Bruno Walter Renato Toscano is a Post-Doc Researcher for the ERC-Project entitled “WO-NAM – Women and Non-Alignment in the Cold War era: biographical and intersectional perspectives” (P.I. Chiara Bonfiglioli). He is working as U.S. historian on the transnational history of women of color during the Cold War and the history of reproductive rights in America trhough a transnational prespective. His forthcoming monography will be on the transnational history of the Third World Women's Alliance and it's activism on reproductive rights.  

He earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Pisa (grade: Excellent cum Laude) for a dissertation in U.S. History entitled “Their struggle is our struggle”: the Third World Women’s Alliance and the Alliance Against Women’s Oppression between anti-imperialism, reproductive rights, and transnational activism (1970-1989) under the guidance of Professor Vinzia Fiorino and Professor Elisabetta Vezzosi.

He earned his Bachelor in Philosophical and Historical Studies in 2016 at the University of Palermo with a dissertation entitled “George Lachmann Mosse: the New Politics for the New Man” under the supervision of Professor Salvatore Lupo (grade: 110 cum laude). Following archival research at the University of Berkeley and Stanford University, he obtained his master’s degree in History at Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna with a dissertation entitled “Revolution and Reformism in Babylon. The American Revolution of the Black Panthers (1966-1972)” under the supervision of Professor Raffaele Laudani and co-supervised by Professor Raffaella Baritono (grade: 110 cum laude).

Since 2019, he has collaborated with Rai Storia and Rai 3, participating in debates for the Italian TV show “Passato e Presente.” His research focuses on the history of the United States, the history of African Americans (with a focus on Afro-American activism in the 1960s, the 1970s, and 1980s), gender history, and transnational history during the Cold War.

He is currently working on his second book project, tentatively titled, "To be Black, Female, and Red: Antimperialism, Reproductive Rights, and the Long History of the Third World Women’s Alliance." 

                                         Curriculum Vitae 

Current positions
 
March 1, 2024 – February 28, 2026
Postdoctoral Research fellow for the ERC-Consolidator project “WO-NAM - Women and Non-Alignment in the Cold War era: biographical and intersectional perspectives,” Ca’Foscari University of Venice (Italy). PI: Prof. Chiara Bonfiglioli. In particular, I am working on transnational African American Women’s History during the Cold War and the history of the Population Control Movement from a gender perspective.
 
October 9, 2024 – October 6, 2027
Honorary Teaching Fellow in “Studies on the Global Cold War,” Department of Humanities, Ca’Foscari University of Venice.
 
October 17, 2024 – October 16, 2027
Honorary Teaching Fellow in “Contemporary History,” Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna.  
 
Education
 
November 30, 2023
PhD in History (XXXV cycle), Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa. Dissertation in History and Institutions of the Americas (SPS-05) entitled “Their struggle is our struggle": The Third World Women’s Alliance and the Alliance Against Women’s Oppression between anti-imperialism, reproductive rights, and transnational activism (1970-1989)” [in Italian], graded Excellent cum laude.
Supervisor: Prof. Vinzia Fiorino, co-supervisor: Prof. Elisabetta Vezzosi
 
March 20, 2019
Master’s degree in history and oriental studies - Curriculum Scienze Storiche (LM-84) - University of Bologna, Department of History and Culture, graded 110/110 cum laude.
Supervisor: Prof. Raffaele Laudani; Co-supervisor: Prof. Raffaella Baritono.
 
July 21, 2016
Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophical and Historical Studies (L-5) – University of Palermo, School of Humanities and Cultural Heritage, graded 110/110 cum laude.
Supervisor: Prof. Salvatore Lupo.
 
Research interests
 
- African American radicalism during the Cold War
- History of radical movements in Europe and the United States (XIX century)
- Women’s history during the XX century
- Reproductive Rights and the history of the Population Control movement
- History of Marxism
- Gender studies
- Transnational history of grassroots movements in Europe, the United States, and Latin America
- History of Italian Fascism
- History of Latin America
 
Publications
 
Forthcoming
Monography: TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, The Long History of the Third World Women’s Alliance: transnationalism and reproductive rights  (tentatively title).
 
