Melania NUCIFORA
Melania Nucifora teaches Contemporary History at the Department of Humanities (University of Catania).
PhD in “Histoire et civilisations” at the CRH-EHESS of Paris, she graduated in Urban History at the Institute of Architecture of Venice (IUAV) in 1998, than she gained her second-level master course in History and Analysis of Territory in Catania in 2000. Member of several national research projects, in 2005 she won a research grant by the CNR-Italia (National Council for Research) within the national call on “Cultural Identities”. Former member of the steering board of the Italian Association of Urban History (2012-2017), former regional representative for Italy at The ESEH (European Society for Environmental History) and member of the steering board of SISAm (Italian Society for Environmental History), she’s currently Head of the Interdepartmental Center on Territory, Environment and Development of the University of Catania (TeSA).
Her research focuses on the relation between space and society in contemporary History. In particular her works investigate the role of landscape, environment, heritage and their representations in the building of urban cultural identities, the use of History in the definition of such representations, the contribution of local identities to the building of regional and national cultural identities, the tensions between the actors involved into the patrimonialization processes and between center and periphery in the recognizing of landscapes' and heritage's values.
Main research monographs:
M. Nucifora, L’area ionico etnea. Storia di un territorio dall’Ottocento a oggi, LetteraVentidue, Siracusa 2018 (ISBN 978-88-6242-344-1)
Ead., Le “sacre pietre” e le ciminiere. Sviluppo industriale e patrimonio culturale a Siracusa (1945-1976), Francoangeli, Milano 2017 (ISBN 978-88-917-6013-5)
Ead., Governare la crescita urbana. Amministrazioni, burocrazie, urbanisti a Catania tra età liberale e anni Settanta del Novecento, Bonanno, Catania 2011 (ISBN 978-88-7796-829-6)
Ead., Il paesaggio della storia. Patrimonio, identità, territorio nella Sicilia sud orientale, Bonanno, Catania 2008, 2011 (ISBN 978-88-7796-587-5)
Recent works:
Nucifora, M., "Protection of Cultural Heritage and Urban Development. Catania and Syracuse in the Seventies: A Comparative Approach", in M. Baumeister, B. Bonomo, D. Schott (eds.) “Cities contested : urban politics, heritage, and social movements in Italy and West Germany in the 1970s” , Frankfurt ; New York : Campus Verlag, 2017, pp. 249-273.
Nucifora, M., “The Heritage Building Process in the Val di Noto Unesco site”, in «Città e Storia», 01, 2016, monographic number dedicated to “Use fo History in the Making of Cultural Heritage”, edited by G. Sonkoly, pp. 77-90.
Melania Nucifora PhD in Contemporary History (EHESS-CRH, Paris – Formation Histoire et Civilisations);
Orcid Id 0009-0007-1323-4534
Current and previous positions
- 2021-present: Associate Professor in Contemporary History (11/HIST-03), Department of Humanities, Università di Catania;
- 2018-21: Assistant Professor (RTD/b) in Contemporary History (11/HIST-03), Department of Humanities, Università di Catania;
- 2015-16: Contract researcher, Environmental History (LabEx DynamiTeS – Laboratoire d’Excellence Dynamiques Territoriales et Sociales EHESS-Paris 1 – Pantheon Sorbonne) – 8 months;
- 2012-2014 Assistant Professor (RTD/a) in Contemporary History (11/HIST-03), Department of Humanities, Università di Catania;
- 2006-2011 Research fellow (Assegnista di ricerca); Research Program: Town and Country in Early Modern and Late Modern Sicily (11/HIST-02 and 11/HIST-03), Department of Department of Humanities and Territorial Sciences Università di Catania
Prizes and awards
- Postgraduate scholarship awarded by SSC-Mediterranean University Centre (Scuola Superiore di Catania per la Formazione d’Eccellenza -Università di Catania), ÉHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales -Paris) and ILAUD (International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design-Venice), March 2000 (12 months);
- Postgraduate scholarship awarded by Formez (Istituto per la Formazione della Pubblica amministrazione - Naples) and MATT (Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio – Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land), PON Ambiente 2000-2006, June 2002 (12 months)
- Research Grant awarded by CNR-Rome (National Research Council of Italy), “Research Promotion Programme 2005” for the research project “Natural, Rural, Urban. The agricultural landscape as a narrative of identity and a space for community/environment mediation” (24 months).
