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Alice Gussoni, Ph.D (University of Oxford)

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Padua

Lecturer in Italian Language (on leave until August 2026)

College Lecturer, Brasenose College

https://www.migration.ox.ac.uk/people/alice-gussoni 

 

Research interests

Modern Italian History: Mobility Studies, Migration Studies, Italy-US Relations, Intellectual exile, Italian Fascism and Anti-Fascism. 

Current research project (based at University of Padua, Italy): 

SAIL - Sicilians dreaming Louisiana: Agents of Migration and Labour Recruiters on the Palermo-New Orleans Route (1865-1901)

Horizon Europe - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship, Grant agreement ID: 101149130

Between 1865 and 1901, Sicilian peasants migrated to Louisiana, which needed a labour force after the abolition of slavery. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SAIL project will map the presence of agents of migration in Sicily, who, liaising with labour recruiters in Louisiana, enrolled peasants. In Italian public debate and scholarship, agents have been considered as people smugglers, a scapegoat to justify migration. SAIL challenges this view, which resonates with populist and xenophobic narratives, by analysing agents’ and recruiters’ identity and methods, their effectiveness in disseminating an idyllic image of the USA in Sicily, and their impact on this migration flow alongside other factors. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, the project will integrate social, economic and cultural history with literature.

 

Teaching

Italian Language Classes (Prelims and FHS)

History and Society in 20th Century Italy, Cinema (I Cento Passi), Literature (Paper VIII)

 

Publications

Book:

Articles and Book Chapters: 

  • with Guido Bonsaver, ‘From Sicily to Louisiana: Early Migration and Historiographical Issues’, in Managing Migration in Italy and the United States, ed. by Lauren Braun-Strumfels, Daniele Fiorentino, and Maddalena Marinari (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2024), pp. 171-190 
  • ‘Londra italofila e antifascista’, in Geografie salveminiane, ed. by Mirko Grasso and Federico Trocini (Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, forthcoming). 
  • ‘Salvemini’s antifascist exile in London: attracting the attention of a British audience’, Modern Italy 28.4 (2023), Doi: 10.1017/mit.2023.39  
  • With R. Camurri, ‘Gaetano Salvemini: Profile of a Transnational Intellectual’, Modern Italy, 28.4 (2023). Doi:10.1017/mit.2023.46.
  • ‘Gaetano Salvemini’, in Intellectuals displaced from Fascist Italy. Migrants, Exiles and Refugees Fleeing for Political and Racial Reasons/Intellettuali in fuga dall’Italia fascista. Migranti, esuli e rifugiati per motivi politici e razziali, ed. by Patrizia Guarnieri (Florence: University Press, 2019-),
  • ‘Between Great Britain and the USA: A Transnational Approach to Gaetano Salvemini’s Exile’, Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, 54.2 (2020), 195-214.
  • ‘Gaetano Salvemini’s British Anti-Fascist Network in Exile (1925-1934)’, in Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Interwar Britain, ed. by Tamara Colacicco, (Pisa: Pacini, 2020), pp. 131-148.

Digital Learning Tools: 

A Cultural History of Modern Italy, in Bloomsbury Cultural History (London: Bloomsbury, 2022), http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350930308.010 

 

Public Engagement and Dissemination: 

Studiare la Resistenza oggi

Italian Fascism 100 Years On - Italian Cultural Institute, London

Cantieri Salveminiani - Salvemini esule tra Europa e Stati Uniti

Cantieri Salveminiani - Salvemini e l'emanicipazionismo femminile