Research: On the Margins of the Colony: Italian Poor Whites amid Precarity, Crime, and Promiscuity in Italian East Africa (1936–1941)
Biography: I am a historian of Fascism and European colonialism, specifically on the fields of settler colonial studies and subaltern studies. I also have a particular interest in the analysis of the peculiarity of Fascist colonies in relation to their totalitarian societies; the study of rumours as an historical source in colonial and totalitarian contexts; the environmental impact of the Italian colonialism in the Horn of Africa; the Italian community in Ethiopia after the Second World War; and the employment of colonial violence. My PhD thesis investigates the category of the Italian poor whites in Italian East Africa (1936-1941) through a comparison between the Italian and other settler colonial contexts.
EDUCATION
- Master in History and Oriental Studies
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Italy (01/09/2020 – 16/03/2023)
Thesis The poor whites in Italian East Africa (1936-1941)
Supervisor Karin Pallaver (Assistant Professor, University of Bologna)
Co-supervisor Haile Muluken (Assistant Professor, Addis Ababa University)
Field of study African studies
Final grade 110L/110
- Bachelor in History
University of Turin, Italy (01/09/2017-31/07/2020)
Thesis The Catholic and Communist Subcultures from the Republic of the Parties to the Present
Supervisor Paolo Soddu (Assistant Professor, University of Turin)
Field of study Contemporary history
Final grade 110L/110
WORKING EXPERIENCE
- PhD Candidate
University “La Sapienza” of Rome, SARAS Department, Italy (01/11/2023 – Current)
XXXIX cycle, with scholarship
Thesis The poor whites in Italian East Africa (1936-1941)
Supervisor Elena Papadia (University “La Sapienza” of Rome)
Co-supervisor Emanuele Ertola (University of Siena)
Co-supervisor Lucia Carminati (University of Oslo)
- University Tutor
University “La Sapienza” of Rome, SARAS Department, Italy (16/10/2024 – Current)
LIMES tutoring (Laboratory of Introduction to Methodology and Scientific Writing) for CdS
L42 in History, Anthropology, Religions (DI NEPI). Coordinate the project exercises and
organise the calendar. Carrying out and managing the disciplinary work in the field of
Contemporary History, including: guiding and introducing students to research in bibliographic
and archival databases, correcting them first in their oral presentation and then in the
preparation of a short written text on a specific assigned topic. Finally, to check the receipt of
any corrections and to evaluate the work.
- Assistant Researcher
Comitato Italiani all’Estero (COMITES) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (01/08/2022 – Current)
Data collection activities for the project "The Italian community in Ethiopia after 1941", funded
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Conducting ten oral
interviews with witnesses of post-colonial history of the Italian community in Ethiopia (1941-
1974) and reviewing the audiovisual material collected. Implementation of the website
'http://www.storiaitalianidetiopia.org'.
- University Tutor
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Italy (07/06/2022 – 31/07/2022)
Tutor for incoming students at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Dual Degree UniBo-
UDE project.
- Internship in internalisation projects
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Italy (01/05/2022 – 31/07/2022)
Involvement in the implementation of University's strategic projects with regard to
international student admission procedures and the activation of mobility/double degree
agreements between the University of Bologna and two European universities (Vinlius College
of Technologies and Design, Duisburg University).
