FEDERICA PIERISTE'

PhD Student

PhD program:: XXXIX
email: federica.pieriste@uniroma1.it




supervisor: Matteo Aria
co-supervisor: Gaia Cottino

Research: Land of plenty. Food, colonialism and the struggle for health of women in Rarotonga, Cook Islands

CURRICULUM VITAE

- EDUCATION
01/11/2023 – currently – PhD in History, Anthropology, Religions, anthropology curriculum, SARAS Department, Sapienza University of Rome
Project title: “Land of plenty. Food, colonialism and the struggle for health of women in Rarotonga, Cook Islands”
Supervisor: Prof. Matteo Aria
Co-supervisor: Dr. Gaia Cottino

01/10/2019 - 20/03/2023 - Master’s degree in Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Human Sciences and Education Department “R. Massa”, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Grade: 110/110 cum laude
Title of thesis: “Decolonial diets. Practicing rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga at the dinner table”
Supervisor: Dr. Gaia Cottino
Co-supervisor: Dr. Paola Schierano

01/10/2015 - 27/03/2019 - Bachelor in Intercultural Communication, Human Sciences and Education Department “R. Massa”, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Title of thesis: "Dying languages and revitalization policies. The case of Te Reo Māori in Aotearoa-New Zealand"
Supervisor: Prof. Federica Da Milano

01/07/2014 - High School Diploma, Liceo Ginnasio Statale A. Manzoni, Milan, Italy


• OTHER TRAINING

17/05/2025 – 16/11/2025 – Traineeship at Te Puna Vai Mārama Cook Islands Centre for Research, University of the South Pacific, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

06/03/2024 – 25/06/2024 – Traineeship at Slow Food in collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

14/09/2019 – 22/09/2019 - Summer School: "MeditHerity - Mobility and Heritage in the Mediterranean", L-Università ta' Malta and University of Milan-Bicocca, La Valletta, Malta

15/01/2016 – 25/01/2016 - Winter School: "The island of Magoodhoo. Places and local communities facing change”, MaRHE Center and University of Milan-Bicocca, Magoodhoo, Maldives


• RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS / PARTICIPATION TO RESEARCH GROUPS

17/05/2025 – 16/11/2025 – Visiting PhD student, Te Puna Vai Mārama Cook Islands Centre for Research, University of the South Pacific, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

17/02/2025 – 16/05/2025 – Visiting scholar, non-stipendiary short-term residency, Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

01/01/2025 – 31/12/2025 – Member of the Ethnologic Mission for Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2025 (MEO), Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

01/11/2024 – 16/02/2025 – Visiting PhD student, Te Puna Vai Mārama Cook Islands Centre for Research, University of the South Pacific, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

01/01/2024 – 31/12/2024 – Member of the Ethnologic Mission for Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2024 (MEO), Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

21/09/2023 – currently – Member of the International Research Network HOPE (former COPE), in collaboration with CREDO Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie, Marseille, France

05/07/2022 – 30/09/2022 - Visiting scholar, non-stipendiary short-term residency, Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

1/10/2020 – 30/11/2021 – Tutor for students of the master’s degree in “Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences”, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy


• PRESENTATION OF PAPERS AND GIVEN SPEECHES AT CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

21/02/2025 – “Politics on the plate. Recipes for decolonial eating from Aotearoa”, PIPSA Pacific Island Political Studies Association 2025, Wellington, New Zealand

14/02/2025 – “ReMāorification of food systems in Aotearoa-New Zealand”, ASAO Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania 2025 Meeting, Nadi, Fiji

26/11/2024 – “Conflitti nel piatto. Ricette per una via alimentare decoloniale da Aotearoa-Nuova Zelanda”, International doctoral seminar, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

10/07/2024 – “Transnational trajectories in gastro-decolonisation. Between the Cook Islands and Aotearoa”, NZSA New Zealand Studies Association Conference, Prague, Czech Republic

08/07/2024 – “Doing research in Aotearoa. Experiences, concerns, possible paths”, NZSA Graduate Symposium, Prague, Czech Republic

25/06/2024 – “Serendipity, fieldwork and ethnographic practice”, Advanced Doctoral Seminar, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

16/12/2022 - “Diete decoloniali. Praticare kaitiakitanga e rangatiratanga a tavola”, panel: “Sustainability and food sovereignty in island systems”, SIAA Italian Society for Applied Anthropology Conference 2022, Verona, Italy

14/11/2022 - "Decolonial diets. Practicing rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga at the dinner table", panel: “Food Futures: Backyard and Beyond”, Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand 2022 Conference, Wellington, New Zealand

04/06/2022 - "Decolonial diets. Practicing rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga at the dinner table", panel: “Foodways in Motion”, European Society for Oceanists 2022 Conference, Ajaccio, France

19/02/2021 - "Foodscapes – Life trajectories in the ethnic restaurant business in Milan", World Anthropology Day 2021, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy


• GUEST LECTURES

19/03/2025 – “Feeding resistance: gastro-colonial legacies in Aotearoa and the struggle for Māori food sovereignty”, Seminar series, Department of Anthropology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

22/03/2024 – “The ethnographer’s labours”, Ethnography I course, prof. Matteo Aria, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy


• OTHER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

10/01/2024 – 25/06/2024 - Organising member for the advanced doctoral seminar: “Serendipity. Finding something while looking for something else”, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy


• AWARDS AND PRIZES

24/12/2024 – Winner of “Bando per il finanziamento di periodi di mobilità all’estero di studenti di dottorato del XXXVIII e XXXIX ciclo”, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

01/11/2023 - Winner of PhD full scholarship PNNR type 1 (DM 118/23 - GENERIC: Bodies, institutions, knowledges in time and space), Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

30/07/2021 - Winner of “I° Bando Exchange EXTRA-UE a.a. 2021/2022” to conduct research abroad, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

13/03/2021 - Winner of “Borsa di Studio di Ateneo”, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

28/09/2020 - Winner of “Bando Tutorato studenti capaci e meritevoli – Progetto Matricole Lauree Magistrali cod.20TUS002 per l'a.a. 2020/2021”, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

13/03/2020 - Winner of “Borsa di Studio di Ateneo”, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

06/11/2015 – Winner of a scholarship to cover tuition fees for the Winter School 2016: "The island of Magoodhoo. Places and local communities facing change", University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan, Italy


· MEMBERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

Since 2025 – PHA Pacific History Association
Since 2024 – PIPSA Pacific Islands Political Studies Association
Since 2024 – ASAO Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania
Since 2024 – Anthropology of Food Network, EASA
Since 2024 – EASA European Association for Social Anthropologists
Since 2024 – NZSA New Zealand Studies Association
Since 2023 – SIAC Italian Society for Cultural Anthropology
Since 2022 – SIAA Italian Society for Applied Anthropology
Since 2022 – ASAANZ Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand
Since 2022 – ESfO European Society for Oceanists

• LANGUAGE SKILLS

Native speaker: Italian

Other language(s): English level C1/C2

Certifications: 30/04/2013 - University of Cambridge: UCLES - CAE English Language C1

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