Aurora Moxon

I am a Research Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Cork looking at mobility, agropastoralism and ecotourism in the Aspromonte mountains in Calabria. 'Mountain Mobilities: 'Modernity', Mobility and Renewal in the Aspromonte' is an interdisciplinary research project that draws on the Environmental Humanities and Cultural Studies and is funded by the Government of Ireland. I use ethnographic methodologies—practice-based participant observation, interviews and informal conversations—to explore the links between small-scale food production, the environment and cultural practices.

My research interests also include stereotypes of 'backwardness' associated with southern Italy and mobilities to, from and within the region.

After graduating with an MA in Italian and an MLitt in Cultural Identity Studies at the University of St Andrews, I completed my PhD at the Universities of Bristol and Cardiff in 2022. My thesis examined the self-perception and self-representation by Calabrians of their Calabrian identity in both Calabria and Victoria, Australia in light of stereotypes of crime and 'backwardness'. This research was funded by the South West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership. During this time I lectured on the Organised Crime and Democracy unit at the University of Bath. In 2022 I won the Association for the Study of Modern Italy Postgraduate Essay prize.

I currently teach on the Italian Foodways module at University College Cork.