The act will be presented by the UV principal Maria Vicenta Mestre and the event will be of free access until no more seats are available. Traverso is a Humanities Chairman in Cornell University (Ithaca, New York), and he will share his thoughts on the history of the Gaza conflict and its connection with the historic process of antisemitism and colonialism.

Traverso will adress concepts to read the Gaza wat, which reflect on belonging and abuse. To the historian, words aren’t neutral, so evoking memories of the Holocaust to justify genocide in the present days startles him and makes him want to intervene. Enzo Traverso will reflect on the consequences of this war for history awareness and collective memory, among other matters.

About Enso Traverso

Born in Italy in 1957. He studied in the University of Genova and got a doctorate in la Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales at Paris. For many years he taught politic sciences in France and since 2013 he is Susan and Barton Winokur Professor in the Humanities in Cornell University (Ithaca, NY). He’s been invited as professor to many countries from Europe and Latin America. All his books have been translated to Spanish, among which can be highlighted: Origins of Nazi Violence. European Genealogy (2002); Fire and Blood. European Civil War (2010); End of the Jewish Modernity. History of a Conservative Turn (2013); Left-Wing Melancholia. After Utopias (2019); Singular Past: The “I” in Historiography (2022); Revolution: An Intellectual History (2022); The Jewish Question: History of the Marxist Debate (2023). 

This activity is a part of the cultural mediation programme about the Valencian artist Artur Heras exhibition in La Nau, included in the activity program of Universitat de València’s European Thought Lluís Vives, a room for reflection, open debate and critique about the world’s and Valencian society’s most hottest topics. This is organised by UV Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Society  and comes with diverse Valencian civil society agents.