Like every year, universities open their doors and, often through synergies and institutional partnerships, organize truly stimulating events and higher education opportunities. For this reason, we've selected the most interesting offerings in the fields of sociology, research, and media, offering a comprehensive overview of each 2026 summer school still open for registration.
The 2026 Summer School on Methodology and Social Research
The Cilento village of Tortorella (Salerno) has been confirmed as the summer capital of research methodology for the twenty-third consecutive year. From August 24 to September 4, 2026, the 23rd edition of the prestigious Summer School on Methodology and Social Research will begin. This advanced training initiative, organized by the Paideia association in conjunction with the Department of Political Science and Communication at the University of Salerno, has been recognized by the Italian Association of Sociology (AIS). Aimed at students, doctoral students, researchers, and industry professionals, the school stands out nationally for its unique formula: offering high-quality academic teaching completely free of charge, thanks to an intergenerational faculty that combines renowned professors with young scholars.
This year's program is structured over two independent weeks, ranging from digital frontiers to traditional methods. From August 24th to 28th, participants can choose between courses in Content Analysis and Natural Language Processing (led by researchers Mario Monteleone and Giuseppe Michele Padricelli), Multivariate Data Analysis with Statistical Software (led by Professor Felice Addeo), and Participatory Research Methods focusing on Focus Groups and the Delphi Method (led by researcher Vincenzo Esposito and expert Patrizia Medici). The second week, from August 31st to September 4th, will see the launch of highly innovative courses: from Comics-Based Research, which explores comics as a sociological tool (led by Professor Veronica Moretti), to Qualitative Field Research techniques (led by Professors Rita Bichi and Fabrizio Martire), to Cluster Analysis applied to the study of territories (led by researcher Marco Palmieri).
What's new: the Bilendi x Paideia Award
The real turning point of this twenty-third edition is the launch of the "Bilendi x Paideia Award." Participants will have the opportunity to submit their own research project; the most deserving work will win a special grant that includes free data collection on a representative sample of the Italian population, entirely supervised and funded by Bilendi. This concrete opportunity for scientific support has prompted the promoters to invite university departments, doctoral coordinators, and trade associations to officially include the School in their complementary training programs. Registration and the full program are already available on the event's official web platform , and the organizing secretariat can be reached for information at info@paideiascuoleestive.it.
Summer School 2026 Human Mobility and Global Justice
Understanding migration flows no longer as an isolated emergency, but as a crucial juncture of global justice, analyzing their economic, social, ethical, and cultural implications. This is the goal of the 14th edition of the Summer School "Human Mobility and Global Justice , " scheduled for August 24-27, 2026. After visiting iconic places of welcome such as Lampedusa, Castel Volturno, Gorizia, and even the Albanian coast, this year the school arrives in the Palermo area. This is no coincidence: Palermo presents itself as a paradigmatic territory, a historic gateway to the Mediterranean and a natural crossroads of peoples capable of forging a dialogue between local identity and openness to the world. The focus of this edition, entitled “Encounters and clashes of cultures: for a culture of encounter,” will focus in particular on the management of interethnic and interreligious coexistence, constantly moving between the micro dimension of social, health and educational services and the macro scenarios of a Europe in a profound identity crisis.
Scientifically directed by Professor Laura Zanfrini (Professor of Sociology of Migration at the Catholic University) and co-directed by Cardinal Fabio Baggio and Monsignor Giancarlo Perego, the initiative offers a packed four-day program that will combine advanced theoretical training, workshops, and exceptional field trips. The program, which opens on Monday, August 24, at the Casa San Francesco in Palermo, includes an inaugural session with theologian Vito Impellizzeri, followed by an immersive tour of the city's multicultural profile and a food and wine excursion organized by the APS Moltivolti.
In detail…
In the following days, participants will explore the topic of multicultural health and social care systems with experts Mario Affronti and Ornella Dino, visit the Islamic Center, and analyze the processes of transmitting values in immigrant families with Professor Giovanni Giulio Valtolina and sociologist Alessandra Caragiuli. Among the highlights are a guided trip to the famous "Casbah" of Mazara del Vallo to meet with teachers from the Islamic School and the Euro-Arab Institute, and a session dedicated to Roma and Sinti cultures, curated by Eva Rizzin. The program will conclude on August 27 at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Sicily with a public roundtable discussion on Christian identity in Europe, which will also feature the Archbishop of Palermo, Corrado Lorefice.
Registration for the school will remain open until July 31, 2026. At the end of the activities, upon successful completion of an assessment, participants will be awarded an Open Badge certifying their skills in social planning and critical analysis of migration phenomena. Students in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Catholic University will also earn 3 credits. The participation fee is €500,00 (reduced to €450,00 for Fondazione Migrantes staff and Premium Alumni of the University) and includes, in addition to tuition, all bus transportation for excursions, admission fees, and some social events such as the social dinner on the seafront. The promoters remind that the initiative is entirely funded through the "Teacher Card." All operational information and registration forms are available by contacting the organizing secretariat at valentina.cerutti@unicatt.it and on the official website.
The XXXV Summer School 2026 of Media Education
The pervasiveness of digital platforms, the spread of hate speech and misinformation, and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on public opinion have transformed citizenship education into an urgently needed democratic and institutional priority. This is the backdrop for the XXXV Media Education Summer School, titled "Learning Citizenship, Practicing Democracy ," a premier event that combines civic education (in line with Law 92/2019) with practices of civic intervention and individual agency in online environments. Scientifically directed by Gianna Cappello, Maria Ranieri, and Luciano Di Mele, the initiative is aimed at teachers, educators, and trainers with the dual objective of offering sound theoretical and methodological frameworks and encouraging the emergence of co-design networks between schools, the local community, and the entire educational community.
This year's curriculum is structured in a mixed format and has, in fact, already begun partially online. In May and June 2026, the school will offer a series of introductory online webinars, free and open to all, broadcast live on the MED Facebook and YouTube channels. Although the first sessions, dedicated to school strategies and digital geopolitics, took place earlier this month, the online calendar is still in full swing, and the highly anticipated subsequent modules are still available: on May 25th, sociologist Giovanni Boccia Artieri will speak on the platformization of the public sphere, while on May 29th, Gianna Cappello and Maria Ranieri will discuss digital childhoods in families and daily parenting practices.
In attendance in Ferrara
The heart of the event will then move entirely in-person from Tuesday, July 14, to Thursday, July 16, 2026, in the historic setting of Ferrara , with a rich program of plenary sessions, roundtable discussions, and field activities. The Ferrara days will feature keynote presentations—including presentations by Emiliana De Blasio (LUISS) on digital public space and Stefano Pasta on combating educational poverty—along with nine parallel sessions dedicated to the exchange of best practices in schools, the ethics of AI, and youth councils. Central to the program will be four intensive 12-hour workshops, from which participants can choose: they range from visual radio for participatory production (with A. Curci and M. Raspatelli) to photography as a social action, from hip-hop pedagogies to the critical analysis of artificial intelligence.
The program also includes social events, such as the presentation of the MED "Roberto Giannatelli" and "Cesare Scurati" awards, cultural initiatives such as a guided tour of Ferrara's historic center with a social dinner, and a special final training session for journalists led by Vincenzo Varagona, who will award professional training credits through the Emilia-Romagna Association. To reserve your place in the limited-access workshops and receive organizational details from the secretariat, please visit the MED association's official channels.
Lecturer in Communications and HR Management. Journalist with a degree in Sociology (cum laude). Editor-in-Chief of Sociologicamente.it.
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