CV ORSOLA RIGNANI
Personal Information
Orsola Rignani. Nata a Parma, il 9 maggio 1971.
Dipartimento di afferenza: Discipline Umanistiche, Sociali e delle Imprese Culturali (DUSIC), Università di Parma, Via D’Azeglio, 85, 43125 Parma.
Researcher unique identifier (ORCID Id) 0009-0003-9477-7637
URL for web site https://personale.unipr.it/it/ugovdocenti/person/241397
Current and previous positions
Permanent Researcher in History of Philosophy (SSD PHIL-05/A) at the University of Parma since September 2022, previously Permanent Researcher at the University of Florence (2004–2022). She obtained Qualification ASN Fascia II in Sector 11/C5 (2025–2037). She currently serves as VQR and Public Engagement Delegate at DUSIC, member of the Public Engagement Commission and of the Departmental Strategic Plan Monitoring Committee (2025–2027), and Erasmus IIA Teacher Mobility Coordinator with the Université Catholique de Lyon.
Her research adopts an inter- and transdisciplinary approach grounded in the comparative history of ideas, focusing on key themes in Posthuman studies, such as the body, hybridity, the human–machine interface, zooanthropology, and transhumanism. Her work explores connections between contemporary posthuman thought and medieval naturalist and empiricist traditions, particularly in relation to Roger Bacon and Biagio Pelacani. More recently, she has focused on the body as a site of anthropo-poietic recognition of human and non-human alterities, in dialogue with the thought of Michel Serres and in connection with her abstract painting practice.
She is co-founder of the Italian Posthuman Network, a platform for research and critical debate on posthumanist thought bringing together Italian and Italy-based scholars. She is also a member of the Scientific Committee and coordinator of the Parma research unit of the International Interuniversity Research Group “Art and Recognition,” as well as a member of the Environmental and Social Humanities Lab and the University Center for Bioethics at the University of Parma.
Teaching activities and PhD supervision
Professor of Contemporary History of Philosophy (BA level) and Approaches to Contemporary Humanism (MA level) at the University of Parma. She is a member of the Doctoral School in Human Sciences at the University of Parma, where she coordinates the group “Towards an Interdisciplinary Lexicon” and delivers specialist seminars.
Previously, she taught at the University of Florence the following courses: History of Philosophy (2000–2021), History of Science (2001–2007), History of Science and Technology (2002–2006), Humanism and Technology in Contemporary Thought (2021), History of the Philosophy of Communication (2009), and History and Philosophy of the Knowledge Society (2008). She also taught “Values and Education in Complex Societies” at the Italian University Line (IUL), Florence (2020), and at the Media Education Summer School (2020).
In 2023 she was appointed to teach “Approaches to Contemporary Humanism” at the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries (DUSIC), University of Parma, and in 2024 and 2025 she held the course “Contemporary History of Philosophy” at the same institution.
National and international collaborations and networks
Co-founder of the Italian Posthuman Network. She collaborates with the Centre for Posthuman Philosophy Studies and is a member of the International Research Group “Art and Recognition” (IHRC) and of the Environmental Humanities Group within the Global Liberal Arts Academy (GALA). She regularly collaborates with the Université Catholique de Lyon through Erasmus STA mobility programmes.
At international level, she maintains ongoing research relations with the CNRS – Centre d’Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et Médiévales (Paris)
Prizes and awards
None
Visiting academic positions
Research fellow in Paris at the Centre d’Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et Médiévales (CNRS / CNR), within a joint research project on “Arab-Latin Medieval Sciences and Philosophies,” during two periods: 1–31 October 1998 and 15 October–15 November 2000.
In 2026, awarded an Erasmus STA mobility grant for teaching at the Université Catholique de Lyon, including seminars on Contemporary Humanism and related topics.
Other work experience
She collaborates as an affiliated artist with Lenz Fondazione for the three-year project Atlante sulla Violenza (2025–2027), contributing with philosophical and performative compositions.
She has curated Third Mission initiatives such as the “Aperitivi della Conoscenza” and the “Settimana Postumana,” and she also collaborates with the Festival dello Sviluppo Sostenibile on dissemination and public engagement activities.