The Third World Women’s Alliance, The Cambridge History of Black Women in the United States (CHBW), Volume Five: Social and Political Movements (1945-2020).
 
2024
TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, ‘Work locally but think globally’: The Alliance Against Women’s Oppression and transnational multiracial grassroots activism in the 1980s, Gender & History, 1-16
DOI: 10.1111/1468-0424.12779 [Open Access]
 
2023
TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, From Margin(s) to Center(s). The Third World Women’s Alliance (1969-1979), Contemporanea, Rivista di storia dell'800 e del '900, 4/2023.
 DOI: 10.1409/108690
 
Monography: TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, Pantere nere, America bianca. Storia e politica del Black Panther Party[Black Panthers, white America: History and Politics of the Black Panther Party], Ombre Corte, Verona, 2023, pp. 293, [Italian].
 
2022
TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, Romanzi Valentina (edited by), The Fractured States of America, Journal of American Studies in Italy, No.6|May 2022.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13135/2612-5641/6822 [Open Access]
 
TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, Andreozzi Riccardo, Galli Alessandro, Guidi Michela, Lischi Silvia, Magri Michele, Manetti Gaia, Quaggio Sara (edited by), Multiple Identities (vol. I & II), Groundtable, Pisa University Press, January 2022 [English, Italian and French]. [Open Access]
 
2021
TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, «Spazi di eccezione nel Cile di Pinochet: un’analisi di genere delle violenze sessuali nei centros de detención (1973-1989)»  [Spaces of exception in Pinochet's Chile: a gender analysis of sexual violence in centros de detención (1973-1989)], in Sémata. Cienciais Sociais e Humanidades, El fenómeno de las peregrinaciones, Issue 33|2021 [Italian].
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15304/semata.33.7404. [Open Access]
 
2017
TOSCANO, Bruno Walter Renato, «Le donne, il fordismo, Gramsci. Una prospettiva di genere sulla società statunitense (1909-1930) » [Women, Fordism, Gramsci: a gendered perspective on American society (1909-1930)], Diacronie. Studi di Storia Contemporanea, Issue 32, 4|2017 [Italian].
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/diacronie.6670. [Open Access]
 
Research experiences abroad and visiting positions
 
2025
Visiting Research Scholar at Fordham University, New York, from January 23, 2025, to May 17, 2025, at the invitation of Prof. Kirsten Swinth.
 
Archival research at:
-       Rockefeller Archive (Tarrytown, New York);
-       United Nations Archive (New York City);
-       Tamiment Archive (New York City);
-       Schomburg Library (New York City);
-       International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam, Netherlands).
 
2024
Archival research at:
-       Schlesinger Library (Harvard University, Cambridge);
-       Countway Library (Harvard University, Boston);
 
2022
Archival research at:
-       Tamiment Archive (New York City);
-       Schomburg Library (New York City);
-       Smith College Library (Northampton, Massachusetts);
 
Erasmus + Traineeship (granted by EU) at:
-       Universität Bielefeld (Germany).
 
2021
Visiting Research Fellow at Roosevelt Institute of American Studies (RIAS), Middelburg (Zeeland – Netherlands), September 2021.
 
2018
Archival research Bancroft Library (Berkeley University, Berkeley);
·      Green Library (Stanford University);
·      Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute (Stanford University).
 
Awards & grants
 
2025
Research Support Grant 2025-26, Harvard Radcliffe Institute-Schlesinger Library – Support for the project “Gendering the Population Control Movement.”
 
2024
Winner: Anna Maria Martellone Award – Italian Association of American Studies (AISNA) for the best Ph.D. dissertation in U.S. history (1000 euros granted).
 
Finalist: National Franciacorta Award, “Contemporary History” section, for the book “Pantere nere, America bianca. Storia e politica del Black Panther Party”, Ombre Corte (2023).
 
