Current Research Project and Doctoral Dissertation
Zeruzeru and Diverse Shades of Difference. A Study of People with Albinism in Contemporary Tanzania (Working title)
Academic Qualifications
• 2014-2018 Ph.D. Student, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISKA), Freie Universität Berlin.
• 2013 Visiting Studentship (10 months). Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISKA), Freie Universität Berlin.
• 2011 Master degree in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Department of Philosophy and Literature, University of Palermo. MA Dissertation: “The regeneration of the Nannu. Strategies of revival and innovation in the Carnival practices of a Sicilian Town”. Grade: 110/110 cum laude.
• 2008 Bachelor degree in Philosophy and Literature, University of Palermo. BA Dissertation: “The archbishopric of Monreale and the trials against three “witches” in Modern and Contemporary Sicily”. Grade: 110/110 cum laude.
Professional Qualifications
• 2012-2017 Scientific coordinator of the project “No More Discrimination Against People with Albinism” (Tanzania). Tulime Onlus (NGO), Italy.
• 2012-2014 European Voluntary Service Project Coordinator in Tanzania (Pomerini, Iringa Region). Tulime Onlus (NGO), Italy.
• 2013/2012 October-November Teacher of Swahili Language. Level: Beginners. Number of Students: 14. Tulime Onlus (NGO), Italy.
Awards and Scholarships
• 2014-October 2018 German Education Exchange Service (DAAD), Scholarship for doctoral research project, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin.
• 2017 Travel Grant for the Conference “Transfigurationen: Medizin macht Gesellschaft macht Medizin”, February 17-18, 2017, Universität Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
• 2016 Wenner-Gren Travel Grant for the Conference ASA16, “Footprints and futures: the time of anthropology”, July 4-7, 2017, Durham University, Durham, UK.
• 2015 Swiss Ethnological Society (SEG) Travel Grant for the Annual Meeting of the Swiss Ethnological Society (SEG), November 12-14, 2017, Institute of Social Anthropology, University Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
• 2013 Post-Master Degree Research Grant for Specialization Course Abroad, University of Palermo, Italy.
• Ignazio Buttitta Foundation Scholarship, Award-Grant for MA Dissertation and Research.
Research Interests
Medical Anthropology, Anthropology of Disability; Anthropological Theory and Methodology, Stigma, Inclusion-exclusion, biosociality; Anthropology of Africa (esp. Tanzania)
Research Area(s)
Tanzania and Italy (Sicily)
Publications
Journal Articles
2018 (in preparation). Perception of Albinism in Tanzania in the Wake of Humanitarian Reasons. Minority Report. Mimesis Publisher.
2018 (under review). Even though I am an albino, I can participate in the development of my community”: Social classification and new political subjectivities of people with albinism in global Tanzania. Special issue on political subjectivity. Critical African Studies.
2016. Albinism, stigma, subjectivity and global-local discourses in Tanzania. Anthropology and Medicine, 23 (3): 229-243.
2015 Labelling albinism: Language and discourse surrounding people with albinism in Tanzania. Disability and Society, 30 (8): Pp. 1143-1157.
Conference Presentations (since 2007)
17-18/02/2017. Glocal Understanding of Albinism as a Disability in Tanzania. Presentation at the conference: Transfigurationen: Medizin macht Gesellschaft macht Medizin. General Conference organized by Arbeitsgruppe Medical Anthropology der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde (DGV e.V), Medical Anthropology Switzerland (MAS) der Schweizerischen Ethnologischen Gesellschaft (SEG), Wiener Dialoge der Medizinanthropologie. Universität Basel. Switzerland.
4-7/10/2017. Practices of belonging within glocal socio-scapes of disability (with Susanne Kathrin Hoff and Christopher Hohl). Workshop organization within the conference: Belonging: Affective, moral and political practices in an interconnected world. Biannual Conference of the German Anthropological Association (GAA). Freie Universität Berlin, Insitut für Sozial- und Kul-turanthropologie, Germany.
9-10/11/2016. Presentation accepted but declined participation. Fighting against stigma and discrimination: Tulime Onlus and its projects on behalf of people with albinism in Tanzania (2012-2016). Conference: Advancing the Rights of Persons with Albinism in Africa: A Call to Action, University of Pretoria, Sud Africa.
30-09/05-10/2016. Invited Presentation. “Even though I am an albino, I can participate in the development of my community”: Social classification and new political subjectivity of people with albinism in global Tanzania.Presentation at the workshop:Political Subjectivity in Times of Transformation: Classification and Belonging in South Africa and Beyond. Point Sud Conference, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (StIAS), South Africa.
4-7/07/2016. Embodying differences: ideas and discourses on albinism in global Tanzania. Presentation at the conference: ASA16, Footprints and futures: the time of anthropology. Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth Annual Conference, Durham University, Great Britain.
23-24/06/2016. “All of the people with albinism die young”: timing albinism in the wake of humanitarian reasons. Presentation at the conference: MAYS (Medical Anthropology Young Scholars) 7th Annual Meeting, Institute of Social Sciences (ICS), University of Lisbon, Portugal.
2-4/06/2016. Accepted presentation but declined participation. Embodying vulnerability: Albinism in the Wake of Humanitarian Reasons. VI Congresso da Associacao Portuguesa de Antropologia (APA), Futuros Disputados, Università di Coimbra, Portogallo.
20-21/05/2016. “I am a disabled person”: The global-local flow of ideas and discourses on albinism in Tanzania. Presentation at the workshop: AG Medical Anthropology, Planungsworkshop 2016, Freie Universität, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Germany.
14/03/2016. Guaritori magici in Sicilia e Iringa (Tanzania): magari, ciarmavermi e waganga wa kienyeji. Etnografie del Contemporaneo, Museo delle Marionette – Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
22-23/02/2016. Narrating New Identities: Albinism in the Wake of Humanitarian Reasons. Presentation at the workshop: Studying Medical Globalization: Historical and Anthropological Investigations – Joint Workshop Freie Universität/Cermes3-Globhealth, Cermes3, Paris, France.
12-14/11/2015. Ambiguous Lives: Albinism, Uncertainty and Morality in Tanzania. Presentation at the conference: Annual Meeting of the Swiss Ethnological Society (SEG) Institute of Social Anthropology, University Bern, Switzerland.
04/12/2014. “We are as Normal as Other Individuals”: Life Experiences and Subjectivities of People with Albinism in Tanzania.” Arbeitskreis Medical Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin, Insitut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropolo-gie, Germany.
28-30/11/2014. Zeruzeru and Diverse Shades of Difference. A Study of People with Albinism in Kilolo District, Tanzania. Workshop der AG Medical Anthropology and Der Deutsche Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde (DVG), Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
19-20/11/2014. Fictional Narrative and Auto-Ethnography. Intertwined Methodologies for Ethnographic Fieldwork on People with Albinism in Tanzania. Presentation at the conference : (S’) Explorer une Disposition Anthropologique, Université de Paris Ouest la Defénse Nanterre, France.
4-5/07/2014. Albinism in Tanzania from the Point of View of a Positioned Researcher. Presentation at the conference: 5th Annual MAYS (Medical Anthropology Young Scholars) Meeting, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
30/05/2013. Living with Albinism in Iringa Region: Communitarian Perceptions and Subjective Experiences. Arbeitskreis Medical Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie, Germany.
14/06/2012. Living with Albinism in Iringa: Between Local Worlds and Transnational Universes. Arbeitskreis Medical Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie, Germany.