Since its launch in 2013, the Academia Europaea Barcelona Knowledge Hub, in collaboration with the Barcelona City Council, has organised the Disputatio of Barcelona - an annual academic debate that brings together two distinguished scholars (the disputantes) to exchange contrasting perspectives on a topic of broad societal relevance. This year’s Disputatio will examine the growing disconnection between science and society, asking whether Europe is facing a crisis of trust in scientific knowledge.

Disputants are Massimiano Bucchi MAE, Professor of Sociology of Science, University of Trento, Italy and Gloria Origgi, Senior Researcher in Philosophy and Social Epistemology, Institut Jean Nicod (CNRS), Paris, France. Patricia Fernández de Lis, Editor-in-chief of Materia (El País science section), based in Madrid, will moderate the session.

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Disputatio#

The disputatio is characterized by a high level of interaction with the audience, comprised of scholars from a variety of fields beyond that of the topic being discussed. This feature is inspired by the original Disputatio held in Barcelona in 1263, a theological debate between Christian and Jewish intellectuals presided by King James I of Aragon. The modern-day Disputationes, covering a wide variety of topics in the exact, natural and social sciences, as well as the humanities, have become an academic tradition.

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