I am in the second year of a PhD in Italian Studies at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of Dr Clodagh Brook and Dr Charlotte Ross. I am also the Chair of the Postgraduate Steering Committee of the Graduate Centre for Europe.

Research project

My thesis examines political comedy since Berlusconi's rise to power in 1994, analysing the extent to which contemporary comedians have transcended the role of commentators, instead pursuing a socio-political mission against Italian political culture. The project will draw on comic and cultural theory to assess the comic forms employed, as well as providing an assessment of the reception of these artists by the Italian public.

My research is funded by a University of Birmingham Humanities Research Scholarship.

Background

I completed my undergraduate degree in Combined Languages at the University of Hull and went on to study for the joint Warwick-Birmingham MA in Italian Studies: Culture and Communication. My Masters dissertation focused on the representation of Berlusconi through the use of humour and imitation in Nanni Moretti's Il caimano and Dario Fo's L'anomalo bicefalo, both of which oppose his dual role as prime minister and media tycoon.

Conference papers

'Joking Aside: Stand-up Comedians in the Berlusconi Era'
DENUNCIA: Speaking Up in Modern Italy - Postgraduate Conference
New York University, March 2009

'Redux: 'Fascism' Discussed in Contemporary Italian Satire'
European Research Institute, Cross-College Europe Seminar: The Role of the Past in the Politics and Society of the Present
University of Birmingham, May 2009

'Being Berlusconi: Satirical Impersonation in Contemporary Italy'
Birmingham-Warwick Postgraduate Forum, University of Birmingham, May 2009 and ASMI Postgraduate Conference, University of Edinburgh, July 2009

'Making Waves: Sabina Guzzanti between Television, Stage and Activism'
Comics in the Frame: 3rd Annual International Comedy Conference - University of Salford, June 2009

Guest Speaker
'Viva Zapatero' Introduction to the screening, May 2008, University of Hull.

Conferences and seminars organised

Principal Organiser

Birmingham-Warwick Postgraduate Forum
Department of Italian Studies, May 2009

Co-organised

A New Berlusconi Era: Lessons for Italy and Europe
Department of Italian Studies and Graduate Centre for Europe, February 2009

GCfE Postgraduate Conference - A Continent of Paradoxes
Graduate Centre for Europe, April 2009