About

Hello! My name is Antonia Liguori and this is my personal website, a place where I’ll try to include the most recent publications, videos and experiences I have been part of… in Academia and beyond.

Photo taken by Judy Hume – Teesside University

Here a few lines about myself:

I work at Teesside University, in the UK, as a Professor of Participatory Storytelling and Public Policy, and Co-Director of the interdisciplinary research Institute for Collective Place Leadership – with a focus on Innovative and Imaginative Places.

Over the past 20 years, I have had the privilege to experience a very diverse and exciting career pathway, in the cultural sector and the media industry in Italy, and in academia in the UK. I have been drawn to the space where Research, Education and Technology intersect, and opportunities for methodological innovation arise. Having been immersed in a truly interdisciplinary environment provided me with a broad range of skills and knowledge that have allowed me to develop a growing international reputation and a record of excellence in research, teaching and enterprise within the field of Digital Storytelling. As an active member of the international Digital Storytelling (DS) community of practice, I have supported its development and “gentle disruption”, and applied DS across all the continents as a participatory and inclusive method to amplify diverse voices, particularly in relation to environmental and social challenges, advocating for structural changes through collective and engaged story-telling/story-listening practices.

In 2018, I was awarded an AHRC Fellowship at the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, in Washington DC, US, to explore the use of digital storytelling within the Smithsonian Learning Lab. This ongoing collaboration with the Smithsonian Office for Educational Technology led to the publication of our recent open access book Story Work for a Just Future that brought together 47 authors from 15 different countries to reflect on our diverse perspectives on knowledge co-creation.
In the past 15 years, I have been involved (as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator) in more than 30 projects of various sizes, ranging from a few thousand euros to over 4 millions in value, funded by AHRC, NERC, ESRC, MRC and the European Commission, that have generated pathways towards and evidence of societal impact.

Here you can download my latest CV and publication list.

A list of my research projects is available here.

And a few personal details…

Originally from Naples, Italy, I spent much of my early life in Latina and Rome before moving to the UK. Since 2009, I have been married to journalist and writer Pietro Antonelli.

Outside my professional work, I have always been passionate about sport and nature. In my younger years, horse riding was a central part of my life, and through my two horses, Tessela de la Croisette and Ethan, I learned some of my most important lessons about kindness, generosity, patience, and responsibility. Before moving into academia, I also worked as a sports journalist for La Gazzetta dello Sport, covering volleyball, and for Il Settimanale di Latina and La Piazza. Today, I remain an enthusiastic follower of many sports and find joy in spending time outdoors, whether walking in nature or skiing in the mountains.

Photo taken during a ski holiday in Kvitfjell, Norway – January 2023

You can find me online via the links below: feel free to connect and say hi.