Giovanna DI MATTEO

Current position: Research fellow

Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World, University of Padua.

Research project: “Social geography of protected areas. Policies and practices for the construction and use of local natural and cultural heritage” (M-GGR/01 - M-GGR/02). Scientific director of the research: Prof. Benedetta Castiglioni.

Education

Doctor Europaeus - Ph.D. in Historical, Geographical, and Anthropological Studies - Curriculum: Geographical Studies

University of Padua, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, University of Verona. (1 October 2017 – 11 March 2021)

Final Mark: Excellent

Ph.D. Project: Migrants’ Support Volunteer Tourism in Border-Islands. Space and Memory in Lampedusa (Italy) and Lesvos (Greece).

Supervisor: Federica Letizia Cavallo, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

Co-Supervisor: Deirdre Conlon, University of Leeds

Master’s Degree in Intercultural Development of Touristic Systems

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy. (a.y. 20014/2015 – 2015/2016)

Final Mark: 110 with Honours / 110

Thesis title: Tourism and Immigration. Lampedusa as a Laboratory of Social Sustainability.

Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages and Cultures and Linguistic Mediation

University of Perugia, Italy. (a.y. 2009/2010 – 2012/2013)  

Final Mark: 108 / 110

Thesis title: Die Blechtrommel by Günter Grass

High School Diploma in Foreign Languages, at the “E. Majorana” Institute, Avezzano (AQ), Italy.

Final Mark: 80/100

Other educational experiences

ASGI course “Operare in frontiera” (Operating at the frontier). Lampedusa (Italy), 24-26 September 2021.

School of Higher Education in Geography by A.Ge.I. (Italian Association of Geographers), Monteortone, 14-17 September 2021.

“Primi-rec”, workshop on podcasting and audio production by DinamoPress aps. Online, 4 February-11 March 2021.

24° National training course and didactic experimentation “Officine Geografiche 2020” - GEOGRAPHY FOR CITIZENSHIP by Associazione Italiana Insegnanti di Geografia. Online, 13-14 November 2020

Summer School MobiLab 2020. Mobility & humanities: digital experiences and instruments. University of Padua. Online, 14-23 September 2020

ASGI course “Operare in frontiera” (Operating at the frontier) Lampedusa, 13-15 September 2019.

Recognitions and Awards

I was awarded the 4th edition (2021/2022) of the FrancoAngeli prize and “New Geographies. Work tools” for the best PhD thesis in Geography.

I was awarded the Guido Cazzavillan 2018 prize for the best Master’s Thesis in the Faculty of Economics at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

Publications

Journal Articles:

Di Matteo, “Resistance or exclusion? The paradoxes of volunteer tourism, migration, and memorialization nexuses”, Tourism Geographies, 2023, DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2023.2175235.

Di Matteo, Daminelli, “Migrant support volunteer tourism. Patchwork autoethnographies on Lesvos (Greece) before and after lockdown”, Tourism Studies, under review.

Di Matteo, “Oltre la frontiera: rappresentazioni e immaginari geografici dellə volontariə a Lampedusa”, in I. Dumont, G. Gambazza, E. Gamberoni, Interstizi e novità: oltre il Mainstream. Esplorazioni di geografia sociale / Interstices and changes: beyond the Mainstream. Explorations in Social Geography, Quaderni di Geografia – Geography Notebook, 4:2, 2021, pp. 131-142.

Di Matteo, “Carrefours: Migrants’ Support Volunteer Tourism in Lesvos”, in L. Gallarini, D. Gavinelli, t. Maloutas, M. Novelli La Grecia degli altri: percorsi letterari, geografici e culturali nella Grecia contemporanea, Lingue Culture Mediazioni, 8:1, 2021, pp. 115-133.

Cavallo, Di Matteo, “Volunteer tourism and lived space: representations and experiences from Lesvos”, Tourism Recreation Research, 46:1, 2020, pp. 19-38.

Books:

Di Matteo, Migrant Support Volunteer Tourism in Border-Islands, Franco Angeli, in print.

Book Chapters:

Cavallo F., Di Matteo G., “Past, present, and future of the maritime Socotra: sustainable fishing tourism perspectives”, in Slak Valek N., Abdelmoneim A., A social view of Socotra Island: people, culture, heritage, Springer, in print.

Di Matteo, “Memorial Tourism and Citizen Humanitarianism: Volunteers’ Civil Pilgrimage to the “Life Jackets Graveyard” of Lesvos, Greece”, in Gabrielsen Jumbert M., Pascucci E. (eds.), Citizen humanitarianism: Refugee aid and borders in Europe, 2020, pp. 160-177.

Conference Proceedings:

Di Matteo, “Isole e migrazioni: Abitare temporaneo o detenzione forzata? Il caso dell’isola di Lesbo, Grecia”. In Geografie in movimento. Atti del XXXIII Congresso Geografico Italiano (Padova, 8-13 settembre 2021), A.Ge.I. (in press).

Di Matteo, “Confini visibili e invisibili a Lampedusa, Il caso degli spazi vissuti dai volunteer tourists”, in S. Zilli, G. Modaffari (eds.), Confin(at)i/Bound(aries), Società di Studi Geografici. Memorie geografiche, 18, 2020, pp. 521-528.

Di Matteo, “Immigrazione e turismo in un contesto microinsulare. Sperimentazioni di responsabilità turistica a Lampedusa”, in F. Salvatori (eds.), L’apporto della Geografia tra rivoluzioni e riforme. Atti del XXXII Congresso Geografico Italiano (Roma, 7-10 giugno 2017), A.Ge.I., Roma, 2019, pp. 2927-2933.

