Short bio
My main areas of research are Corpus Linguistics, Discourse Studies, and Cognitive Linguistics. My research interests extend into the Digital Humanities, exploring the impact of digital technologies on language acquisition, use, teaching, and analysis, both in academic and non-academic contexts. To this end, I have worked in various interdisciplinary projects, offering innovative perspectives and applications of social and computer sciences. My work ranges from analysing far-right propaganda on social media, studying radicalization narratives in online magazines of Islamic extremist groups, examining how trust is built in online crypto-drug markets, to conducting big data analyses that track the spread of information on Twitter by users considered super influencers on various topics. Additionally, I have explored cognitive processes such as Cognitive Resonance and Entrenchment Inhibition in relation to language creativity. As part of these projects, I contributed to the research design, including data collection, processing, and analysis. I also developed linguistics-informed tools to support the research objectives. My book, Corpus Approaches to Language in Social Media (2023, Routledge), summarises the research I conducted from 2014 to 2022. A core aspect of my work is the development of novel approaches to language analysis, particularly in exploring the relationship between the practical and theoretical elements of Corpus Linguistics methodologies and computer science. I actively collaborate with the artistic collective Collettivo Amigdala, with whom I curate two Digital Humanities projects: AFOr and PerMeA. Additionally, I have worked as a consultant for lawyers and private companies, applying social and computer sciences to develop software tools and analyse digital textual data.
Education
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PhD in Linguistics
Lancaster University
10/2010 > 01/2014
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MA in Design and management of cultural activities
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
10/2007 > 04/2010
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BA in Languages
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
09/2004 > 04/2007
Skills
- Languages: Italian (native); English (CPE C2); Spanish (C1)
- Corpus Linguistics
- Discourse Analysis
- Cognitive Linguistics
- Digital Humanities
- Data processing and analysis (Python, R)
- Unix/Linux systems
Interests
Linked Open Data
Oral History
Glitch Art, Data Moshing
Buddhist Philosophy
Research Experience
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Research Fellow
Project: Communicating transparency - New trends in English-language corporate and institutional disclosure practices in intercultural settings (PRIN 2020TJTA55) (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
10/2023 > 10/2024
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Research Fellow
Project: Communicating transparency - New trends in English-language corporate and institutional disclosure practices in intercultural settings (PRIN 2020TJTA55) (Università di Pisa)
10/2022 > 09/2023
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Research Fellow
Project: Combating online child grooming (Swansea University)
03/2018 > 12/2018
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Research Fellow
Project: Far-Right Extremist Use of Facebook and Twitter (Swansea University)
09/2017 > 03/2018
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Co-Investigator
Project: Developing Interdisciplinary and Industry Collaboration to Tackle Far-Right Extremist Use of Social Media for Propaganda and Recruitment (Swansea University)
01/2017 > 08/2017
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Research Fellow
Project: Trust in crypto-drug markets (Swansea University)
08/2016 > 12/2016
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Research Fellow
Project: Dynamic resonance and social reciprocity in language change (Lancaster University)
01/2016 > 06/2016
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Research Fellow
Project: Cyber-terrorism Advanced training in interdisciplinary methods (Swansea University)
06/2015 > 12/2015
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Research Fellow
Project: poli.in Analisi e modellizzazione dei Poli di innovazione in Toscana (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
01/2015 > 05/2015
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Research Fellow
Project: The visual automated search for super influencers (Swansea University)
02/2014 > 10/2014
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Research Fellow
Project: Great Transformations A Cultural Political Economy of Crisis-Management (Lancaster University)
09/2012 > 05/2013
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Research Assistant
Project: AmE06 reference corpus (Brown Family Corpus) (Lancaster University)
12/2010 > 05/2011
Teaching Experience
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Lecturer in English specialized communication and translation
Department of Studies on Language and Culture (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
09/2022 > present; 40 hours per A.Y.
