Doctoral Researcher Alessia Colonnelli

Alessia Colonnelli received her B.A. and M.A. in Languages, History, and Cultures of Mediterranean and Islamic Countries from the University of Naples, L’Orientale. During her studies, she carried out some study stays in Morocco, hosted by the University of Fez and Agadir. These stays were helpful to guide Alessia’s research toward the field of Amazigh studies, to complement the reductive academic focus on the Arabic and Islamic cultural spheres when it comes to the study of the Maghrebi region. Along the same lines, her M.A. thesis on “Popular Protests in the Moroccan Rif: Movements and Strategies of Mobilization” allowed her to explore the role of Amazigh identity in contemporary Maghreb, from a historical and sociological point of view. 

In 2020, she received a post-graduate degree in International Cooperation and Development, from the University La Sapienza. During that time, Alessia collaborated with some organizations in the field of international collaboration, mainly focusing on human rights-related issues and migration policies. Since 2021, Alessia has collaborated with an Italian radio, hosting a program on media and information in Arabic and Islamic countries. In 2021, she started a collaboration within the research program Gathering the Dispersed at Heidelberg University, led by Prof. Dr. Johannes Becke. Her Ph.D. research focuses on the dynamics that characterized Amazigh identity activism by looking at the processes of enemization that characterized the context of the emergence of an amazing identity movement. The project sets out to highlight the role these processes played in influencing the strategies of early Amazigh activism and investigate how Amazigh activists interacted with the context of enemization to carve out spaces for action and promotion of Amazigh identity and culture.