Michela BONATO

Current Position and Research

01/2023: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at DISSGeA, University of Padova, Italy (assegno di ricerca)

Project Title: Travelling Europe(s): rethinking Europeanisation through tourism mobilities performances (P.I. Prof. Dr. Chiara Rabbiosi)

Geographical/topical area of interest: China, Water, Urban Politics, Heritage, State-Local Relations, the Commons.

Integrated urban-rural planning; Chongqing housing politics; green gentrification; natural heritage discourses and spatial strategies in Southwest China.

EDUCATION

Dr.Phil., Geography/Human Geography (June 2020), Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany. Dissertation: “Spatialization of Happiness in Chongqing Watershed”, awarded cum laude
Advisors: Prof. Dr. Hans Gebhardt (Geography), Prof. Dr. Barbara Mittler (Chinese Studies)

MA, East Asian Languages and Cultures (China), Ca' Foscari University, Venice, Italy (September 2009 to February 2012), 110 out of 110 cum laude. Thesis on Chongqing demographic and urban history.

BA, East Asian Languages and Cultures (China), Ca' Foscari University, Venice, Italy (September 2006 to July 2009). Thesis on Qigong discipline. 

RESEARCH ABROAD and ADDITIONAL TRAINING

• Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic (31/07-04/08/2023), Summer School Remote Ethnography – a methodological toolkit
• Assemblea Permanente Smarginando, Tularù, Rieti (13-16/06/2023), Campeggio di Geografia Critica
• Società Geografica Italiana, Roma (12/06/2023), Giornata di Studio Geografia Attiva
  GecoAgri-LandItaly Rieti, and University of Foggia, Italy (29-31/08/2022), Sustainable governance of water resources in response to the growing thirst for water and energy Summer School (scholarship)
• ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) (07/2021-12/2021), "Development and International Cooperation" Diploma (final grade 29/30)
• Ca' Foscari University (01/2021-06/2021), "PF 24" (Italian Ministry of Education Teacher Training; 24 ECTS)
• University of Bologna (02-30/11/2020), "WeTell" Summer School: Innovating Storytelling to Address Civic Awareness (final grade 30/30; 6 ECTS)
• University of Helsinki (21-22/03/2016), China Law Research Workshop
• Southwest University Chongqing, PRC (01/09/2014-31/07/2015), Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Geography/Urban Planning. Advisor: Prof. Liao Heping (China Scholarship Council)                  
• University of Turin (07/2013), ToChina Summer School (full scholarship)
• Chongqing, PRC (01-30/09/2011), Individual Mission (ethnographic fieldwork and archive research)
• Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany (09/2010-05/2011), Visiting Graduate Student - Erasmus Program at the Institute of Chinese Studies (Ca' Foscari Erasmus Scholarship)
• Capital Normal University Beijing, PRC (01/2009-06/2009), Visiting Undergraduate Student (Intensive Chinese Course) 
   

GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS and HONORS

2023: DiSSGeA Funds, University of Padova, Italy, to take part in Smarginando – Campeggio di Geografia Critica, Tularù, Rieti

2023: DiSSGeA Funds, University of Padova, Italy, to take part in Giornata di Studio Geografia Attiva, Società Geografica Italiana, Rome

2022: Scholarship, GecoAgri-LandItaly Rieti, Italy, Sustainable governance of water resources in response to the growing thirst for water and energy Summer School

2021: ICAS 12 Online Conference Registration partial fee waiver (travel grant application)

2014-2015: China Scholarship Council via the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for conducting research on the History of Chongqing Water Management, Southwest University Chongqing, PRC (11 months)

2013-2014: Kurt-Hiehle-Stiftung Travel Grants, Institute of Geography, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany

2013: Full Fellowship, ToChina Summer School, University of Turin, Italy

2010-2011: Erasmus Program Scholarship, Ca’ Foscari University, Italy

Mention of Merit (Menzione di Merito) to the PhD thesis on Chongqing housing spatial distribution and governance, Premio Lorenzo Bargellini 2021 (national competition), III Edizione (Third Edition), 4 June 2022, Florence, Italy