Reviews:

Gregorio, Di Matteo, “« Vous n’éviterez pas la colère et les cris ». Sguardi di Ladj Ly sui conflitti urbani e sociali di una banlieue parigina”. in I. Dumont, G. Gambazza, E. Gamberoni, Interstizi e novità: oltre il Mainstream. Esplorazioni di geografia sociale / Interstices and changes: beyond the Mainstream. Explorations in Social Geography, Quaderni di Geografia – Geography Notebooks, 4:2, 2021, pp. 265-268.

Di Matteo, “Inaugurazione del Museo di Geografia di Padova. Esplora. Misura. Racconta (Padova, 3 dicembre 2019)”, Geostorie. Bollettino e Notiziario del Centro Italiano per gli Studi Storico-Geografici; XXVII, n. 2-3, 2019, pp. 242-244.

Prefaces and postfaces:

Bonanno, Di Matteo, Meraviglia, Mura, "Un tuffo genealogico. Riflessioni e lotte in dialogo", in Chistè, Del Re, Forti, Oltre il lavoro domestico. Il lavoro delle donne tra produzione e riproduzione, 2020, Verona: Ombre Corte.

Translations:

Di Matteo, “Talassologia Multidirezionale. Ecologie comparative tra la laguna di Venezia e l’Oceano Indiano”. In Cavallo F.L., Vallerani F., Visentin F., Arcipelago delle maree. Esplorare gli incerti confini della Venezia anfibia, 2023, Venezia, Cafoscarina.

Selection of national and international conferences:

21-24 September 2022 – Speaker at T2M 20th Annual Conference “Mobilities: Disruptions and Reconnections”. Title: “Walking in/with heritage landscapes. Gazes, limits and slowness in the Ledro Alps and Judicaria Biosphere Reserve” (with Margherita Cisani e Benedetta Castiglioni).

18-22 July 2022 – Speaker at UGI - IGU 2022 “Les temps des Géographes”, Université Paris 1, Panthéon Sorbonne, Parigi. Title: Titolo del contributo: “Volunteer tourism and lived space. An island’s perspective before and after the Covid-19 pandemic”.

8-10 September 2021 - Speaker at the XXXIII Italian Geographical Congress “Moving Geographies”, University of Padua.

27-28 May 2021 – Organisation and participation as a speaker at the 3rd ATLAS International Workshop by the special interest group Space, Place and Mobilities in Tourism. Title: “Social Mobility Goes on Holiday. Tourist Im|mobilities, Conflicts and Empowerment” by the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, University of Padua and University Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona.

15-16 March 2021 – Speaker at the webinar “NGOs/CSOs, migration management and border control”, University of Sorbonne Paris Nord.

13 December 2019 – Speaker at the “IX Giornata di studio: Oltre la globalizzazione. Confin(at)i/Bound(aries)”, organised by the Società di Studi Geografici, University of Trieste.

1-5 July 2019 – Organisation and participation as a speaker at the Italian-French Doctoral Summer School “La mobilità nel passato e nel presente: persone, oggetti, testi, idee e informazioni”, University of Padua, Ca’Foscari University of Venice, University of Verona, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

14-15 June 2018 – Speaker at the conference “Border deaths and migration policies: state and non-state approaches”, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

26-28 September 2018 – Speaker at the conference “Islands, Resources, Tourism, and Society. Sustainable Development under Globalization and New Urbanization” (ICUA 2018), Zhejiang University Zhoushan Campus, China.

7-10 June 2017 - Speaker at the XXXII Italian Geographical Congress “L’apporto della geografia tra rivoluzioni e riforme”, at the University Roma Tre.

Work Experience

A.a. 2021/2022

Teaching at the course Geography of Tourism, SSD M-GGR/02, Department of Environment and Cultural Heritage, Degree Course in " Human Science of Enviroment, Landscape and Terrritory ", University of Milan.

1 April – 30 September 2022

Teaching assistant in the project “Nova Didaxis 3.0: avanzare su sentieri non tracciati”, as part of the curricular excursion for 1st year students of the Master’s Degree Course in Landscape Sciences, University of Padua.

8 November 2021 – 30 May 2022

Coordinator of the global digital exhibition “I Remember Water” for WAMU-NET (https://www.watermuseums.net/).

2 November 2021 - 28 February 2022

Teaching assistant at the course of Geography; Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Holding part of the lectures; surveillance of exams and correction of exams. Assistance with the preparation and management of lessons and online exams; management of the online student platform. 

17 May - 30 September 2021

Teaching Assistant Senior at the Department of Humanities. Assistance with the preparation and management of lessons and online exams for various professors.

10 May 2021 - 30 September 2021

Teaching Assistant Senior at the Department of Economics. Assistance with the preparation and management of lessons and online exams for various professors.

2 November 2020 - 28 February 2021

Teaching assistant at the course of Geography; Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Holding part of the lectures; surveillance of exams and correction of exams. Assistance with the preparation and management of lessons and online exams; management of the online student platform. 

14 October 2020 - 22 January 2021

Teaching assistant for the “Workshop on city and territory – Landscape geography”, SSD M-GGR/01. Bachelor’s degree in architecture, IUAV University. Holding part of the lectures; assistance with the preparation and management of lessons and online exams and projects’ revisions; management of the online student platform. 

December 2018 – February 2020

Educational workshops at the Museum of Geography with elementary and middle school classes, via del Santo, 26, 35123 Padova.

Experiences Abroad

Erasmus – Leeds (UK) - University of Leeds – Department of Geography (January – March 2019).

Leonardo da Vinci - Prague - Hospitality industry Internship (January 2014 – May 2014).

Exchange Program – Saint Petersburg (Russia) - St. Petersburg State University (September 2011 – February 2012).

Erasmus – Berlin (Germany) - Freie Universität Berlin (September 2010 – March 2011).