SISSCO (Society for the Study of Contemporary History in Italy) Scholarships 2024 – Support for Translation or Language Editing (500 euros granted).
 
2022
Historians of the Twentieth Century United States (Hotcus) Scholarships for supporting Ph.D. research activities – 500 £ granted.
 
Italian Association of Women Historians (SIS) Scholarship to participate in the Summer School “Genere E Capitalismo. Storia E Prospettive Teoriche” (Gender and Capitalism: History and Theoretical Perspectives) – August 24-28.
 
2021
Roosevelt Institute of American Studies (RIAS) Scholarships for supporting Ph.D. research activities – 300 euros granted.
 
2018
Grant funded by the School of Literature and Cultural Heritage of the University of Bologna to write the M.D’s dissertation abroad  – 3000 euros granted.
 
Conferences and seminars
 
2025
 
Speaker: “In the fight for our lives against fascism”: Black Lives Matter, antifascism, and the long history of Black radicalism, paper presented at the International Conference “I_Anti-Fascism: Actors, Practices, Meanings After 1989.” Istituto Alcide Cervi, Reggio Emilia (Italy), April 29.
 
Speaker: “Their struggle is our struggle”: a transnational history of the Third World Women’s Alliance and the Alliance Against Women’s Oppression (1970-1989),” paper presented for the 8th European Social Studies Sciences History Conference (ESSHC) in the panel “Women's anti-Imperialist activism within and beyond the WIDF: women’s organizations in France, Tunisia, Yugoslavia and the United States during the Cold War (1945-1989)” organized by Bruno Walter Renato Toscano, Anna Nasser, Francisca de Haan, and Alanna O’Malley, March 28.
 
Speaker: “Black (Women) Marxism - Leftist African American Women, Intersectionality, and the Global Cold War,” paper presented for the Conference “Left Wing Women’s Activism in the 20th century,” sponsored by Sapienza University of Rome and European University Institute, Rome, February 21.
 
Speaker: “The Paradoxical Country: Italy, the United States, and the Global Population Control Movement (1953-1971),” discussant, Kirsten Swinth. Seminar held at Fordham University in New York, February 19.
 
Speaker: “Revolutionary Bonds: Women of Color, the Global South and Transnational Activism in the Cold War (1970-1989),” seminar (online) for the series “Gender and History in the Americas,” sponsored by the Institute of Historical Research in London and the Society for the History of Women in the Americas, January 14.
 
2024
Speaker: “Women and Non-Alignment in the Cold War Era: biographical and intersectional perspectives,” seminar at Centre for Cultural and Historical Research of Socialism (CKPIS), University of Pula (Croatia), October 4.
 
Chair and Speaker: title of the speech: “On a Transnational and Intersectional History of Reproductive Rights between the United States and Central America in the 1970s and 1980s: An Historical Inquiry.” 9th Congress of the Italian Association of Women Historians (SIS), “Gender and History beyond Boundaries.”– panel title: “Intersectional and Global Approaches to the History of Reproductive Rights during the Cold War” (Chaired by Chiara Bonfiglioli and Bruno Walter Renato Toscano). University of Palermo, 20-22 June 2024
 
Speaker: “The Enduring ’68: Women of Colour, Third Worldism and U.S. Solidarity with Global South.” International conference “Turning the map upside down: Connected histories of decolonization, third worldism, and radical activism”– panel title: “Feminisms: Transnational Causes And Trajectories” (Chaired by Alessandra Gissi). University of Turin, May 27-28.
 
2023
Chair and Speaker: “Reclaiming Agency: Exploring Transnational Womanhood in the Political Imaginary with Non-Aligned Fighters by African American Women, 1960s-1970s.” 27th AISNA Biennial Conference “Vulnerabilities: Weaknesses, Threats, Resilience in the U.S.A. and Global Perspective” – panel title: “Beyond Non-Violence: Violent Self-Defense and the Struggle Against White Supremacy” (Chaired by Bruno Walter Renato Toscano & Emanuele Nidi). The event was organized by AISNA Graduates, Associazione Italiana di Studi Nord Americani, and Narni (TR) by the Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences, and Education of the University of Perugia on September 21-23.
 
