Fellow der Volkswagen Stiftung und Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

September 2016–Juni 2017

The Emotions of Internationalism: 'Feeling' International Cooperation on the Mountains in the Interwar Period

This project investigates how emotions affected internationalism in the interwar period, 1919–1939. It examines the work of the League of Nations (particularly its functional sections devoted to Health and Intellectual Cooperation) and a wide range of other international associations active on the mountains in the 1920s and 1930s in order to explore how they tried to shape not only what people thought but also what people felt about internationalism in this period. Looking at mountains as concrete and metaphorical sites for international cooperation reveals dynamics that traditional frameworks based on the nation-state have misinterpreted or overlooked. People involved in internationalism placed a high value on emotions, expressed them profusely, and tenaciously chased them as they considered them an important part of their work. As a result, internationalist ideas and practices came to be defined by their perceived ability to suppress the animosity left by the First World War, to help people manage national pride and universalist aspirations, and to elicit friendship among peoples and nations.

A native of Italy, Ilaria Scaglia is Assistant Professor of International History at Columbus State University (USA). She is the author of “The Aesthetics of Internationalism: Culture and Politics on Display at the 1935–1936 International Exhibition of Chinese Art,” Journal of World History 26, 1 (March 2015), 105-137. She has presented her work at numerous regional, national and international conferences. She is also the Membership Coordinator for the Coordinating Council for Women in History (CCWH). Ilaria will hold a Mellon-Volkswagen Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Dahlem Humanities Center from September 2016 to June 2017.

Kontakt: scaglia@zedat.fu-berlin.de