Visiting academic positions
- July 2023: Visiting Scholar (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest - Atelier Franco-hongrois en Sciences Sociales), 2 weeks.
- December 2017 - February 2018, Visiting Professor, (Professeur invité) at EHESS-CRH, Paris (Centre de Recherches Historiques- Groupe de géographie et d’histoire des territoires ; Master « Territoires, espaces, sociétés » M2), 3 months.
National and international collaborations and networks
Throughout my research career, have been actively engaged in diverse academic networks, mostly in the fields of urban and environmental history. My participation in the EAUH (European Association of Urban History) network led to a commitment to the establishment of AISU (Italian Association of Urban History) where I served as Academic Board’s member (2013-2018). Within the EAUH network, one of the most significant academic networks of my career was established: the TEMA Consortium. Formed by 4 European universities (ELTE, EHESS, Charles, and Catania), from 2006 to 2023, it fostered exchanges and comparative research on the European city in modern and contemporary age, including collaboration in PhD programs and participation in additional networks such as CHAIN (Cultural Heritage Academic Interdisciplinary Network). After my engagement in ESEH (European Society for Environmental History) as a regional representative for Italy, I joined SISAM (Italian Society for Environmental History), where I have been founding member and Academic Board member since 2022. In Catania I promoted the creation in 2014 of an Integrated Resarch Team, TeSA (Territory, Development, Environment) which aims to develop transdisciplinary research projects; it currently includes 20+ members from different Academic Fields, connecting UniCT to many research institutions. TeSA has promoted systematic collaboration between SISAM and SIEP (Italian Society of Landscape Ecology) regarding historical research on the ecological transformations of urban/rural environments. Through the Safi3 project, involving 4 University Schools for Advanced Studies, TeSA organized the Program “Understanding environmental and climate changes” which featured scholars from international Institutes such as the R. Carson Center for Environment and Society -Munich. In collaboration with the latter and the CNR IsMed in Naples (where I have been an Associate Researcher since 2024) many research activities have been conducted.
Administrative role and position responsibility
- 2025-present Director of the Integrated Research Team TeSA (Direttore del Centro di ricerca interdipartimentale TeSA - Territorio, Sviluppo, Ambiente), Università di Catania
- 2025-present Departmental Delegate for European Research Funding
- 2025-present Member of the Università di Catania’s Quality Assurance Committee for the Degree Programme in Languages for International Cooperation (Department of Humanities)
- 2023-present Coordinator of the Disum’s Departmental Research Line “Territory and Environment” (Department of Humanities-Università di Catania)
- 2020-2025 Research Manager of the Integrated Research Team TeSA (Responsabile della ricerca del Centro di ricerca interdipartimentale TeSA - Territorio, Sviluppo, Ambiente), Università di Catania
- 2018-2023 Associate Scientific Manager of the European Master Course TEMA+ European Territories (Heritage and Development) – TEMA Consortium (Budapest, Catania, Paris, Prague, Laval) – Member of the Pedagogic Board
- 2012-2014 Associate Scientific Manager of the European Master Course TEMA European Territories (Civilization, Nation, City, Region) - TEMA Consortium (Budapest, Catania, Paris, Prague) - Member of the Pedagogic Board
Scientific organisations/Coordination of academic activities
- Director of the TeSA Interdepartmental Research Center (Territory, Development, Environment), since 2025.
- Coordinator (with A. Lutri and M. Campopiano) of the Master Class Understanding environmental and climate changes (scholars from University of Oxford; Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona; RCC for Environment and Society – Munich; University of Utrecht; Princeton University; University of California, Santa Cruz). SAFI3 Project (Interdisciplinary School of Advanced Training for Innovation and Internationalization).