2022
Speaker: “Women’s Rights as Human Rights: Global Contestations in the Longue Durée. A Symposium for Gender & History” (speech title: From California to Nairobi: The Alliance Against Women’s Oppression and Women’s Rights after and before the U.N. Decade for Women Conference of 1985), May 19, 2022. Symposium organized by University of Sheffield (United Kingdom), May 19-20.
 
Speaker: “Heidelberg Center for American Studies Spring Academy 2022. American Studies: Culture, Economics, Geography, History, Literature, Politics & Religion” (speech title: Black Feminism Beyond Borders. Black Feminism Beyond Borders. The Transnational and Intersectional Struggle of African American Feminists (1960s-1980s), March 24, 2022. Online event organized by Universität Heidelberg (Germany), March 21-25.
 
2021
Chair and Speaker: “Rethinking Pan Africanism in the 1970s: Amiri Baraka, Newark, Dar es Salaam and the ‘all-Black unity’ ”, 26th AISNA Biennial Conference “Crossing Territories. Recognition across Time, Space, and Textuality, in the US and Beyond” – panel title: “Debunking The Myth: Pan-Africanism In African American Movements” (Chaired by Bruno Walter Renato Toscano & Emanuele Nidi). The event was organized by AISNA Graduates, Associazione Italiana di Studi Nord Americani, Department of Humanities, L’Aquila, September 23-25.
 
Chair: “Voting Divide: the Changing Boundaries of Citizenship in the US,” 2nd AISNA Graduates Conference – panel title: “Iconic Voices: Race and Gender Identities in the Claim for Citizenship.” An online event was organized by AISNA Graduates, Associazione Italiana di Studi Nord Americani, Centro Studi Americani, and the US Embassy in Rome on May 6.
 
Chair and Speaker: Speech title: “On the Job»: the Third World Women's Alliance, non-white Women Workers in the United States and the 1970s Economic Crisis (1971-1975)”, 8th Congress of the Italian Association of Women Historians (SIS), June 9-12 June. Panel tile “New perspectives on women's activism in the United States between the 1970s and 1980s: from the Working Class to Hollywood”. University of Verona (online due to the pandemic).
 
2020
Discussant: “Burn in the USA,” a public event organized by Spazio Catai, Jacobin Italy, and the Municipality of Padua, in Padua (Italy), October 25.
 
Discussant: “From the streets to the ballot box, from the ballot box to the streets. Black Lives Matter in the year of the US election”, online event, University of Palermo, organized by Professor Baris Tommaso, November 25.
 
2019
Paper: Black Women Against Imperialism. The Transnational Struggle of the Third World Women’s Alliance (1968-1977). 25th AISNA Biennial Conference, “Gate(d)Ways. Enclosures, Breaches and Mobilities Across U.S. Boundaries and Beyond”, Ragusa (Italy).
 
Courses & classes
 
2025
“From Margins to Center: For an Oral History of Black Feminism,” class for the course in Oral History held by Prof. Alessandro Casellato (Ca’Foscari University of Venice), April 15.
 
“African American radicalism from the 19th Century to the1980s,” class for the course in Contemporary History held by Prof. Andrea Rapini (University of Bologna), April 9.
 
Cycle of lessons for the course in History of the Cold War held by Prof. Chiara Bonfiglioli (Ca’Foscari University of Venice), March 3 and 10, April 7 – Lessons on “The United States and The Soviet Union: from the Second World War to the Cold War,” “The Long History of McCarthyism,” and “Anti-Imperialism, Thirdworldism, and Radical Movements in the United States.”
 
2024
“What is the Third World? African Americans and Thirdworldism,” class for the course in Contemporary History held by Prof. Or Rosenboim (University of Bologna), December 9.
 
 “History of the Black Power Movement and the Black Panther Party,” class for the course in Contemporary History held by Prof. Tommaso Baris (University of Palermo), May 20.
 
