CV

Education and Qualifications

2003     Ph.D.

University of Texas at Austin, USA. Department of English, Rhetoric & Composition, Division of Media & Cultural Studies. Dissertation title: “Turning It into a Proper Business”: The Fate of Complexity in Distance Learning Corporate Discourse. A case study on the appropriation of academic discourses in the corporate workplace.

1991     Laurea (Magna cum laude)

Università di Genova, Italy. Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature Straniere Moderne. Thesis title: Traditional Irish Epic of and Its Transformations: Thomas Kinsella’s Tain Translation. A discourse analysis of cross-cultural representations.

Employment

2009-present        Senior Lecturer, Coventry University, UK

  • Main research areas:  fan studies, gender and queer studies.
  • Main teaching areas: online identities; participatory audiences; media and cultural theory; communication practice.
  • Year tutor, thesis and dissertation supervisor.

2006-2009             Professeur Associé, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), France

  • Main research areas: participatory media narratives and representations.
  • Main teaching areas: non-traditional learning; digital curriculum and course design.
  • Postgraduate dissertation supervisor.

1998-2009             Learning Consultant, IBM Europe

  • Main research areas: non-traditional teaching methodologies.
  • Main teaching areas: curriculum and syllabus planning and development.
  • New hire mentor.

1996-97                 Professore, private University Istituto Europeo Design, Rome, Italy

  • Main teaching areas: semiotics and sociolinguistics of digital media.

1992-96                 Assistant Instructor, University of Texas at Austin, USA

  • Main research areas: academic discourses in the corporate workplace; online gender identities and representations. US Federal-funded project on virtual multi-user communications.
  • Main teaching areas: online collaborative communication; gender and technology; cyberpunk culture.
  • Vice-Director, Computer Writing and Research Lab.

Grants, Awards and Funding

  • Fulbright fellowship.
  • US Federal ARPA research grant.
  • University of Aberystwyth, UK research grant.
  • IBM Teaching Excellence grants.

Publications