The Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies (ELTS) continues to expand its engagement with the public humanities through collaborative, interdisciplinary research projects that connect cultural study, environmental inquiry, and digital innovation. A recent example is the Ecocultures of the Scala dei Turchi multispecies thick-map, a public humanities project developed through Professor Nathan’s research lab in collaboration with graduate and undergraduate student researchers.
Commissioned as part of Agrigento Italian Capital of Culture 2025, the project was officially unveiled in December 2025 as an international digital humanities initiative exploring the ecological, cultural, and historical dimensions of the Scala dei Turchi, a renowned coastal landscape in Sicily. The project brings together environmental humanities, cultural history, and spatial storytelling through an interactive digital platform that invites users to explore the site from multiple perspectives—human and nonhuman alike.
Using ArcGIS StoryMaps technology, the thick-map integrates archival research, literary and historical analysis, ecological data, and multimedia documentation to present the Scala dei Turchi as a dynamic multispecies environment shaped by layered histories, cultural narratives, and environmental change. The project exemplifies how digital humanities methodologies can make scholarly research accessible to broader publics while fostering new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration.
Central to the initiative was the active involvement of ELTS students working as research assistants in the lab, highlighting the department’s commitment to experiential learning and mentorship. Through participation in the project, students contributed to research design, digital curation, and public-facing scholarship, gaining hands-on experience at the intersection of humanities research and digital storytelling.
Projects such as Ecocultures of the Scala dei Turchi reflect ELTS’s broader mission to advance innovative scholarship that bridges academic research and public engagement while fostering collaborative learning environments across faculty and students.