I am a Sicilian academic and artist working in the fields of socio-cultural anthropology and public health. Over the past ten years, I have been researching psychophysical well-being in contexts of distress, including migratory and post-colonial sites, and in settings facing dramatic social change. I have investigated these topics through multimodal ethnographic research (qualitative interviews and creative methods) in Australia, Nepal, and Italy. My PhD dissertation at the University of Adelaide examined the intersections between family moralities and pursuits of well-being in a climate of accelerated social change in Nepal. From this research, I have produced two books: Modern Dharma: Seeking Family Well-Being in Middle-Class Nepal (The University of Pennsylvania Press) and She Fell and Became a Horse (Dev Publishers).
My current research explores the emotions and affects associated with the Sicilian language as a racialised idiom, and the implications of these practices and discourses for people's identity and well-being in Palermo. Since 2024, I am a Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), where I teach Medical and Visual Anthropology. My academic research and writing are closely intertwined with my artistic practice and I cannot imagine one without the other.
Research Interests
Psychophysical health (mental health and gut health), domestic relationships and conflict, spirit possession, the social dimensions of well-being, food and nutrition, the notion of the 'good life', cultural and ethnic identity discourses and practices, morality, emotions, and social change.
.jpg)