2023
 “A Colony Within America: For a Long History of the Black Panther Party,” class for the
course in History of the United States held by Prof. Stefano Luconi (University of Padua), November 17.
 
 “History and Politics of the Black Power,” class for the History of the United States course held by Prof. Matteo Battistini (University of Bologna - Forlì), November 11.
 
2022
“Explaining Meloni: Italian elections and the rising of the Far-Right,” class for the course in White Supremacy, Human Rights, and Calling In the Calling Out Culture held by Prof. Loretta Ross (Smith College – Northampton, MA), October 13.
 
“The long ’68 and Transnational Women’s Movements”, class for the History of North America course held by Prof. Benedetta Calandra (University of Bergamo), March 9.
 
Conferences and seminars organizer
 
2025
Seminar: Socialism Goes Global and the Issue of Whiteness in Central and Eastern Europe, conversation with James Mark (Exeter University), Ca’Foscari University of Venice, April 14-15.
 
2024
International conference: “What is an American?” (1782-2024) Narratives and Counternarratives of an Imagined Nation), 4th AISNA Graduates Conference, Centro Studi Americani (Rome), September 19.
 
Seminar: Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons From Five Revolutionary Women, conversation with Kristen R. Ghodsee (University of Pennsylvania), Ca’Foscari University of Venice, May 14.
 
2022
International conference: Queering America Gender, Sex, And Recognition in U.S. History, Culture, and Literature, 3rd AISNA Graduates Conference, Centro Studi Americani (Rome), September 30.
 
2021
Seminars: New Research in Contemporary History, cycle of 4 seminars, University of Pisa, March 31 – May 13.
 
 
Affiliations
·      AISNA – American Studies Association of Italy (since August 2019)
·      SISSCO – Società Italiana per lo Studio della Storia Contemporanea (since July 2020)
·      HOTCUS – Historians of the Twentieth Century United States (since March 2022)
·      Black Americas Network, Bielefeld Universität (since March 2022)
·      Centro Interuniversitario di Storia Culturale (since April 2022)
·      OAH – Organization of American Historians (since March 2024)
·      AAIHS – African American Intellectual History Society (since September 2024)
·      CWRN – Cold War Research Network (since October 2024)
 
Journal Boards
 
·       USAbroad (Journal of American History and Politics) Editorial Board since February 2024;
·       Jam IT! (Journal of American Studies in Italy) Advisory Board from January 2020 to January 2021.
 
Other scientifical activities
 
·      Academic Event Manager AISNA Grads, group of doctoral students and researchers of the Italian Association of North American Studies, since December 2021;
 
·      Classroom Tutor for the undergraduate degree program “International History” (Prof. Michele Di Donato), University of Pisa (September – December 2020);
 
·      Classroom Tutor for the undergraduate degree program “Institutions of Contemporary History” (Prof. Luca Baldissara), University of Pisa (September – December 2020).
 
·      Honorary teaching fellow in “Studi intersezionali di genere” (Gender Studies), Department of Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa (January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2023)
 
·      Debater in Passato e Presente (TV channels: Rai Storia, Rai 3) since 2019;
 
·      Fondazione 2000, Storia del PCI in Emilia Romagna (2000 Foundation, History of Italian Communist Party in Emilia Romagna), history researcher (from June 2021 to September 2021) on women and Italian Communist Party in Emilia Romagna;
 
·      Speaker podcast “The History of Malcolm X,” (In Italian), Audio Tales (January 15, 2025).
 
Former Jobs
 
·      Research Manager: Department of Statistical Sciences “Paolo Fortunati,” University of Bologna. Main activities included administrative and financial management of European and Italian national projects. In particular, two ERC projects (GENPOP & POPCLIMA) and one MSCA-Marie Curie Doctoral Network (ESSGN).
 
Languages
 
Italian: Native
English and Academic English: C1 – advanced
Spanish: B1– intermediate
French: A2 – pre-intermediate level