The Lay Centre community held, on Nov. 30, the “Dies Academicus 2024,” an open day in which they welcome visitors and engage in fruitful intellectual dialogue.
Five Lay Centre residents presented topics they have been studying and discussed them with those present in the audience. This is an annual event organized by The Lay Centre to encourage our residential scholars to share the fruit of their research with our friends in Rome.
- ‘Do we need to build bridges?,’ by Karina Gandur
- ‘Prevention: a way to build a safer Church,’ by Sara Staiano
- ‘The Consequences of Not Rhyming,’ by Joshua Pyle
- ‘The Catholic Church and International Law,’ by Lourdes Spossito
After the sessions, guests joined the community for lunch. The presentations were very diverse and included topics in history, culture, psychology, theology, and spirituality. The second speaker was Luiza della Giustina Da Correggio, from Brazil. She is a Psychology undergraduate from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil), focusing on Social Psychology applied in different contexts.
Luiza is currently studying social museology and anthropology at the Sapienza Università di Roma and coordinating a project on belonging, territory, and art with young people in a community Ecomuseum in a suburb of Rome (Italy). She is passionate about using psychology knowledge to improve people’s quality of life and create a more equal, just, and diverse society.
Her presentation focused on a research project at the “Ecomuseo Casilino ad Duas Lauros,” located in a historical periphery of Rome called Torpignattara. She reflected on the concepts of memory, territory, and social museology, especially the importance of protecting, promoting, and enhancing the territory’s heritage to strengthen the sense of community belonging and social participation.
Luiza discussed some of the main theories involved, the actions taking place on the “Ecomuseo,” and presented the initial conclusions of her research.