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Lecturer in Digital Humanities
Department of Studies on Language and Culture (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
01/2020 > present; 36 hours per A.Y.
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Tutor in Digital Humanities
DHialogue | Advanced training course in Digital Humanities and Digital Communication for Cultural and Cultural Enterprises (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
02/2023 > 01/2024; 8 hours per A.Y.
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Lecturer in Text Mining
Department of Education and Humanities (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
09/2023 > 12/2023; 63 hours per A.Y.
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Lecturer in Digital Education
Department of Education and Humanities (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
01/2020 > 12/2021; 36 hours per A.Y.
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Lecturer in Technical English
Department of Sciences and Method for Engineering (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
02/2019 > 12/2020; 36 hours per A.Y.
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Mentor for Corpus Linguistics MOOC on FutureLearn
Department of Linguistics (Lancaster University)
04/2015 > 12/2017; 40 hours per A.Y.
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Summer school convenor and data analyst
Centre for Terrorism and Security Studies (CTSS) (UMass Lowell)
08/2015 > 09/2015; N/A
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Tutor in Corpus Linguistics (BA)
Department of Linguistics (Lancaster University)
09/2011 > 05/2013; N/A
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Tutor in First Language Acquisition (BA)
Department of Linguistics (Lancaster University)
09/2011 > 05/2013; N/A
Other Activities
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Linguist and co-designer
AFOr (Archivio delle Fonti Orali) | https://afor.dev
05/2018 > present
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Linguist and co-designer
PerMeA (Performative Meanings Arising) | https://collettivoamigdala.com/portfolio-page/permea
07/2023 > present
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Linguistic consultant; Software developer for the analysis of the readability of technical documents and contracts
Veeco | https://veeco.it
06/2019 > 06/2022
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Head of the Research and Development linguistic team; teaching mentor
FEM (Future Education Modena) | https://fem.digital
07/2019 > 01/2022
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Co-creator and performer, site-specific art installation CODE syntax error
Periferico Festival 2019 | https://collettivoamigdala.com/portfolio-page/periferico-2019/
05/2019 > 05/2019
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Forensic Consultant; Recovery and analysis of digital evidence for legal purposes
Studio legale Cavani (Modena) and Studio legale Pighi e associati (Modena)
09/2013 > 04/2014
Invited Talks
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Web semantico e Linked Open Data. Un viaggio nella conoscenza tra vero e falso
Domenico Di Siena , Cristina Ambrosini , Luca Sandoni , Matteo Di Cristofaro , Elia Mazzotti Gentili , Laura Petrucci , Silvia Tagliazucchi
Smart Life Festival 2024 (Modena)
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Humans and computers counting words: sources of data interference in corpora and corpus-derived results
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Digital Humanities Doctoral Symposium (Università di Genova)
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One dataset, many corpora: Problems of scientific validity in corpora and corpus-derived results
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Edge Hill Corpus Research Group (Edge Hill University)
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Academic and Professional Communication (CAP) corpora
Matteo Di Cristofaro , Jessica Jane Nocella
Maratona DH (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
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Giocare con le parole: il dialogo come meccanismo di creazione della lingua
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Tavola Esagonale "Gioco e Linguaggio" (Play - Festival del gioco, Modena)
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Coding taboo in language: from taboo words to taboo constructions, and back
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Tabù della lingua e della letteratura nell’età contemporanea (Università di Padova)
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Doing cyber-trust outside the law: A linguistic approach
Nuria Lorenzo-Dus , Matteo Di Cristofaro
Corpus research in linguistics and beyond seminar (King's College, London)
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Communicating transparency - New trends in English-language corporate and institutional disclosure practices in intercultural settings
