly open to everyone according to their possibilities. An educational design that is potentially enabling, rather than rehabilitative or enabling in a narrow sense. We must be particularly careful to avoid a
Malthusian proliferation of teaching methods, whether or not they are based on AI, and instead promote situated, concrete, productive and open learning experiences in any context, informed by an understanding of
the deep connection between the functioning of the body–brain system and our cognitive and social abilities. Those working in education must support learning while respecting each person’s pace and characteristics, recognising learners as complex systems of meanings that acquire new meanings while
continually producing others. Ultimately, EE can situate learning within subjectivity, taking account of the spaces, times and relationships of educational settings in the light of the scientific, epistemological, social and anthropological changes we are experiencing.

Conference venue and dates

Venue: Angevin Castle, Gaeta (LT)

Date: 20 and 21 June 2025

Topics

Authors may submit contributions in accordance with the editorial guidelines in section D of the Journal of Inclusive Methodology and Technology in Learning and Teaching (JIMTLT), addressing the following areas:

AREA 1: Embodied Education and Neuroscience Applied to Teaching

AREA 2: Embodied Education, Subject Teaching and Educational Technologies

AREA 3: Embodied Education and Integrated Early Childhood Education (0–6)

AREA 4: Embodied Education and Professional Development

AREA 5: Embodied Education, Sustainability and Inclusion

AREA 6: Embodied Education and Innovation: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching

Submission

Eligible contributors may submit their work for publication in a special issue on Embodied Education, edited by Filippo Gomez Paloma, in the Journal of Inclusive Methodology and Technology in Learning and Teaching (JIMTLT). Articles must be in Italian or English, contain no more than 30,000 characters, and follow the author guidelines available here:

https://inclusiveteaching.it/index.php/inclusiveteaching/info_autori

Articles must undergo double-blind peer review through the online submission procedure at: www.inclusiveteaching.it

Deadline: 15 April 2025

Notification of acceptance: 15 May 2025

Expected publication: June 2025.

Fees: Conference registration is free and compulsory through the following LINK. Given the venue’s capacity, registration will close after 50 participants. Early registration is advised to avoid missing the opportunity to attend.

Conference attendance does not require the submission of an article proposal.

Authors whose articles are accepted will be asked to contribute EUR 50 towards publication in the journal.

Programme structure

FRIDAY 20 JUNE 2025
14.00 - Welcome and registration
15.00 - Institutional welcome
15.45 - Introduction
16.00 – Keynote Speaker – Prof. Giacomo Rizzolatti
17.00 - Coffee break
17.30 - Round Table – Embodied Education in Italy
19.30 – Performance
20.15 - Conference dinner

SATURDAY 21 JUNE 2025
08.30 - Visit to Gaeta’s Angevin Castle (first group)
09.15 – Workshops – Best Practices in Embodied Education
W1 – Embodied Education and Subject Teaching
W2 – Embodied Education, Sustainability and Inclusion
W3 – Embodied Education and Technologies
W4 – Embodied Education and Professional Development
W5 – Embodied Education and Bodily Awareness
W6 – Embodied Education and Early Childhood Education (0–6)
11.15 - Coffee break
11.45 - Plenary feedback session
13.00 - Visit to Gaeta’s Angevin Castle (second group)
13.45 – Lunch
15.00 - Keynote Speaker - Joseph Le Doux (remote)
16.00 - Round Table - Epistemic Pluralism in Embodied Education
18.00 - Closing remarks

Scientific Committee

Scientific Coordinator – Filippo Gomez Paloma (UNICAS)
Deputy Scientific Coordinator – Paola Damiani (UNIMORE)
Members – Antonio Borgogni (UNIBG), Michele Baldassarre (UNIBA), Giuseppa Compagno (UNIPA), Alfredo Di Tore (UNICAS), Enrico Miatto (IUSVE), Nicolina Pastena (UNIKORE), Francesco Peluso Cassese (UNIPEGASO), Stefano Polenta (UNIMC) Simone Digennaro (UNICAS).

Organising Secretariat

Antonio Cuccaro – antocuccaro@gmail.com
Chiara Gentilozzi – gentilozzichiara@gmail.com
Monica Di Domenico – didomenicomonica@gmail.com
Fabrizio Schiavo – fabrizioschiavo81@gmail.com