Lilian Regina GONCALVES DINIZ

Position
Adjunct Professor
E-mail
lilian.diniz@unive.it
Academic discipline
Byzantine Civilization [HELL-01/C]
Website
https://www.unive.it/people/lilian.diniz (personal record)

Office hours

Office Hours – a.y. 2025/26
Office hours are generally held on Tuesday from 10:00 to 12:00 am.
Students are kindly requested to arrange an appointment in advance via email (lilian.diniz@unive.it). Meetings can take place either in person or online.

Teaching activity current year

Teaching activity previous years

CONSERVAZIONE E GESTIONE DEI BENI E DELLE ATTIVITÀ CULTURALI [FT1]
Bachelor's Degree Programme

LETTERE [FT3]
Bachelor's Degree Programme

FILOSOFIA [FTR2]
Bachelor's Degree Programme

LETTERE [FTR3]
Bachelor's Degree Programme

Activities and research skills

Academic discipline
Civiltà bizantina [HELL-01/C]
Settore Scientifico Disciplinare (SSD) affine
STORIA MEDIEVALE [M-STO/01]
Geographic areas in which the research experience mainly applies
Internazionale: Europa
Known languages
Portoghese (scritto: madrelingua parlato: madrelingua)
italiano (scritto: avanzato parlato: avanzato)
Inglese (scritto: avanzato parlato: avanzato)
Francese (scritto: avanzato parlato: avanzato)
Spagnolo (scritto: avanzato parlato: avanzato)
Tedesco (scritto: intermedio parlato: intermedio)
Main departmental research areas and fields
Area: Storia e Antropologia Linea: Storia medievale
CONVERSIO - Conversion, apostasy and religious change in Early Medieval Iberia
Funding body:
European Research Executive Agency
Type:
COMPETITIVENESS AND INNOVATION FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME (CIP)
Role in the project:
LD
Starting date:
Year: 2026 Length in months: 35
CONVERSIO
Funding body:
MUR
Type:
Altri programmi ministeriali
Role in the project:
LD
Starting date:
Year: 2025 Length in months: 36

Publication highlights

Diniz, Lilian Regina Goncalves “When a Woman Recites an Incantation, a Serpent Recites it”: : Female magic and medicine in Caesarius of Arles in EVENTUM, vol. 2 (ISSN 2975-0989)
DOI 2024, Journal Article - ARCA card: 10278/5099788


Lilian Regina Goncalves Diniz How to Be Both: Individuating Religious Hybridity in Material Culture in Early Medieval Gaul , Frontiers. Volume 2 The Transformation and Christianization of the Roman Empire between Centre and Periphery. Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Christian Archaeology. Acta XVII Congressus Internationalis Archaeologiae Christianae, Peeters Publishers Leuven, vol. 2 (ISBN 978-90-429-5167-9)
DOI 2024, Book Article - ARCA card: 10278/5099793


Lilian Regina Goncalves Diniz Religious Cafting and Subversion: Women and Magic in Early Medieval Iberian Sources , Becoming a witch. Women and magic in Europe during the middle ages and beyond, Trivent (ISBN 978-615-6405-64-7; 978-615-6405-65-4; 978-615-6405-63-0)
2023, Book Article - ARCA card: 10278/5099791


Lilian Regina Goncalves Diniz Valerius of Bierzo as an interpreter of the seventh-century ecclesiastical environment of northwestern Iberia in JOURNAL OF MEDIEVAL IBERIAN STUDIES, vol. 13, pp. 145-163 (ISSN 1754-6559)
DOI 2021, Journal Article - ARCA card: 10278/5099789


Lilian Regina Goncalves Diniz Paganism and Traditional Practices in the Sermons of Caesarius of Arles , Studia Patristica. Vol. LXXIV - Including Papers presented at the Fifth British Patristics Conference, London, 3-5 September 2014, Peeters Publishers Leuven
2016, Book Article - ARCA card: 10278/5099794


List of publications

Curriculum vitae

Dr. Lilian R. G. Diniz is a historian specializing in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, with a particular focus on religious transformation, cultural hybridity, and gendered practices of piety. She holds a PhD in European Social History from the Università di Padova in cotutelle with Universität Wien, and has held research positions across leading institutions in Europe, including the Freie Universität Berlin, the Madrid Institute for Advanced Study, and the RomanIslam Center in Hamburg. She is currently a Research Fellow (RTDa) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and a recipient of the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship (2025), which will support her upcoming project across Northern Illinois University and Ca’ Foscari.

Her work examines the intersections of popular religion, material culture, and subversion in post-Roman societies, with particular attention to women’s roles in religious life, healing, and magic. Dr. Diniz’s publications explore topics ranging from female incantations in Caesarius of Arles to religious hybridity in early medieval Gaul and Iberia. Her research has garnered international recognition, including the 2024–2025 Heidi Marx Prize awarded to the best essay on the ambit of medicine in late antiquity. She is currently editing volumes on female religious experience and contributes actively to scholarly networks on medieval Mediterranean studies and gendered religious practices.

Grants and fellowships

2025 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship (European Commission)
€407,584.02 – Project based at Northern Illinois University (USA) and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy).
2025 – Italian Ministry of University and Research – Young Researchers Grant
€220,150.00 – Funding for independent research project.
2022 – Teaching Grant, Berlin University Alliance
€1,410.00 – For the seminar “Apostasy – past and present implications” (Freie Universität Berlin).
2021 – François Chevalier Residence Fellowship, MIAS (Madrid Institute for Advanced Study)
€3,000.00 – Three-month research residency.
2021 – Junior Fellowship, RomanIslam Center, University of Hamburg
€5,340.00 – Two-month research stay.
2019 – DAAD PRIME Postdoctoral Fellowship (Germany)
€73,332.00 – Research mobility based at Freie Universität Berlin with outgoing phase at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

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