As a scholar, I have a wide knowledge of communication and cultural theory as well as qualitative research methods in the humanities and social sciences. In my work, I strive for a meaningful combination of empirical research, theory development and social significance. My research focuses specifically on the relationship between power and cultural production in cross-cultural and globalizing contexts, with an emphasis on visual communication and an approach that spans semiotics, socio-cultural anthropology, phenomenology and the psychology of visual perception, geography, and critical discourse analysis.

As a teacher, I am committed to interdisciplinarity, experiential learning and community-based research. In other words, I believe in creating opportunities for students to engage with their everyday surroundings and with each other through research projects that creatively and meaningfully combine a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. As an instructor, I teach undergraduate courses on visual and urban communication, material culture, new media, and (visual) ethnographic methods. As a teaching assistant, I have experience teaching communication theory, international communication, and digital and/or creative project-based courses.

As a creative person, I enjoy collaborating with artists, scholars and the greater local community on projects that include a visual and/or documentary component. My photography has been shown several times both in Italy and the U.S.

As a citizen, I am committed to using my skills towards the promotion of cultural diversity, political pluralism and social justice. I am especially interested in the empowerment of young people (youth as well as college students) through the development of critical thinking, academic, and creative skills.

Biographical sketch

I was born and raised in Bologna, Italy. I received a Master's in Communication Studies from the University of Bologna, with an emphasis on film semiology and visual communication. I have worked in documentary video production, photography and the design of new media content. I speak Italian, English, French and German. I have a background in martial arts and, to a lesser extent, dance. I have traveled extensively, especially in Europe and the U.S., mostly thanks to the scholarships and research opportunities that I have been offered over the years.

Selected Honors & Awards

• UW Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences. 2006-2007.
• UW Department of Communication Ames Endowment grant for research on cultural diversity. 2006-2007.
• Simpson Center for the Humanities Summer Residency Dissertation Fellowship. 2006.
• UW European Union Center & University of Canterbury National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE) travel grant to present at the Network of European Studies Centres in Asia (NESCA) workshop on EU identity in Christchurch, New Zealand (July 27-29). 2006.
• International Communication Association Visual Studies Division Conference Travel Grant. 2006.
• Washington State Credit Union Graduate Scholarship. 2005.
• UW Huckabay Teaching Fellowship . 2004-2005.
• European Union Center of Excellence Summer Research Grant. 2004.
• Fellow, “Connecting with the Community: the First Institute on the Public Humanities”, Simpson Center for the Humanities. 2003.
• European Union scholarship for the ERASMUS study-abroad program competitively awarded by the University of Bologna. 1997-1998.

Media

Marking their words: In the landscape of ideas, graffiti tells us what we may not want to hear, by Richard Seven, The Seattle Times Pacific Northwest Sunday Magazine, March 18 2007.

Hitting the streets to research the city, by Jen Ludington, The Daily of the University of Washington, October 19 2006.

First take: Signs of the times, Columns, September 2006.

Photos tagged and organized to create the searchable Urban Archives...your city, yo, Microsoft on10.net, July 3 2006.

Urban Archives: Listening to the city, by Peter Kelley, University Week, May 25 2006.

Students create urban archive, preserving graffiti for posterity, by Christine Frey, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 8 2005.

Urban Archives: Unexpected beauty on city streets, UW Office of Research, Featured research.