Nuria Lorenzo-Dus , Matteo Di Cristofaro
Corpora and Discourse International Conference (Lancaster University)
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Trust in crypto-drug markets
Nuria Lorenzo-Dus , Matteo Di Cristofaro
UNICRI - United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (Geneve)
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Contributed Talks
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From Algorithms to Narratives: The Objectivity of AI in Recruitment and a Discourse-Based Alternative
Francesca Nannetti , Matteo Di Cristofaro , Anna Chiara Scapolan
XXII International Conference in Commemoration of Professor Marco Biagi (Marco Biagi Foundation - Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
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Understanding the Future Green Workforce through a Corpus of Curricula Vitae from Recent Graduates
Francesca Nannetti , Matteo Di Cristofaro
CLiC-it 2024 – Tenth Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics (Pisa)
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Emojis in digital business communication: trends and traces of sustainability
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Transparency in English Language Teaching and Research (Università degli Studi di Verona)
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The structural accessibility of sustainability-related contents: finding sustainability in webpages’ hierarchies
Matteo Di Cristofaro
AIA Brixen 2024 Seminar (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano)
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The hierarchy of web pages: accounting for contents’ accessibility in keywords analysis
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Corpus Linguistics conference (CL2023) (Lancaster University)
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Metadata as (re)construction of collective memory and new imaginaries
Matteo Di Cristofaro , Silvia Tagliazucchi
5th AIPH Conference (Università degli Studi di Firenze)
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The transparency of contracts: a corpus-assisted study for a semi-automated evaluation of transparency in the tertiary sector
Matteo Di Cristofaro
ABC Regional Conference: Europe, Middle East and Africa (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
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Storia Orale e Tecnologie Open: AFOr – Archivio di Fonti Orali del Villaggio Artigiano di Modena Ovest
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Linuxday ("Enzo Ferrari" Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
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Digital identities and trust in extra-judicial environments - a Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies approach
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Strategies of inclusion and exclusion in social media interaction (Università di Catania)
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Dalle fonti alla rigenerazione - il Villaggio Artigiano di Modena Ovest e il processo di rigenerazione innescato da OvestLab ed il Collettivo Amigdala
Antonio Canovi , Silvia Tagliazucchi , Matteo Di Cristofaro
3rd AIPH Conference (Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)
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Analysing and mapping the language of a place: the AFOr archive
Matteo Di Cristofaro
A-Mode - Approaches to Multimodal Digital Environments: from theories to practices (Università di Tor Vergata)
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Preemptive interaction as trigger of language change and indicator of intersubjective reasoning: The case of [There is no NP]
Vittorio Tantucci , Matteo Di Cristofaro
International Pragmatics Conference, International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) (Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities)
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Mapping places and memories through language - the AFOr (Archivio di Fonti Orali) project
Silvia Tagliazucchi , Matteo Di Cristofaro
4th ISUFitaly Conference: READING BUILT SPACES. Cities in the making and future urban form (Politecnico di Bari - DICAR)
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Semantic changes in urban-related terminology: a linguistic inquiry
Matteo Di Cristofaro , Silvia Tagliazucchi
EAUH 2018 Urban renewal and resilience (Università Roma Tre)
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An evolutionary approach to information transmission - The semasiological change of the existential construction [there is no NP P]
Vittorio Tantucci , Matteo Di Cristofaro
ICEHL XX - 20th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics (University of Edinburgh)
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Relazione tra spazio e memoria: Villaggio Artigiano di Modena Ovest
Matteo Di Cristofaro , Silvia Tagliazucchi
