Alessia Colonnelli

Alessia Colonnelli is a doctoral candidate and research assistant at Heidelberg University's Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies (HCTS). Since October 2023, she has contributed to the "Ambivalent Enmity: Dynamics of Antagonism in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East" project, and previously worked on "Gathering the Dispersed. State Evasion and State-making in Modern Jewish, Kurdish, and Berber History" (2021-2023). She also serves as a radio moderator for Radio Radicale and freelance translator.

Her academic foundation includes:

• PhD candidate at Heidelberg University (2022-present)
• Postgraduate degree in International Cooperation, SIOI & Unitelma Sapienza University (2020-2021)
• MA in Linguistic, Historical, and Cultural Studies of Mediterranean and Islamic Countries, University of Naples "L'Orientale" (2017-2020)
• BA in Oriental and African Languages and Cultures, University of Naples "L'Orientale" (2014-2017)

Colonnelli specializes in Amazigh (Berber) studies, Middle Eastern nationalism, and identity politics. Her research examines state-making processes among non-state communities (Amazigh, Jewish, Kurdish), anti-colonial movements, and the role of historical narratives in cultural revival. She investigates how diaspora dynamics intersect with indigenous identity formation in North Africa and the Middle East.

Her recent conference papers analyze the Berber Academy's role in Amazigh identity construction and comparative nationalist strategies between the Amazigh movement and Zionism. This work reveals how stateless communities weaponize historical narratives for political mobilization and legitimacy, with particular focus on Morocco, Algeria, and Israel/Palestine.

No scientific awards were documented in the source material.

As a doctoral researcher, she has not supervised students. Her work is embedded within Heidelberg University's institutional projects rather than externally funded grants she leads.

She operates within HCTS research teams focused on transnational minority communities, contributing to interdisciplinary studies of state-minority relations in the Middle East and North Africa through collaborative workshops and international conferences.