Benedetta Carnaghi

Dr. Benedetta Carnaghi is a British Academy Newton International Fellow at Durham University, where she conducts research on political resistance through humor in fascist regimes. Previously, she was an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow at University College Dublin.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in History from Cornell University (2021)
• Two Master of Arts degrees in Contemporary History from Paris 1–Panthéon-Sorbonne University (2012, 2013)
• Diploma from the excellence program of the École normale supérieure in Paris (2015)
• Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Padua, Italy (2011)

Carnaghi specializes in the history of totalitarianism from below, examining everyday experiences of terror under authoritarian regimes in Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Vichy France. Her current project, 'Making Fun of the Fascists: Humor Against the Leader Cult in Italy, France, and Germany, 1922–1945,' investigates how humor functioned as political resistance against dictators. Her research intersects with gender studies, particularly examining masculinity constructs in fascist regimes and the complex relationship between homosexuality and state surveillance.

Her sole identified publication demonstrates a consistent focus on the ambiguities of political resistance, surveillance practices, and the contradictions within fascist ideology regarding morality and citizenship. Carnaghi's work reveals how totalitarian regimes simultaneously exploited and persecuted marginalized groups.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• British Academy Newton International Fellowship
• Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Messenger-Chalmers Prize for Best Dissertation on Human Progress & the Evolution of Civilization

Carnaghi has taught diverse courses in history and academic writing at Cornell University's John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines, with a strong commitment to inclusive pedagogy. Her recent course 'The Antiracist Workshop: Race and Writing in America and Europe' culminated in a public history project on the Underground Railroad in Ithaca. She has also taught Italian as a foreign language and engaged in community work with underprivileged children and non-English speakers in Ithaca, NY.