Decadence for doctoral studies

DECADOCS is a research and training programme which aims to renegotiate common assumptions about decadence that equate it with decay and decline. A more nuanced view of decadence predicated on sustainability, transnationalism, and sensoriality, envisages it as a valuable tool to enrich our understanding of contemporary artistic, media, entertainment, and sociocultural practices. Perceived as ubiquitous in 2025, decadence is linked to a rich and still evolving set of meanings and associations cutting across European societies since the nineteenth century. Its persistent link with crises and their recurrence has a continuing valence today and helps to explain the renewed interest in uncovering its illuminating potential. DECADOCS therefore aims to show how that complex transhistorical, transnational, and trans-linguistic European phenomenon still undergirds arts, media, and sociocultural practices. The examples of architecture, fashion, food and drink, tourism, visual and print cultures, entertainment, and immersive media testify to the presence and positive value of decadence. Firmly anchored in decadence studies as a field of the humanities, DECADOCS' research programme will therefore train a cohort of doctoral fellows, notably by addressing those non-literary, underexplored areas of study, embedding different disciplines in a coherent research programme with clearly defined and linked scientific work packages, bespoke network training activities emphasizing digital dissemination, open access, and outreach to various audiences. Tailored intersectoral training delivered by the most appropriate associated partners (museums, archives, libraries, galleries, and SMBs in fashion conservation and translation) during substantial periods reinforces the research programme's scientific and societal impacts. DECADOCS is the first doctoral network in decadence studies.