- Coordinator of the SISAM-SIEP research seminars Dialogues on the Anthropocene – March 2024, as part of the project "REVERSE – The Anthropocene Upside Down".
- PI of the project P.A.ST. for the next generation plans (Development Programs and Environment in History), three-year research program under the Starting Grant (Line 3 of the University Research Incentive Plan). 2019-22.
- Coordinator, with G. Corona (CNR-Naples) and F. Paolini (University of Campania), of the SISSCO Research Seminar Environment, Landscape, Heritage in the History of Italy, aimed at building a national network and to develop a systematic program of studies for an environmental history of Republican Italy. 2016-18.
- Scientific and pedagogic coordination within excellence projects funded by EACEA’s competitive calls; Adjoint Coordinator of the European MA course TEMA European Territories (Civilization, Nation, Region, City), Catania’s seat (2012-17); Associate Scientific Manager of the MA joint degree TEMA+ European Territories (Heritage and Development). TEMA Consortium with ELTE University of Budapest; Charles University of Prague; EHESS- Paris, Catania’s seat (2018-23).
- Coordinator of the University of Catania working group in History and Territorial Analysis. Applied research within the project San Cristoforo: an open neighborhood for the city (19th/20th centuries), funded by the Vodafone Italy Foundation. Scientific supervisor for the video documentary Rethinking San Cristoforo, 2007-9.
Teaching activities and PhD supervision
- Academic Board’s member of the UniCT’s PhD program in “Cultural Heritage’s Sciences” since 2022; PhD courses on historical topics, since 2022; supervisor of 2 ongoing thesis, co-supervisor of 1 ongoing thesis;
- PhD seminars for SISAM (on Environmental History, Turin, 09/25); seminars at PhD Summer School "Des risques à la résilience, du passé au présent » for LabEx DynamiTeS Laboratoire d'excellence Sorbonne-EHESS (Catania 07/16).
- PhD Thesis Committee Member / Referee for PhD programs (UniTo; Roma La Sapienza; Enna Kore - 2023-25)
- MA Courses on various history topics held at UniCT, courses within European master program TEMA European Territories (Civilisation, Nation, Region, City) MA joint degree and TEMA European Territories (Heritage and Development) MA joint degree.
- BA Courses on contemporary history held at UniCT since 2003, and in the University of California’s Education Abroad BA Program (UCEAP) – Florence, Syracuse, Barcelona 2017-19).
40+ Italian and International MA theses and + BA theses supervised since 2012.
Editorial activity
JOURNALS
- Member of the editorial board:
2024-present "Meridiana" Rivista di storia e scienze sociali. Journal of IMES - Istituto meridionale di storia e scienze sociali. ISSN 0394-4115; ISSNe 1973-2244. 2024
2016-present "Siculorum Gymnasium. A Journal for the Humanities". Journal of the Department of Humanities Università di Catania, since 1948. ISSN: 2499-667X
2023-present “A.S.S.O.” (Archivio Storico per la Sicilia Orientale), FrancoAngeli, ISSN 1122-6838, ISSNe 2532-4756. Founded in 1904.
- Work as a peer reviewer/reviewer for several scientific journals such as:
Storia urbana; Italia contemporanea; Meridiana; Mediterranea; Il mestiere di storico; Global Environment; Environmental History.
BOOK COLLECTIONS
2016-present Scientific committee of the book collection “Intelligere: mediare tra identità e alterità”, Editore Agorà & Co – Lugano.
Membership of scientific societies
- 2021-present Founding member and Executive Board’s member of the Italian Society for Environmental History (Sisam) (https://storiaambientale.it/)
- 2018-2020 Regional representative for Italy in the Executive Board of European Society for Environmental History (ESEH) (http://eseh.org/)
- 2013-2018 Executive Board’s member of the Italian Association for Urban History (AISU)
- 2016-2021 Executive Board’s member of the Sicilian Institute for Italian Contemporary History (ISSICO – Gramsci Institutes Network)
- 2022-present Executive Board’s member of the Eastern Sicily Historical Society (SSPSO)
- Member/former member of several scientific societies including European Association for Urban History (EAUH); Italian Society for the Study of Contemporary History (SISSCO); Italian Association for Regional Sciences (AISRE).
