Curriculum vitae - Torino World Affairs Institute

Irene Capelli - Curriculum vitae
MSc, Ph.D. Candidate – Social Anthropology
Doctoral School of Human and Social Sciences
Department of Culture, Politics and Society
University of Torino
[email protected] [email protected]
 EDUCATION
2010 (underway): Ph.D. Candidate – Social Anthropology, University of Torino, Doctoral School of Human
and Social Sciences; Scholarship of the Ministry of Education.
(working) Thesis title: “Strategie ed itinerari delle madri single nella società marocchina: negoziazioni dello
stigma e ri-definizioni di un ‘tabou’” (“Strategies and itineraries of single mothers in Moroccan society:
negotiations of stigma and re-definitions of a ‘taboo’”). Supervisor: Prof. Roberto Beneduce.
2008-09: Brunel University, London, Master of Science in Medical Anthropology. Dissertation: “Social
bonds and structural boundaries: pluralism, experience and risk in the birthing process in an eastern Moroccan
oasis” (Supervisor: Dr. Melissa Parker). Degree awarded with Distinction.
2005-07: University of Bologna, Master (Laurea Specialistica) in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology.
Dissertation: “L’esperienza della gravidanza nella migrazione: incorporazione, trasformazioni sociali e presa in
carico culturalmente orientata” (“Childbearing and migration. Embodiment, social changes and multicultural
policies in health care”). Supervisor: Prof. Ivo Quaranta. 110/110 cum laude.
(Antrocom Onlus Master's Dissertation Award 2010 ).
2002-05: University of Pavia, Bachelor (Laurea Triennale) in Philosophy. Dissertation: «La figura di Antigone
nella Fenomenologia dello spirito di G.W.F.Hegel», Supervisor: Prof. Silvana Borutti. 110/110 cum laude.
2004-05: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg (Germany), Erasmus program.
 RESEARCH INTERESTS
Social and cultural anthropology; anthropology of the body and medical anthropology; sexual and reproductive
health; gender; Maghreb and Mediterranean; transnational migrations and citizenship.
 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2007-2008 : four months fieldwork on reproductive health, migration and ‘multicultural policies’ in health care;
focus on the experiences and insights of Moroccan migrant women in a town in the Emilia-Romagna region
(central-northern Italy).
2009: three months fieldwork on maternal health and medical pluralism in an eastern Moroccan oasis; local
knowledge and practices of childbirth, the role of qablat (‘traditional birth attendants’) and the political economy
of health in a border town.
2010: three months fieldwork on the relations between reproductive choices, marital status, the access to sexual
and reproductive health services and migration pathways of Moroccan women and ‘second generation’ users in
Torino.
2011: seven months fieldwork in Casablanca, Morocco (visiting PhD student at the Moroccan Center of Social
Sciences / Centre Marocain de Sciences Sociales, CM2S, Hassan II University, Casablanca, directed by Prof.
Mohamed Tozy). Research on the strategies and itineraries of single mothers in Morocco: in exploring the
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meanings, the challenges and the constraints embedded in ‘illegitimate’ pregnancy in Moroccan society, I seek to
problematise to which extent the condition of social stigma informs sexual, maternal and infant health.
 PUBLICATIONS
Capelli, I. (2011) Risk and safety in context: medical pluralism and agency in childbirth in an eastern Moroccan
oasis, in Midwifery (Elsevier), 27 (6):781-785.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2010.06.020
Capelli, I. (2011) Embodying difference. Health care, culture and childbearing through the experiences of
Moroccan migrant women in Italy, in Antrocom Online Journal of Anthropology, 7 (1): 39-52.
http://www.antrocom.net/upload/sub/antrocom/070111-A/06-Antrocom.pdf
Article based on the master’s dissertation at the University of Bologna, 2006-07, awarded with Antrocom Onlus
Master's Dissertation Award 2010.
 PRESENTED PAPERS
July 2012 (accepted): 12th EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists) Biennial Conference,
Université de Paris-Nanterre, “’fuqash ‘arafti fi rassek hemla?’ Discovering, hiding and experiencing pregnancy
and reproduction in the lives of single mothers in Morocco”, workshop W028 “Managing the uncertainty of
human reproduction”.
April 2012 – Seminar at the Department of Culture, Politics and Society, University of Torino: “Difendere
l’’onore’ o rivendicare diritti? Madri sole in Marocco fra stigma sociale e nuove soggettività” (“To uphold
‘honor’ or to claim rights? Single mothers in Morocco between social stigma and new subjectivities”).
November 2011 : Centre Jacques Berque pour les Etudes en Sciences Humaines et Sociales au Maroc
(Rabat) : « Stratégies et parcours des filles face à la grossesse. Représentations et enjeux sociaux – réflexions à
partir d’un terrain à Casablanca », at the doctoral workshop : « Femme et famille au Maroc, une anthropologie
du genre »
September 2010 : Conference of African Studies, University of Napoli “l’Orientale”, “Plural knowledge and
local practices of childbirth: the embodied construction of personhood in a Moroccan oasis”, in the panel
“Constructions of personhood, transformations of the self and religion in Africa”.
August 2010: 11th EASA (European Association of Social Anthropologists) Biennial Conference, National
University of Ireland, Maynooth, “Social bonds and structural boundaries: pluralism, experience and risk in the
birthing process in an eastern Moroccan oasis”, at the workshop “Uncertainties, risk and socio-political change:
medical pluralism and diverse agencies”.
August 2008: 6th MASN (Moving Anthropology Student Network) Conference (“Boundaries, Borders and
Frontiers”, Osilnica, Slovenia). Paper title: “Reproduction and migration: embodiment, health and social change
in the Mediterranean”.
 COLLABORATION TO RESEARCH PROJECTS
2011 (underway): « Acteurs économiques et mouvements sociaux. Une approche politique des rapports de
force », directed by Prof. Béatrice Hibou (SciencesPo, Paris), coordinated by Dr. Irene Bono (SciencesPo –
Cesem ; University of Torino) – Centre d’Etudes Sociales, Economiques et Manageriales (Cesem), Rabat,
Morocco.
2012: Research assistant at T.wai – Torino World Affairs Institute: collaboration to the project “Economic and
social dynamics beyond the ‘Arab awakening’”.
 LANGUAGE SKILLS
Italian – mother tongue.
English – fluent written and spoken, TOEFL certificate.
French – fluent written and spoken, DELF certificate.
German – fluent written and spoken, DSH certificate, University of Heidelberg.
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Dialectal Moroccan Arabic – good (learnt mainly while in Morocco).
Standard Arabic – basic knowledge (A1 Level Certificate, University of Bologna).
Spanish – basic spoken knowledge.
 OTHER ACTIVITIES
March-October 2010: volunteer at Naga (association providing medical and legal assistance to migrants and
asylum seekers in Milano, Italy). Main activities: reception and organization of the users’ dossiers, provision of
information about public health, social services, Italian laws on migration and the right to health; coordination
with the other services of the association.
April 2008, 2009, 2011: participation to the project Caravane du Livre (Marrakech, Morocco).
August 2008 : member of staff at the 10th EASA Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
March-May 2008: member of staff at the 5th MASN (Moving Anthropology Student Network) Conference,
Siena, Italy.
2007-08: Placement at Trama di Terre - (Imola,Bologna, Italy) – cultural centre and association of local and
migrant women. Project on Italian-as-a-second-language; the didactic of Italian as a second language for
communication and as a tool for accessing health services.
2006-07: teacher of Italian-as-a-second-language at local associations, Bologna.
I authorise the processing of my personal information under D.Lgs. 196/03.
Pavia, 12th April 2012
Irene Capelli
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