I am interested in the interconnections of language, gender, and sexuality in Italy and Italian. My research explores this topic through a range of methodologies and perspectives, including:

• the use of sexist language to reproduce the traditional binary structure of Italian society (men/public – women/private), as well as both failed and successful efforts to subvert this model
• gender-inclusive language and attempts to challenge grammatical and social binaries
• insults and verbal aggression directed at female politicians
• discursive constructions of violence against women, particularly the gendered crime of femminicidio (femicide), as represented in parliamentary debates, newspapers and television
• masculinities and their representations on social media
• the construction of gender in far-right discourse and constructions of women in power, such as Giorgia Meloni, on social media and beyond.

Beyond the Italian context, I have also published on violence against women in sentencing remarks in England and Wales (with Dr Amanda Potts), and on hegemonic and subordinate masculinities in YouTube comment sections (with Dr Mandie Iveson).

My first monograph, Gender, Discourse and Ideology in Italian, was published in 2019 by Palgrave. My second monograph, Feminism, Corpus-Assisted Research and Language Inclusivity, has recently been published by Cambridge University Press (November 2024). I was awarded a Great Minds scholarship (September 2022 – January 2023) to complete this second monograph.

I am currently part of a global network of scholars working on gender- inclusive language through the Research Networking Project Language and Gender: Academic Research and Practical Implementation.

A special issue on gender-inclusive language and discrimination has recently been published in the Journal of Language and Discrimination.

I hold a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Lancaster University, where I completed a thesis titled Gender and Language Use in the Italian Parliament (2014).

Before joining the University of Brighton as a permanent lecturer, I taught at ten UK institutions, including Edge Hill University, Lancaster University, the University of Sheffield, the University of Westminster, and the University of Manchester.

At Brighton, I teach across undergraduate levels, with modules covering research methods, language revitalisation and minoritisation, language, gender and sexuality, big data approaches, critical discourse studies, and a placement module.

I was a recepient of the following grants/awards:

• KICKSTART FUND (2024): Gender, anti-gender and the far-right: Italy and beyond
• IMPACT ACCELERATOR FUNDING (2023) with Dr Vy Rajapillai - Language Minoritisation in Brighton
• RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE PARTNERSHIP AND NETWORKING FUND (2023) - I visited the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Bologna to work with Dr Giulia Evolvi on far-right populist politics and social media
• GREAT MINDS (2022) - completion monograph CUP
• RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE PARTNERSHIP AND NETWORKING FUND (2021) - a project with schools in the Milan area to promote gender equality in education

I welcome inquiries from prospective postgraduate students interested in any of the following areas (or intersections thereof):

• Language, gender and sexuality (representation and production)
• Corpus linguistics
• Multimodality
• Discourses surrounding racism, sexism, transphobia, and homophobia
• Language describing violence against women in the UK and globally

A Master’s student I supervised during the 2019/2020 academic year was awarded the Best Student Essay Prize at IGALA11 (International Gender and Language Association), held at Queen Mary University of London in 2021.

I participate in the public debate on the topic of inclusive and gendered language. Below, I list my public engagements:

• Interview for Ross Reeves on LGBTQIA+ and Meloni. June 2024, Available here
• Interview at Fornaci Rosse, a political festival, 30 August 2022, available here

• Interview on gendered/inclusive language, Rete Uno (national radio channel in Switzerland), available here

• Il dilemma dell'asterisco. Una stanza tutta per noi. Organised by Laboratorio Femminista, 16 May 2021. video available here

• La manipolazione del femminile nella lingua. Podcast Palinsesto Femminista. 21 April 2021, available here

• I sessismi nella lingua italiana. Organised by ArciGay Rete Transfeminista, with Anna Lisa Somma 19 March 2021. available here

• Discorso ed ideologia: la situazione linguistica nella politica odierna. Organised by  FEM (Future Education Modena). 9 Dicember 2020. Available here

• Il sessismo nella lingua italiana with Anna Lisa Somma, Gabriele Maesti and Roberta Mori. Organised by Biblioteca Assemblea Legislativa (Bologna). 26 Novembre 2020. Available here

• In this booklet, I worked with the NGO to using a inclusive/gender fair language

I worked with Oxfam Italia (September 2021-January 2022) as a consultant on inclusivity practices in the workplace.