2nd AIPH Conference (Università di Pisa)
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Far-Right Extremist Use of Social Media for Propaganda and Recruitment
Lella Nouri , Nuria Lorenzo-Dus , Matteo Di Cristofaro
Terrorism And Social Media (TASM) (Swansea University)
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Minimum/living wage - A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study of Influential Citizens in Twitter
Nuria Lorenzo-Dus , Matteo Di Cristofaro
Corpora and Discourse International Conference (Università di Siena)
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Dynamic resonance and social reciprocity in language change
Vittorio Tantucci , Jonathan Culpeper , Matteo Di Cristofaro
19th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics (ICEHL) (University of Duisburg-Essen)
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poli.in: Analisi e modellizzazione dei Poli di innovazione in Toscana
Margherita Russo , Stefano Ghinoi , Valentina Fiordelmondo , Matteo Di Cristofaro
2nd European Conference on Social Networks (EUSN) (Sciences Po)
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Language carving: finding criminal evidence through Corpus Linguistics
Matteo Di Cristofaro
The Dark Web: An Interdisciplinary Workshop (Swansea University)
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Visualizing chunking and collocational networks: a graphical visualization of words’ networks
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Corpus Linguistics conference (CL2013) (Lancaster University)
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Rethinking dysphemisms and euphemisms: a corpus-based constructional approach to Italian taboo language
Matteo Di Cristofaro
Experimental and Empirical Approaches to Im/Politeness (LIAR III) (University of Illinois)
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Rethinking dysphemisms and euphemisms: a corpus-based constructional approach to Italian taboo language
Matteo Di Cristofaro
International Conference on Dialogic Language Use 3: Miscommunication and Verbal Violence (University of Helsinki)
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Publications
- Di Cristofaro, Matteo, Tagliazucchi, Silvia (2024). 'Declinazioni Linguistiche: L'Archivio Orale Del Villaggio Artigiano Modena Ovest (AFOr)'. In A Memoria Futura. Storie e Paesaggi Del Rione Sanità , edited by Canovi, Antonio and Merini, Hilde and Valisena, Daniele , 327--340. Mimesis , Milano .
- Bondi, Marina, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2023). 'MoReThesisCorpus: Documenting Academic Language as Used in the Theses Submitted to the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia'. In Iperstoria , No. 21 , 9--30. 10.13136/2281-4582/2023.i21.1265.
- Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2023). Corpus Approaches to Language in Social Media. Routledge , New York . 10.4324/9781003225218.
- Tantucci, Vittorio, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2021). 'Pre-Emptive Interaction in Language Change and Ontogeny: The Case of [ Is No NP]'. In Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory , Vol. 17 , No. 3 , 715--742. 10.1515/cllt-2020-0007.
- Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria, Kinzel, Anina, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2020). 'The Communicative Modus Operandi of Online Child Sexual Groomers: Recurring Patterns in Their Language Use'. In Journal of Pragmatics , Vol. 155 , 15--27. 10.1016/j.pragma.2019.09.010.
- Tantucci, Vittorio, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2020). 'Entrenchment Inhibition: Constructional Change and Repetitive Behaviour Can Be in Competition with Large-Scale “Recompositional” Creativity'. In Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory , Vol. 16 , No. 3 , 547--579. doi:10.1515/cllt-2019-0017.
- Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2018). '`I Know This Whole Market Is Based on the Trust You Put in Me and I Don't Take That Lightly': Trust, Community and Discourse in Crypto-Drug Markets'. In Discourse & Communication , Vol. 12 , No. 6 , 608--626. 10.1177/1750481318771429.
- Tantucci, Vittorio, Culpeper, Jonathan, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2018). 'Dynamic Resonance and Social Reciprocity in Language Change: The Case of Good Morrow'. In Language Sciences , Vol. 68 , 6--21. 10.1016/j.langsci.2017.09.004.
- Di Cristofaro, Matteo, Horton-Eddison, Martin (2017). Corpus Linguistics on the Silk Road(s): The Escrow Example. Swansea University . https://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/Corpus-Linguistics-Methodology-on-the-Silk-Road-The-Escrow-Example.pdf.
- Di Cristofaro, Matteo, McEnery, Tony (2017). 'Swearing in Italian: A Redefinition of the Notions of Dysphemism and Euphemism'. In Advances in Swearing Research. New Languages and New Contexts , edited by Beers Fägersten, Kristy and Stapleton, Karyn , 183--212. John Benjamins Publishing Company , Amsterdam . 10.1075/pbns.282.09dic.