PUBLICATIONS (DOUBLE-PEER REVIEWED)
- Road workers in the AOI: economic conditions, precariousness and agency
Società e Storia, n. 183, 2024
- "Acts detrimental of the racial prestige" in Italian East Africa (1936-1941)
Storicamente, 19, n. 22, 2023
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
- The Italian populace in Ethiopia (1941-1974)
With the coordination of Valentina Fusari (University of Turin)
'http://www.storiaitalianidetiopia.org'
AWARDS AND HONORS
- Winner of the Tutor Scholarship
University “La Sapienza” of Rome, SARAS Department (09/10/2024)
Grant of € 2,000 for the participation in the teaching and evaluating process within the LIMES
course
- Finalist for the «V SISSCO Prize for a journal article (2024)»
Italian Society for the Study of Contemporary History (SISSCO) (September 2024)
Article within the finalist triplet: "Acts detrimental of the racial prestige" in Italian East Africa
(1936-1941), Storicamente, 19, n. 22, 2023
- Winner of the position of Visiting Scholar
University of London, School of Advanced Studies, Institute of Languages, Cultures, and Societies
(ILCS) (January-July 2025)
- Winner of the PhD scholarship "PNRR DM 118/23 - GENERIC: Norm, institution,
experience between space and time"
University “La Sapienza” of Rome, SARAS Department (06/10/2023)
- Winner of the Call for Proposals for the Preparation of a Master's Thesis Abroad
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Department of History, Cultures and Civilisations
(DISCI) (05/07/2022)
Grant of € 1,735.00 for the preparation of a Master's thesis at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies
(Addis Ababa University)
- Selected among 40 University of Bologna Excellences to participate in the third edition of the
Intrapreneurship Programme
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna (03/01/2022)
Programme of excellence aimed at studying the dynamics of the operation and development of
strategic actions of the University
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
- Laboratory of Introduction to Methodology and Scientific Writing (LIMES)
University "La Sapienza" of Rome, SARAS Department (12-14/12/2024)
Two lessons (four hours overall) regarding the methodological and historiographical approach
for the study of Contemporary History.
ORGANISATION OF CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
- The shifting boundary between public and private: sources, methodologies, new research
approaches in the contemporary age
University "La Sapienza" of Rome, SARAS Department (29-30/05/2025)
- Historiography and narratives. Between thematic and methodological novelties in the 20th
century
University "La Sapienza" of Rome, SARAS Department (05/12/2024)
CONFERENCES
Fascist Economic Policies, Colonial Development, and Social Mobility In The Italian Colonies:
- The case study of padroncini (truck-owners) in Italian East Africa (1936-1941)
University "La Sapienza" of Rome, Faculty of Economics, MEMOTEF Department (26/09/2024 – 27/09/2024)
17th Annual Meeting of the African Economic History Network (AEHN), «Changes and
Continuities in African Economic History: Mobilities, Environment and Development».
Panel n. 13, «Transport And Development»
- Cohabitation, cultural mediation, and racial rhetoric in the Italian colonial administration. The case study of Government Resident Lino Calabrò in Occupied Ethiopia (1936-1941)
University of Messina (12/09/2024 – 14/09/2024)
VII ASAI Conference “Longing for Belonging: Communities and Divides in Africa”. Panel
No. 6, ‘National belongings and religious pluralism: figures of passeurs in contemporary Africa
between cohabitation and conflict’
- The concept of 'serendipity' and the study of the colonial phenomenon in field research
University “La Sapienza” of Rome, Faculty of Letters and Philosophy (17/06/2024)
PhD students advanced seminar ‘Serendipity. Finding something while looking for something
else’
- "Italians good people?" Stories of everyday violence
Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (07/12/2023)
Seminar for the "Rete degli universitari - UDU Bologna"
- Economic crimes as a case study of interracial contacts in Italian East Africa (1936-1941)
University of Pisa (23/06/2023)
ASMI Postgraduate Summer School 2023
- The history of Italian colonialism in Ethiopia
Italian National Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (07/12/2022 - 12/12/2022)
- Young people and Italian comedy (commedia all'italiana)
Italian Cultural Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (20/10/2022)
XXII Week of the Italian Language in the World, 17-23 October 2022, Theme: "The Italian
language and young people"
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
- Member of SISSCO (Italian Society for the Study of Contemporary History)
12/2023 - Current
- Member of ASAI (Association for the African Studies in Italy)
12/2023 - Current
- Member of ASMI (Association for the Study of Modern Italy)
05/2023 - Current
LANGUAGES
- Italian
Mother tongue
- English
Proficiency Level (C1 IELTS certification, June 2023, overall score 7,5)