Stories

Street-level accoglienza (reception) is a concept that I developed while doing ethnographic research on migrant reception and solidarity initiatives in the Central Mediterranean between the years of 2014 and 2019. The concept is derived in part from Michael Lipsky’s “street-level bureaucrats”, i.e., those state actors who are thought to enact policies and give them shape […]

When I arrived in Belgium for my Fulbright grant a few weeks before winter 2021 I was, about as literally as possible, a fish out of water. Upon getting my bearings and meeting locals I began to receive a common question: why did you choose Belgium? To this I had come up with a pithy […]

I have celiac disease, which means I have a gluten allergy. If I eat food that contains gluten, I get sick.  Moving to Vienna, Austria and spending extended lengths of time in Sweden for my Fulbright research means I have spent a lot of time staring at the shelves in supermarkets, trying to figure out […]

A bit of background. Landing in Chicago on August 24, 2021 at the start of my Fulbright visit, I was very enthusiastic, curious and impatient. After a prolonged period of lockdowns, isolation and a (research) life in limbo due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I was back in the USA, setting out on a new journey […]

Overture: American words, European thoughts  “You enter a kind of altered, out of body state. I can’t explain it, probably no one can. You’ll get it after a few months. Good luck”. So said a friend and Fulbright alum to Asia in the 2010s after an impromptu pre-departure dis-orientation last summer as we hugged and […]

Traveling to and through that center as a Fulbright scholar at Harvard Law School’s Labor & Worklife Program, then, was at once a deeply familiar and a deeply alien experience. It also turned out to be a uniquely enriching one. After two pandemic-induced postponements, I was more than ready to finally make my way to […]

Going from law to science and diplomacy, my Fulbright Schuman experience took me out of my comfort zone, challenged my leadership skills, and exposed me to some of the top marine mammal scientists in the world. I began my Fulbright Schuman experience in September 2020… or I was supposed to. COVID- 19 put a halt […]

It’s 11 PM on a Friday in early January and I just arrived outside my hotel in Chicago downtown, tired and jetlagged. It is dark, cold, and the wind blows a freezing breeze from the great lakes through Chicago’s streets. Doing normally my Ph.D. at the European University Institute in sunny Italy I asked myself: […]

Amidst those protestors, is where I would be right now, had I not chosen to leave. Beginning of March: the world is watching China and, of all places, my home country, Italy, fight the “invisible enemy” COVID-19. It’s impossible to imagine what happens next. I left New York on March 21st. Destination: not Brussels, where […]

In 2018, I found myself in the same position as many fellow Fulbright Scholar applicants: while I was already employed in a full-time job, I had an idea for an independent project that would add depth and perspective to my career. I work in the space sector, but at the time had limited experience with […]