As a non-native speaker of English, Dr Susanna Scarparo was told that she would never get a job in an English department, even though she has a PhD in comparative literature. “I was told fairly early on that if I wanted to have a career in academia, it wouldn't be in an English department,” she says. In this episode, we explore what it's like to live and work in a second language. Susanna shares her experiences and observations of bias against people with an accent, and how as an Italian woman, she's been a beneficiary of the “hierarchy of disadvantage”. She also talks about a fellow academic who championed her and believed in her abilities, and how her experiences have made her a champion for her colleagues and the students she supports.
Dr Susanna Scarparo Associate Professor in Italian Studies in the ANU School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, and outgoing CASS Associate Dean (Student Experience). She studied literary studies as an undergraduate in Italy and holds a PhD in Italian and Comparative Literature from the University of Auckland.
Her research program follows four main trajectories within the broad interdisciplinary fields of Cultural Studies and Italian Studies: Italian cinema, women filmmakers, contemporary women writers (with special attention to autobiography and biography), feminist theory (with special attention to sexual difference theory), global studies, migration and diaspora studies (focusing on narratives and life writing).
She is the author of Elusive Subjects: biography as Gendered Metafiction (2005) and is co-author of Reframing Italy: New Trends in Italian Women’s Filmmaking (with Bernadette Luciano, 2013), and Reggae and Hip Hop in Southern Italy: Politics, Languages and Multiple Marginalities (with Mathias Stevenson, 2018). She has co-edited Violent Depictions: Representing Violence across Cultures (with Sarah McDonald, 2006), Across Genres, Across Genres, Generations and Borders, Italian Women Writing Lives (with Rita Wilson, 2005), and Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Italian Culture: Representations and Critical Debates (with Charlotte Ross, 2010). She has also published numerous articles and book chapters on life writing, feminist theory, women’s historical fiction, Italian cinema and literature.
She teaches Italian language and culture, and cinema, and has taught global studies, life writing, and literary studies
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The theme music for This Academic’s Life is “Snow Blower” by Flower Crown.
Other music used in this episode: “The Poplar Grove” by Blue Dot Sessions.
This Academic’s Life is a production of the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences. It’s produced by Evana Ho.
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