Anna De Fina

Anna De Fina is a Professor of Italian Language and Linguistics at Georgetown University's Department of Italian, affiliated with the Linguistics Department. She holds a Laurea from Palermo University, M.A. from Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, M.Phil. from Cambridge, and a Ph.D. from Georgetown. Previously, she taught at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico and other institutions before joining Georgetown in 2004.

• Laurea in Lingue e Letterature Straniere, Palermo University
• M.A. in Linguistics, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia
• M.Phil. in Linguistics, Cambridge University
• Ph.D. in Linguistics, Georgetown University

Her research focuses on narrative analysis, discourse and identity construction, and the study of immigrant and transnational communities. She explores how narratives shape identities and examines communication practices in migration contexts, particularly through digital media. Key themes include chronotopes (spatiotemporal constructs in discourse), sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics.

Recent work analyzes narratives in political communication, the role of social media in crisis situations like the pandemic, and the intersection of migration with language practices. Co-editor of the Handbook of Narrative Analysis, she also contributes to studies on chronotopic identities in transnational communities.

Her most recent publications (2022–2025) emphasize chronotopic analysis in digital contexts, exploring identity shifts in vlogs during the pandemic and the role of chronotopes in mediating cultural and societal responses to crises. Notably, she investigates pandemic narratives across cultures and political discourse through Instagram and YouTube platforms.

While her academic contributions are substantial, specific awards, grants, or honors are not detailed in the provided materials. She mentors students in sociolinguistics and narrative analysis, though no formal student list is available. Her work bridges applied linguistics with ethnography, highlighting the dynamic interplay between language, identity, and global mobility.