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

Adjunct Lecturer in the following courses (docente a contratto):

a.y. 2022-2023:

Cina Oggi [China Today] (B.A., 30h), Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy

Lingua Cinese per la Comunicazione di Base [Basic Chinese Language] (B.A., 30h), Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy

Geography I, M-Z (B.A., 30h), Department of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy

Didactics of Geography (B.A., third year, 36h), Department of Humanities, University of Pavia, Italy

B.A. Thesis Supervisor: 1 (Department of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy)

a.y. 2021-2022:

Didactics of Geography (B.A., third year, 36h), Department of Humanities, University of Pavia, Italy

a.y. 2020-2021:

Chinese Language and Translation (B.A., first year, 42h), Department of Humanities, University of Catania, Italy (online)

Other:

Teaching Assistant Senior, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy (Sept 2021-Sept 2023)

Adjunct Lecturer of Italian Language and Culture, History and Society (B.A.), PRC (2021)

Adjunct Lecturer, Chongqing Normal University, PRC (09/2014-06/2015) (volunteering)

Graduate Assistant, Institute of Geography/Chair of Human Geography, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany (01-03/2014)

ADDITIONAL RELEVANT WORKING EXPERIENCE

Event Assistant (panel co-chair) at the Online Summer School “EU-China Cooperation - Between Green Transition and Global Energy Competition,” Centro Studi sulla Cina Contemporanea, Reggio Emilia, Italy (18-23/07/2022)

Event Assistant at the Online Summer School "EU-China Cooperation: Green Transition and Digital Economy Between National Policies and Multipolarism," Centro Studi sulla Cina Contemporanea, Reggio Emilia, Italy (07/2021)

Research Project Design and Implementation: "Information Security Awareness - the Employee Experience" at SAP SE, Walldorf, Germany (advisor: K. Schimmer, Director; qualitative method: 100+ semi-structured interviews via Skype for Business; 01-06/2016)

Freelance Interpreter (English/Italian) at Heidelberg-Mannheim International Film Festival, Germany (2013)

CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS and SEMINARS

• 2023, June 7-10; Paper “Re-making Europe(s) through touristscapes: questioning the EU projects by following the tourist place/digital performances,” SIEF, Brno, Czech Republic
• 2023, June 7-10; Poster “The uncertainty of nature in Chongqing: environmental crisis discourses and housing practices re-shaping the local urban space(s),” SIEF, Brno, Czech Republic
• 2023, May 16-19; Paper “Place names and gentrification in Southwest China,” GLOCAL CALA 2022, University of The Philippines Diliman, The Philippines
• 2023, May 5-6: Paper, “Integrated urban-rural planning in southwest China: ambiguous narratives and practices of urban sustainability,” International Workshop “East and West in Korean Studies Project – Re-thinking the Cityscape in South Korea, East Asia and beyond: Ecological and Cultural Entanglements in a Post-Pandemic World,” Ca’ Foscari University, Italy (invited)
• 2023, March 31-April 1; Paper “Place names and new social worlds in Southwest China,” Workshop Worldmaking in a Sinophone context: Conceptions, processes and practices, Universität Würzburg, Frankfurt (Main), Germany
• 2023, February 09-10; Paper “Digital ethnographer as a (perhaps) forgotten guest: the case of a teacher-student chat during Covid-19 lockdown in China,” Workshop WeChat Ethnography: New Practices and Limits of an Emerging Research Method, University of Geneva, Switzerland (Online)
• 2022, December 19-21; Paper “From Beverly Hills to Shangri-La and beyond: a conjunctural analysis of Southwest China’s politicized residential spaces,” The SOAS GLOCAL CALA 2022 Webinar, University of The Philippines Diliman, The Philippines (Online)
• 2022, December 9; Paper “Paesaggi d’acqua diffusi e il plasmarsi di una nuova cittadinanza: pratiche sociali negate, riscritte, inscritte nel territorio urbano di Chongqing,” Giornata di Studio Oltre la globalizzazione – Narrazioni / Narratives, Società di Studi Geografici, University of Insubria, Como, Italy
• 2022, September 12-17; Paper “Alternative citizenship practices: liminal spaces and disruptive urban transformation in Chongqing,” DOT, FU Berlin, Germany
• 2022, July 18-22; Paper “Chongqing as a cultural hub in Southwest China: heritage manipulation and the quest for differentiation,” UGI-IGU Centennial Congress, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris (Online)
• 2022, June 30-July 1; Paper “Abitare la narrativa della civilizzazione ecologica: gli spazi politico-economici del sapere nella città universitaria di Chongqing” (Housing practices and narrative of ecological civilisation: political and economic entanglements within the knowledge space of Chongqing University City), Giornate di studio interdisciplinari Geografia e Tecnologia, Società di Studi Geografici, University of Pisa, Italy
• 2022, May 18-20; Paper “From street display to online discourse: the spatial trajectories of heritage as a resource for Chinese politics,” Crisis and Cultural Heritage Conference, CHAIN Project, University of Catania, Italy (Online)
• 2022, May 15-17; Paper “The making of a ‘gentry-focused district’ in Chongqing, China: political and advertising discourses,” Symposium Neighborhood Transformation in East Asian Cities: Is "Gentrification" the Right Frame of Reference?, UKNA, Chiba, Japan (Online)
• 2021, August 24-27; E-Poster "Narratives of Forest Conservation: Insights from Chongqing, China," ICAS 12, Kyoto Seika University, Japan (Online)
• 2021, August 24-27; Paper "Rationalities of Green Urbanization in Chongqing: Local Environment at the Service of Eco-Capitalist Logics?" ICAS 12, Kyoto Seika University, Japan (Online)
• 2021, February 11-12; Paper "New spatialities for the elderly: upscale housing market and landscape management in Chongqing," Well-Being and Cultural Heritage Conference, CHAIN Project, University of Catania (Online) 
• 2020, December 11-13; Paper "Pratiche di sviluppo integrato città-campagna nella Cina sud-occidentale: Visioni sostenibili e marketing territoriale" (Practices of integrated urban-rural development in Southwest China: Sustainable visions and territorial marketing), Decima Giornata di Studio Oltre la globalizzazione – Feedback, Società di Studi Geografici (Online)
• 2019, July 16-19; Paper “Shaping historical memories in Chongqing: Local urban politics and the legacy of the Republican Period," ICAS 11, Leiden, The Netherlands
• 2016, July 20-23; Paper “From water reservoir to amusement park: The Chongqing Garden Expo Park and local water politics from a hydraulic society perspective," 14th EASA Conference, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
• 2014, May 25-26; Paper “On the way to an Asian Greater China? New Chinese foreign policy in Pacific area between nationalism and economic issues," 12th Biennal Conference of Asian Studies in Israel, Haifa University, Israel
• 2013, May 4-5; Paper “Cartography and Visual Correspondences: Thought and Reality of Modernism in Europe and China," Seminario Popolare sul Pensiero dell'Estremo Oriente - Sottili Corrispondenze, Termini Imerese, Palermo, Italy
   
• 2018 - Paper "Discussion on PhD Layout and Theory." Workshop on Theoretical Approaches in Human Geography organized by Dr. S. Runkel, Institute of Geography, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• 2017 - Paper "Power dialectics on Chongqing water reservoirs. Ideas, representations, and matter of a phenomenon." Workshop Humangeographie, organized by Prof. Dr. H. Gebhardt and Prof. Dr. A. Mattissek, Institute of Geography, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg

Attended:

• 2016, March-July: Seminar "Chinese Silent Cinema 1920-1935" (Prof. Dr. P. G. Pickowicz and Dr. Sun Liying), Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. Final work: Filmmaking "The Shore" (script writing; poster; b/w captions) 
• 2015, Sept-Dec: Seminar 人文地理 (Human Geography), Institute of Geography, Southwest University Chongqing, PRC. Final essay: 一个地区的人地关系、矛盾与未来改进 ——以重庆市北碚区缙云大道前段为例 (Man-Environment Relationship: Problematics and Future Changes – The case study of Jinyun Avenue, Beibei District, Chongqing)