Education Administrative role and position responsibility
She serves as VQR and Public Engagement Delegate for the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries (DUSIC) at the University of Parma. She is the Erasmus IIA institutional coordinator for the agreement with the Université Catholique de Lyon and a member of the Departmental Strategic Plan Monitoring Committee (2025–2027).
She has participated in several National Research Projects (PRIN) as a member of research units at the University of Florence, including PRIN 1999 (“The Problem of Universals from the 15th to the 17th Century”, 1999–2001), PRIN 2001 (“The Mind–Body Relation from Aristotelian Tradition to Post-Cartesian and Spinozist Thought”, 2001–2003), PRIN 2003 (“From Form to Object: Identity between Appearance and Objective Reality”, 2003–2005), and PRIN 2008 (“From the Modern Scientific Revolution to the Knowledge Society”, 2008–2010).
Scientific organisations / Coordination of academic activities
She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Centre for Posthuman Philosophy Studies and coordinates the Parma research unit of the International Research Group “Art and Recognition” (IHRC). She has organised national conferences and interdisciplinary seminars, including “Pensare la discontinuità” (2022), dedicated to the impact of ecological crisis and the Anthropocene, where she also delivered a keynote lecture on post-anthropocentrism, post-humanism, and post-dualism.
In collaboration with the Italian Posthuman Network, she organised “Settimana Postumana” (23–30 October 2022), a series of events on posthuman thought. She contributed to the Festival dello Sviluppo Sostenibile (2023) in the public discussion “Per una sostenibilità postumana,” based on Orsola Rignani’s Umani di nuovo. Col postumano e Michel Serres.
Her Public Engagement activities include the organisation and participation in public debates and round tables such as “Ethics of New Technologies: A Multi-Voiced Reflection” (Florence, 2024) and “Il fungo alla fine del mondo: sostenibilità, etica, economia e filosofia circolare” (Parma, 2024), within the Bioethics, Environment and Sustainability group of the University of Parma. She has also delivered public lectures including “In-umano, trans-umano, post-umano: che ne è dell’uomo oggi?” (Aperitivi della Conoscenza, 2024) and “Essere pietra, pensare come un fungo: philosophical reflections on the non-human” (Parma, 2024).
Editorial activity
She is a member of the Editorial Board of “Metaxy Journal”. She serves on the Advisory Board of the book series “Posthumanities and Citizenship Futures” (Rowman & Littlefield) and “Exeter Studies in Environmental Humanities”(University of Exeter Press). She is also a peer reviewer for the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) Research Quality Evaluation (VQR) program.
Membership of scientific societies
She is a member of the Environmental and Social Humanities Lab and of the University Centre for Bioethics (UCB) at the University of Parma.
From 2017 to 2022, she was a member of the PTS research unit (Aesthetic Practices, Anthropological Transformations, Contemporary Scenarios) at the University of Florence. Since 2020, she has been a member of the International Interuniversity Research Group “Art and Recognition” (IHRC), coordinating the Parma research unit.
Since 2022, she has been a member of the Environmental and Social Humanities Lab at the University of Parma, and since 2023 of the University Centre for Bioethics (UCB), within the Bioethics, Environment and Sustainability working group. Since 2023 she has also served on the Scientific Committee of the Centre for Posthuman Philosophy Studies, and since 2024 she has been a member of the Environmental Humanities Group of the Global Liberal Arts Academy (GALA).
She is also a member of the cultural association Laboratorio Nuova Buonarroti (Florence, since 2023) and of the Laboratory 20/21 at the University of Parma (since 2025).
Funding
Funding org: Bando FAPE 2025, Università di Parma.
Role: Principal Investigator
Assegnataria di fondi FIL Unipr per la ricerca nel 2023, 2024, 2025
Project title: PRIN (vari cicli 1999, 2001, 2003, 2008) su temi di storia della filosofia e della scienza.
Funding org: MUR.
Role: Membro delle Unità di Ricerca (Firenze).
