Alessandra Aloisi

Alessandra Aloisi is a Lecturer in French at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. She holds college teaching positions at Oriel College and Wadham College, and previously taught at Jesus College. She earned her PhD in Aesthetics from the University of Pisa and was a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at the University of Warwick (2015–2017).

Her research focuses on 18th- and 19th-century French and Italian literature and philosophy, particularly the intersections between literature, medicine, and the prehistory of psychoanalysis. Key themes include distraction, habit, the unconscious, melancholy, and character formation. She has a strong interest in Franco-Italian intellectual exchanges and figures such as Maine de Biran, Stendhal, and Giacomo Leopardi.

Her recent scholarly output shows a consistent trend in philosophy of mind, literary theory, and intellectual history, especially through the lens of distraction and attention, with a focus on pre-Freudian conceptualizations. She frequently publishes on Maine de Biran, exploring his contributions to psychology and philosophy.

She has received the prestigious Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship for her research. Other recognitions include editorial leadership on special journal issues and publication with major academic presses such as Bloomsbury, Routledge, and Palgrave.

Alessandra advises students through her teaching and editorial roles, though specific advisees are not listed. She has been involved in significant research projects, including her postdoctoral work on distraction, and has secured competitive funding such as the Centre National du Livre grant for translation. Her work bridges disciplines and languages, contributing to comparative literary and philosophical scholarship.

She is part of a vibrant research community focused on the history of the unconscious, aesthetics, and interdisciplinary approaches to literature and thought. Her editorial projects, such as Archaeology of the Unconscious and special issues on Maine de Biran, indicate leadership in emerging scholarly dialogues.