Les sociétés méditerranéennes d’aujourd'hui ne peuvent être comprises sans le poids des configurations héritées, ni sans la radicalité des ruptures en cours. Ce dialogue entre les temps est en lui-même un objet de recherche. Par la richesse de ses axes thématiques et l’ambition de son programme scientifique, ce colloque international est une invitation à transgresser les frontières disciplinaires sans les effacer, à articuler les temporalités sans les confondre, et à penser la Méditerranée non comme un simple arrière-plan géographique, mais comme un espace vécu, construit et perpétuellement réinventé par ses habitants. Ce colloque ambitionne de rassembler des chercheurs (historiens, archéologues, anthropologues, géographes, sociologues, urbanistes) afin de croiser les regards sur une même réalité complexe.

Sousse (Tunisia), 12–14 November 2026

Framework and Central Issue

Since the foundational work of Fernand Braudel, the Mediterranean has established itself as a central field of study in the humanities and social sciences. However, such an intensively studied space risks becoming fossilized as a heritage object, analyzed through (stabilized reading grid) fixed interpretative frameworks that ( mask) obscure the dynamic nature of the societies that inhabit it. This conference is based on the opposite premise: the Mediterranean is not a static legacy to be contemplated, but a living question to be collectively explored through the concrete practices of those who live in it, transform it, and represent it. It is within this perspective that the Laboratory

“Land Use, Settlement and Ways of Life in the Ancient and Medieval Maghreb” is organizing this international conference. It builds on the laboratory’s previous work on land occupation and settlement patterns throughout history, while broadening the reflection through a resolutely multidisciplinary and diachronic approach, combining anthropology of dwelling, cultural and environmental history, human geography, archeology, literary and artistic studies. Moreover, the choice of the concept of “dwelling” as a guiding thread is deliberate. From Heidegger and Bachelard to contemporary reinterpretations in human geography, anthropology, and urban studies, dwelling goes beyond the mere occupation of space: it refers to a relationship to the world, a way of being in relation with an environment—transforming it while being transformed by it, giving it meaning while being constituted as a social subject within it. In the Mediterranean context, this relationship takes on a particular density, shaped by the plurality of civilizational heritages, the diversity of natural environments, and the continuity of intercultural exchanges. The conference will address the following guiding question : to what extent do ways of living and dwelling in the Mediterranean reveal a shared identity while also expressing an irreducible local diversity ? 

This question implies examining both the persistence of cultural forms and their capacity for renewal in the face of contemporary challenges (globalization, ecological crises, migration, and identity reconfigurations).

Thematic Areas and Scientific Orientations

The conference will be structured around seven complementary axes, conceived not as separate sections but as interconnected dimensions of a single reality :

1- Mediterranean Habitat as a Social Matrix : 

This axis will examine habitat as a social matrix by tracing continuities between nomadic and sedentary forms of dwelling from Prehistory to contemporary

metropolises, analyzing (the logics behind prioritising and organising living spaces) spatial hierarchies and organization, and contextualizing traditional domestic practices within their social and symbolic frameworks.

2- Thresholds and Identity Dimensions of Dwelling 

This axis will explore the identity dimension of Mediterranean dwelling : the symbolic functions of thresholds, vestibules, and architectural devices that (illustrate) mediate belonging to a shared civilization, from Carthage to Venice, and from Alexandria to Algiers.

3-Ways of Life between Tradition, Hybridization, and Reinvention 

This axis will examine ways of life through the lenses of conservatism, acculturation, and reinvention : gastronomy, agricultural practices, and relationships to the sea and openness, all serving as markers of a living and constantly evolving identity.   

4- Representations and Narratives of Mediterranean Space 

This axis will focus on artistic and literary representations of Mediterranean space, from rock art to ancient mosaics, from vernacular architecture to contemporary expressions, in order to understand how societies have depicted their environment and constructed their relationship to the world. 

5- Socio-Ecological Vulnerabilities and Strategies of Resilience 

This axis will address ecological challenges and the resilience of Mediterranean societies in the face of climate change, water scarcity, and natural risks, through an interdisciplinary approach combining environmental sciences, environmental history, and local knowledge.     

6- Materials, Collective Imaginaries, and Digital Territories in the Mediterranean 

This axis adopts a socio-anthropological approach to dwelling, understood as a “total social fact” in the sense of Marcel Mauss (1925), articulating material practices, collective imaginaries, and Mediterranean identities. Environmental dynamics shape ways of life, while the rise of digital technologies extends the inhabited space to virtual territories where sociability and belongings are reconfigured. 

 7- Session of scientific posters : Mediation and valorization of Mediterranean tangible and intangible heritage. 

Topics (of posters) may include : preservation of archaeological, architectural, and landscape heritage ; cultural and museum (museographic) mediation strategies ; valorization of intangible heritage; digital uses and community initiatives for heritage protection and transmission.

Objectives and Scope of the Conference

This conference aims to bring together researchers (historians, archeologists, anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, and urban planners) in order to foster interdisciplinary perspectives on a shared complex reality. One of its distinctive features lies in its dual temporal focus : articulating long-term heritage and contemporary challenges is not merely a presentational device, but an epistemological conviction. Contemporary Mediterranean societies can not be understood without considering both inherited configurations and radical ongoing ruptures. This dialogue between temporalities constitutes a research object in itself to through the richness of its thematic axes and the ambition of its scientific program, this international conference invites participants transcend disciplinary boundaries without erasing them to articulate temporalities without conflating them, and to conceive the Mediterranean not as a simple geographical (background) backdrop, but as a lived, constructed, and continuously reinvented space.

Timeline, Submission Guidelines, and Organization

Deadline for abstract submission: May 30, 2026

Abstracts must be submitted via the following links:

• Arabic
• English
• French

Notification of acceptance: June 15, 2026

Publication of the detailed program: July 10, 2026

Full paper submission deadline: October 15, 2026 Submissions should be sent to:  colloquevivreethabiter@gmail.com 

For further information, please contact: 

Tel: (+216) 73 301 801 | (+216) 73 301 800

Tel: (+216) 73 302 133 | (+216) 73 301 903

WhatsApp: (+216) 97 227 195

ScientificCommittee

• Boutheina Ben Hassine, Professeur en Histoire médiévale et directrice du laboratoire LR13ES11 à la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines-Sousse-Université de Sousse-Tunisie
• Kamel Jerfel, Professeur en Histoire moderne et contemporaine et membre du laboratoire LR13ES11 à la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines-Sousse-Université de Sousse-Tunisie
• Lotfi Belhouichet, Directeur de recherches en préhistoire à l’Institut National du Patrimoine
• Adel Belkahla, Professeur de Sociologie à la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Sousse- Tunisie.
• Saloua Belhaj Salah, Maître de conférences HDR en Histoire médiévale et directrice de l’Ecole doctorale Lettres et Sciences Humaines à la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines-Sousse-Université de Sousse-Tunisie
• Nabil Grissa, Maître de conférences HDR en anthropologie et Histoire médiévale-Université de la Manouba
• Ridha Gadhab, Maître de conférences HDR en Histoire romaine- la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines-Sousse-Université de Sousse-Tunisie
• Abdallah Fili, Professeur en Histoire et archéologie médiévale-Université El Jadida-Maroc