Dr Barbara Spadaro

Personal Statement

I am an historian of Italian migration and colonialism in Africa and the Mediterranean. My work develops language sensitive methodologies for the study of memory, history and culture. Currently my research focuses on artistic practices of Italian and Libyan diasporas, particularly in relation to ideas of coloniality, archive, heritage and translation. My recent work on comics and graphic novels in relation to the languages and media of Italian transnational memory conceptualised the Transnational Italian Comics scene. My first monograph was a study of the histories and memories of Italian families in colonial Libya and ideas of whiteness: "Una colonia Italiana. Incontri, memorie e rappresentazioni tra Italia e Libia" (Mondadori, Milan, 2013).

My research on the history and memory of Italian and Jewish families from Libya is published in articles, edited volumes and interactive installations, for example the 'Retracing a Disappearing Landscape' interdisciplinary exhibition curated by Najlaa El Ageli at the P21 Gallery in London (2019). I contributed to the research exhibition 'Beyond Borders: Transnational Italy' (London, Rome, New York, Melbourne, Addis Ababa, 2016-2018) and subsequently led the AHRC project 'Translating an Exhibition', in collaboration with La Manouba University of Tunis, COSPE Onlus and the Italian Cultural Institute of Tunis.

I firstly joined the University of Liverpool in 2019 as PDRA of the AHRC theme 'Translating Cultures'. Previously I was at the University of Bristol as PDRA of the Research Project "Transnationalizing Modern Languages: Mobility, Identity and Translation in Modern Italian Culture" (TML, 2014-2018) and SLS-BSR Postdoctoral Fellow at the British School at Rome (2012). I studied at La Sapienza University of Rome, La Sorbonne-Paris IV, Columbia University and the Federico II University of Naples (SUM Doctoral Programme). I speak Italian, French, Portuguese and English. I am originally from Rome.

I welcome enquiries about postgraduate supervision in:

Artistic practices and representation of the past
Italian Transnational History
Participatory research and co-creation
Comics and graphic narratives of memory and migration
Italian Mobilities and Migration
Memory and History of the Italian Empire
Oral History

I am in the Editorial Boards of H-TransItalianStudies of the journal 'Scritture Migranti' (University of Bologna) and previously of 'Genre et colonisation/Gender and colonisation'. At the University of Liverpool I have been Subject Lead for Italian since 2023, and previously LCF Research Seminar Coordinator, EDI Lead and Year Abroad Coordinator for Italy. I am an active member of the Dante Alighieri Society of Liverpool and teach community classes of Yoga in Italian.

Prizes or Honours

• Franca Pieroni Bortolotti Prize for Women's and Gender History (Societa Italiana delle Storiche, SIS, 2007)

Funded Fellowships