Presentation

Welcome!

ALTER is a research group hosted in the Department of Arts and Humanities in Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Barcelona. Since its creation in 2009, the group has grown to include sixteen junior and senior researchers working at the intersections of comparative literature, philosophy, art history, history and political science. The group began working primarily with a regional focus on East Asia and now includes projects related to Latin America and Africa.

Our projects explore issues of otherness and representation in a comparative perspective. We are interested in the strategies of cross-cultural, transnational representation that are produced in different historical contexts. We are currently working on four avenues of research: 

• Cross-cultural interactions between East Asia and the West
• Epistemic diversity and remediation policies from art and curating
• Non-Western theories in International Relations
• Decolonization of knowledge

“Should you ever be fortunate enough to receive an invitation from the research group ALTER, SAY YES. A stellar, rigorous, dynamic, and inspiring experience. Thank you.”
TOM MULLANEY, Stanford University

“It was very inspiring to learn about the research that ALTER is doing, and to see what a fantastic collaborative dynamic you have developed in the group. It’s really unusual to see a research group in the humanities that genuinely works together like this.”
MARGARET HILLENBRAND, University of Oxford 

“I found much that was inspiring in ALTER’s work. It was a most enjoyable seminar.” 
ROBERT BICKERS, University of Bristol