Lucia Binotti

Lucia Binotti is a Professor of Spanish and Digital Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), with dual affiliations in the Department of Romance Studies and interdisciplinary Digital Humanities initiatives. She serves as Graduate Advisor for Hispanic Linguistics and Director of the Honors Study Abroad Program in Rome. Her work bridges traditional philology with cutting-edge digital scholarship, emphasizing immersive learning experiences through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.

Binotti holds a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara (1990), an MA (1985), and a BA (1984) in Romance Philology from the Università degli Studi di Pisa. Her research focuses on linguistic identity, cultural heritage preservation, and innovative educational platforms like Amirabilia—the world’s first experiential learning platform. Notable projects include nXimena (healthcare training for Latinx abuse survivors) and Entiendelo (a linguistic/cultural navigation app for Latinx communities).

Her scholarly interests span Early Modern Spanish literature, digital humanities applications, and the intersection of technology with social justice. She has directed grants totaling over $500K for projects involving AR/VR integration in education, including collaborations with the UNC Health Science Library and NCSU’s DELTA initiative. Recent awards include the John K. Walsh Award (2010) and Digital Innovation Fellow status (2014).

• Grants & Leadership:
  • CFE-Lenovo Technology Grants (2018–2019) for AR/VR expansion
  • iLRN 2020 International Co-Chair
  • XR Faculty Learning Community Leader (UNC)
• Teaching: Courses span from introductory Hispanic literature to advanced topics like medieval intellectual history and digital humanities methodologies.

Binotti’s work emphasizes ‘place, presence, and perspective’ in Cyber-Humanities education, particularly addressing marginalized communities through technology-driven solutions.