Laura Rascaroli

Laura Rascaroli is a Professor in Film and Screen Media at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. She specializes in film theory, documentary, European and world cinemas, and the intersections of cinema with space, architecture, and geopolitics. Her research focuses on experimental nonfiction, essay film, first-person cinema, and the post-cinematic medium. She co-directs the SENSA Lab, which explores semiotics, ethnosemiotics, nonfictional studies, and audiovisual practices. Rascaroli serves as Editor-in-Chief of Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media and holds editorial roles across multiple international journals.

Her academic contributions include monographs like How the Essay Film Thinks (2017) and The Personal Camera (2009), as well as edited volumes such as Theorizing Film Through Contemporary Art (2020). She has delivered over 100 keynote lectures and masterclasses globally and her work has been translated into multiple languages. Rascaroli’s recent research examines essay film and borders, sound studies, and artist films.

Awarded the CACSSS Research Achievement Award (2006) and President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2002), she has secured significant grants including projects on housing precarity (Media Homes), cinematic modernism (Positively Modern), and EU border imagery (Unfolding Borders). She actively participates in film festivals and academic networks, including roles in ECREA and AIM.

• Grants: Over €1.3M in funding from Irish Research Council, Horizon 2020, and others
• Editorial Work: 9 journal editorial/advisory roles internationally
• International Engagement: Teaching in Cuba, Italy, Spain; collaborations across 15+ countries