Lectio Magistralis – Desire as a Pedagogical Category
On Friday, 6 March 2026, at 11:30 a.m., at the University Theatre “Filippo Alison” of the University of Salerno, Professor Massimo Recalcati – one of the most authoritative Italian and international psychoanalysts and essayists – will deliver a Lectio Magistralis entitled: Desire as a Pedagogical Category.
The initiative is promoted and organized by the UNESCO Chair “Generative Pedagogy and Educational Systems to Tackle Inequality,” chaired by Professor Emiliana Mannese, Full Professor of General and Social Pedagogy. The event is conceived as a Third Mission and Public Engagement activity, in line with the UNESCO Chair’s mission, fostering the dissemination of scientific research to civil society and promoting open spaces for dialogue among Academia, education professionals, and the local community. The scientific contribution of Massimo Recalcati – Member of the Milanese Society of Psychoanalysis (SMP), Founder of Jonas – Center for Psychoanalytic Clinic for New Symptoms, and Scientific Director of the IRPA School of Specialization in Psychotherapy in Milan – will offer an in-depth reflection on the generative dimension of desire as a driving force of subjective and collective transformation, in a time marked by processes of cultural homogenization and by the challenges posed by digital networks, social media, and artificial intelligence.
The event is part of a broader framework of scientific activities devoted to reflecting on the epistemological foundations of Generative Pedagogy and represents an important opportunity for transdisciplinary dialogue between psychoanalysis and pedagogy, with the aim of deepening the relationship between desire, education, and generativity within contemporary educational systems. The Lectio Magistralis is embedded in a multi-year scientific dialogue initiated by Professor Emiliana Mannese with Professor Recalcati. This exchange was first formally articulated in an interview published in 2023 in the A-Class journal Attualità Pedagogiche, of which Mannese is Scientific Director. On that occasion, Mannese stated: “Educating desire is a pedagogical task from which we cannot withdraw”: a commitment that calls upon Academia and Institutions to move beyond bureaucratic logics and to place at the center the Person and the Human being who learns, knows, and shapes the world.
The theme of the Lectio – desire – traditionally situated within the psychoanalytic lexicon, is here assumed as a foundational pedagogical category, capable of illuminating the profound, transformative, and non-linear dimension of learning. From a generative perspective, desire emerges as a productive force, a drive to expand one’s horizon and to generate new forms of knowledge and experience. In this convergence between Psychoanalysis and Generative Pedagogy, a rethinking of desire takes shape, revealing the core of every authentic educational process. The event is open to the entire academic community, with particular attention to students enrolled in degree programs within the Department of Human, Philosophical and Educational Sciences (DISUFF), and is conceived as a moment of advanced education and co-construction of Knowledge-Sharing Communities, in coherence with the institutional mission of the UNESCO Chair.
Scientific Committee
Maria Grazia Lombardi, Maria Chiara Castaldi, Maria Ricciardi, Raffaela Marigliano
Press Contacts
UNESCO Chair “Generative Pedagogy and Educational Systems to Tackle Inequality”
University of Salerno: emannese@unisa.it
System to Tackle Inequality