Other scientific roles in the activities of scientific societies:
Member of the Scientific Committee for
8th AISU International Conference (Naples 2017)
7th AISU International Conference (Padua 2015)
6th AISU International Conference (Catania 2013)
1st SISAM International Conference (Catania 2022)
2nd SISAM International Conference (Naples 2024)
MINOM-ICOM Mouvement International pour la Nouvelle Muséologie - International Council of Museums’ International Conference (Catania 2023)
SISSCO’s National Seminar on Ambiente, paesaggio, territorio nella Storia d'Italia (Naples, Catania, Università della Campania Vanvitelli, 2017) - Coordinator
SISSCO’s Book Prize (Premio ANCI-SISSCO) 2021 and 2025 - Member of the jury
Research Projects
|
Project title |
Funding organisation |
Role |
|
C.O.La.P.E.s.Ce. Cinque Orizzonti di LetturA del Patrimonio Europeo come coSa ComunE (2024) Cinq Horizons de Lecture du Patrimoine Européen en tant que chose commune |
Università di Catania. Piano di incentivi per la ricerca di ateneo PIA.CE.RI. (2024/2026) |
Member of the research group |
|
PRIN 2022 - One Hundred Years of European Historiography. Study and Valorization of the «Rivista Storica Italiana»'s Archive. |
MIUR |
Member of University of Catania’s Unit |
|
REVERSE – the Anthropocene Upside-Down. Responsible research, VERSatile Knowledge, Enviromental futures in action. Interdepartmental Research Project (2020) |
Università di Catania. Piano di incentivi per la ricerca di ateneo PIA.CE.RI. (2020/2022) |
Member of the research group |
|
PRIN 2017 “Regional policy, institutions and cohesion in the South of Italy |
MIUR |
Member of Università di Catania’s Unit |
|
COM.TE.STO (La comprensione del testo di storia) “Understanding the History Textbook” (2020) |
Università di Catania. Piano Triennale della Ricerca Dipartimentale PROMETEO (2020/2022) |
Member of the research group |
|
P.A.ST. for the next generation plans (Programmi complessi e Ambiente nella Storia) “Development Programs and Environment in History” (2019) |
Università di Catania Programma triennale della ricerca Starting Grant |
P.I. of the research group |
|
“Il Sud Italia verso il turismo massificato: tra programmazione e spontaneismo” (Southern Italy toward mass tourism: planned growth vs. spontaneous expansion") 2017 |
Università di Napoli Federico II - Progetto di ricerca comparata Spagna-Italia (HAR2017-82679-C2-1-P) “El turismo durante la Guerra Civil y el primer Franquismo, 1936-1959” |
Coordinator Catania’s Unit |
|
Master joint degree TEMA+ European Territories (Heritage and Development). TEMA Consortium ELTE, Budapest; Charles University, Prague; EHESS- Paris, University of Laval of Québec, Canada) 2018 |
EACEA - European Education and Culture Executive Agency |
Associate scientific Manager (UNICt) Member of the pedagogic council |
|
"Territory, Development, Environment. Industrialisation” (Territorio, Sviluppo e Ambiente. Le ricadute dell’industrializzazione) 2015 |
Università di Catania Call FIR 2014 |
Member of the research group |
|
KASA (Koiné Archeologica Sapiente Antichità) "Archaeological Community, Wise Antiquity" (2008) |
INTERREG IIIA Italy-Malta Cross-Border Cooperation Programme – FESR – Univerisità di Catania |
Member of the research group |
|
"San Cristoforo: un quartiere aperto per la città". Video documentary “Ripensare San Cristoforo” (2007) |
Fondazione Vodafone Italia – Università di Catania |
Coordinator of the research group. Scientific supervisor for the video documentary |
Other work experience
2002-2004 - Expert / Consultant – Sustainable Development and Research Department Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, "Ecological Network" (Rete ecologica) action line.