- Horton-Eddison, Martin, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2017). 'Hard Interventions and Innovation in Crypto-Drug Markets: The Escrow Example'. In Policy Brief , No. 11 https://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/Hard-Interventions-and-Innovation-in-CryptoDrug-Markets-The-escrow-example.pdf
- Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria, Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2016). '#Living/Minimum Wage: Influential Citizen Talk in Twitter'. In Discourse, Context & Media , Vol. 13 , 40--50. 10.1016/j.dcm.2016.02.003.
- Di Cristofaro, Matteo, Fiordelmondo, Valentina, Ghinoi, Stefano, Russo, Margherita (2015). 'Promozione Del Sistema Dei Poli Di Innovazione Nello Spazio Web: Analisi Dei Contenuti e Delle Reti Di Relazioni Virtuali'. In DEMB WORKING PAPER SERIES 10.25431/11380_1077762.
- Di Cristofaro, Matteo (2014). Rethinking Dysphemism and Euphemism : A Corpus-Based Construction Grammar Approach to Swearing in Italian. Thesis.
Fundings
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PerMeA - Performative Meanings Arising | https://collettivoamigdala.com/portfolio-page/permea/
funded by Ministero della Cultura, Unione Europea – Next GenerationEU, supported by Regione Emilia-Romagna, Comune di Modena, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio-Emilia, Università di Udine
11/2023 > 05/2025
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AFOr - Archivio delle Fonti Orali | https://afor.dev
funded by Memoria del Novecento (Regione Emilia-Romagna), in collaboration with Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali - Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Collettivo Amigdala, Istituto Storico Modena, CNA Modena, Conoscerelinux, AISO (Associazione Italiana di Storia Orale), Associazione Eutòpia, Insieme in Quartiere per la Città
09/2019 > 09/2020
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AFOr - Archivio delle Fonti Orali | https://afor.dev
funded by Memoria del Novecento (Regione Emilia-Romagna), in collaboration with Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali - Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Collettivo Amigdala, Istituto Storico Modena, CNA Modena, Conoscerelinux, AISO (Associazione Italiana di Storia Orale), Associazione Eutòpia, Insieme in Quartiere per la Città
09/2018 > 09/2019
Supervision
- Mapping the Green Workforce: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Skills and Job Opportunities in the Ecological Transition, 2025 | PhD thesis, co-supervisor
- Linguistic Analysis of Human-Artificial Intelligence Interactions among Italians: A Data-Driven Investigation, 2024 | MA thesis, supervisor
- The Influence of Instagram Fashion Influencers: Investigating User Responses to the Promotion of Fast Fashion Brands, 2024 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Communicating sustainability in the fashion industry: an investigation into the leading role of Instagram and corporate websites , 2024 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Media Bias and Narrative Construction of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis of Al Jazeera, The Jerusalem Post and The Intercept, 2024 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Game Localization in Cross-Cultural Communication: An Analysis of the Localization of Animal Crossing: New Horizons from English to Italian, 2024 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Interacting in times of war: How President Zelensky persuasively communicates on Telegram during Russia - Ukraine conflict, 2023 | MA thesis, supervisor
- The impact of European large-scale cultural events: a communicative approach to Matera Open Future 2019 and the ECoC., 2023 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Humor Unboxed: A Multimodal Comparative Analysis of humor techniques in IKEA commercials in the USA and France, 2023 | MA thesis, supervisor
- A study on the comparison between Human Translation and Machine Translation in the case of contract formation, 2023 | MA thesis, co-supervisor
- The communication between veganism and science: discourse on the Q&A platform Quora, 2023 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Are your decisions your own? A Corpus Assisted Discourse Study on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, 2022 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z on Italian Social Media; Generation-Specific Slang and Language Trends, 2022 | MA thesis, supervisor
- Evolving fitness and wellness trends in social media through the lens of persuasion, 2022 | MA thesis, supervisor