INVITED LECTURES and TALKS

2023 – “Integrated urban-rural planning in southwest China: ambiguous narratives and practices of urban sustainability,” International Workshop “East and West in Korean Studies” Project – “Re-thinking the Cityscape in South Korea, East Asia and beyond: Ecological and Cultural Entanglements in a Post-Pandemic World”, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy (paper, May 5)

2022 – "Happiness and Housing Conditions in Chongqing: Spatial Distribution and Symbolism of Green Gentrification," Premio Lorenzo Bargellini Third Edition, Circolo di Castello, Florence, Italy (presentation and round table, June 4)

2021 – "Landscape Representations: A historical overview (1949-2000)," Course History of China 2, Ca' Foscari University, Venice (1,5 hours B.A. seminar, December 16)

2021 – "Environment and Economy: Spatio-temporal entanglements (1949-2000)," Course History of China 2, Ca' Foscari University, Venice (1,5 hours B.A. seminar, November 25)

2021 – "Territory and Resource Fragmentation: The cases of Manchuria and Sichuan areas (1920-1945)," Course History of China 2, Ca' Foscari University, Venice (1,5 hours B.A. seminar, November 18)

2021 – "Chinese Modernity After the Opium Wars: economic and knowledge networks, infrastructure and identity," Course History of China 2, Ca' Foscari University, Venice (1,5 hours B.A. seminar, November 4)

2020 – "Chongqing urban projects: power narratives between heritage and memory," Course History of Modern and Contemporary China, Ca' Foscari University, Venice (1,5 hours M.A. seminar, December 15)

2020 – "Metaphors and Language: Into the Reception of Coronavirus Crisis in China, Germany and France" (with M. Mileto and M.G. Manduzio), WeTell Summer School: Innovating Storytelling to Address Civic Awareness, University of Bologna (paper, November 27, online)

2016 – "Information Security Awareness: The Employee Experience" Internal Report, presentation and round table with the Information Security team, SAP SE, Walldorf, Germany

2015 – "意大利经济地理：本地经济网络系统之发展的比较分析" (Italy’s economic geography: evaluating the development of local economic network systems), Course 经济地理 Economic Geography, Southwest University Chongqing, PRC (1,5 hours M.A. seminar, April 16)

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT and OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

(2020-current) Freelance at the Centro Studi sulla Cina Contemporanea, Reggio Emilia, Italy

(2021) External collaborator, Sinosfere (journal)

(April 9th-12th, 2015) AIMUN Delegate (Peking University Asian International Model United Nations)

(June 2014) Logo creation for the Green City Academic Association 绿色城市学会

(November 2013-current) Editor of the blog section "Langlebigkeitspillen - China Impulses" 

(2012-2015) Freelance for the Chinese blog of photography "Zaijietou - On the Street"

(May 2012) Group leader of the Italian team at the Training Course "Youth Environment Strategy" funded by the Youth in Action Program (LLP), EU. Youth Pass 4.3. Targu Jiu, Romania

(March 2012) Participant in the Training Course "Formal and Non-Formal Learning in Europe" funded by the Youth in Action Program (LLP), EU. Youth Pass 1.1. Xylokastro, Greece

MEMBERSHIPS

• 2016 EASA European Association of Social Anthropologists
• 2020 Società di Studi Geografici (Society for Geographical Studies)
• 2020 AAS Association for Asian Studies
• 2021 AISC Italian Association for Chinese Studies
• 2021 EACS European Association for Chinese Studies

RESEARCH GROUPS

2021-22 Urban Knowledge Network Asia | Symposium: “Neighborhood Transformation in East Asian Cities: Is ‘Gentrification’ the Right Frame of Reference?”

2021-22 CHAIN Cultural Heritage Academic Interdisciplinary Network, DISUM (Department of Humanities), University of Catania

2022 AgeS (Centro di ricerche antropologiche geografiche e storiche dal medioevo all’età contemporanea), DSU (Department of Humanities), Ca’ Foscari University