Laura Mafizzoli
Laura Mafizzoli
QUALIFICATIONS
2023 Ph.D., Social Anthropology, University of Manchester
2015 M.A., Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology, Ethnolinguistic, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
2011 B.A., History, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH INTERESTS
Memory Studies; Political Anthropology; Anthropology of Violence; Humour; Anthropology of Borders; Historical Anthropology; Future; Gulag Studies; Caucasus (Georgia); Balkans (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Istria
RESEARCH PROFILE
I am a social anthropologist and postdoctoral researcher with the ERC-funded project MEMPOP: Memory and Populism from Below (2024-2028). My scholarship within the area of political anthropology specialises in memory studies, violence, and heritage. My current research, based on extensive fieldwork in Georgia and the Balkans, focuses on intersections of local memories and populist narratives in commemorating difficult heritages.
As part of MEMPOP, my research focuses on two key areas. The first expands on my earlier PhD research, delving into memorialisation practices in relation to the Gulag in Georgia and their intersections with populist discourses in the country’s contemporary political landscape. The second focus investigates the relationship between memory and populism in Istria, with particular attention to the difficult heritage of the foibe—karstic pits used as places of execution by partisans in 1943 in Istria and 1945 in Trieste—and how they are interpreted across different borders. Further, I examine humour as a grassroots epistemic practice and lens for understanding alternative forms of memory-making, populist discourses, and activism.
As of 2023, I am an external organiser for the ASIAC – Italian Association for Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus and a member of the editorial board for the journal, Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Journal Articles
2024 “Georgian Perspectives on the Legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus” in Euras Journal of Social Sciences 4 (1). pp. 25-39.
2020 Valuing the Past, Empowering the Present: Representations and Narrations of the Great Purges at the Soviet Occupation Hall in the Simon Janashia Museum of Tbilisi. In Reconstructions of History (3). Ilia State University, Tbilisi. pp. 67-84.
Book Chapters
2021 Pensare la Contemporaneità [Thinking about the Contemporary]. In G. Ligi (Ed.), I colori dell’Antropologia (pp. 392–432). Giunti TVP Treccani Editori. (co-author Lanari, Elisa)
2021 Profili "L'Autore"; le rubriche "Approfondiamo", "Per discutere insieme", "Invito alla Visione/Lettura/Ascolto", "Esperienze attive"[Profiles "Authors"; columns "Let’s deepen our analysis", "To discuss together", "Suggestions to read/view/listen"; "Active experiences" ]. In G. Ligi (Ed.), I colori dell’Antropologia . Giunti TVP Treccani Editori.
Full Bibliography (PDF)
Ongoing Projects and Grants
2024–2028 Memory and Populism from Below (MEMPOP), ERC-2022-STG (ID: 101076092), PI: Wyss, Johana. Coordinated by the Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences. Postdoctoral Researcher
Editorial Work
Ongoing Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus, Editorial Board Member
External Reviewing
Project Evaluation: History Reconstruction, SOVLAB
Master Thesis Examination: Anthropology Programme, Faculty of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Teaching Experience
2020–2023 Teaching assistant and writing supervisor, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester
Invited Talks, Public Lectures or Roundtables
2025 January, 17. The commemorative language of a difficult heritage. Gulag memory and testimony in contemporary Tbilisi, Georgia. Workshop- Narrating the Gulag, University College, Oxford.
2024 May, 6. Locating Georgia within Global Asia. Invited lecture within the course Global Asia: Anthropology, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice.
2018 April, 26. Anthropological Analysis of Solaris, a Film by A. Tarkovsky. Invited lecture within the course of Social Anthropology, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Department of Humanities
Conference and Workshop Organisation
2024 December 9–11. ASIAC XVIII Annual Conference organized at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (co-organisers Comai, Giorgio – Frappi, Carlo – Maracchione, Frank –Sciorati, Giulia in cooperation with Lavezzo, Edoardo and the Association’s Board)
2024 December 1–4. Memory and Populism from the Margins. Conference organized at Vila Lanna, Prague, Czech Republic. Funded by the European Union (ERC MEMPOP). (co-organisers Brunet, Ioana – Holzbachová, Lucie – Joštová, Kateřina – Graf, Franz – Málková, Mária – Nikolovska, Astrea – Vonnak, Diána – Wyss, Johana)
2024 March, 7–11. How to write research grants. Workshop for the programme of Social Anthropology, Ilia state University, Tbilisi (co-organiser Aydemir, Gorkem)
2020 February, 27-28. Anthropologies of Failure, Breakdown, and Dysfunction. Early- Career Symposium. University of Manchester (co-organisers Berisha, Rozafa – Ojani, Chakad)
2012 March - May. Anthropology of Violence and Conflict. Conference cycle (7 lectures). Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Public outreach
2021 G. Ligi (Ed.), I colori dell’Antropologia. Contributor to the development of an anthropology textbook for high schools under the supervision of Prof. Gianluca Ligi in collaboration with Claudia Antonangeli and Dr Elisa Lanari for the Italian Publishing House: Giunti TVP Treccani Editori.
