B.A. in Philosophy, University of Milan, 2006
M.A. in Cultural Anthropology, University of Milan-Bicocca, 2009
Home town: Abbiategrasso, Italy
Email: elena.nichini’at’gmail.com

Born and brought up in Italy, I got my BA in Philosophy from the University of Milan and my MA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Milan-Bicocca. For my MA thesis I conducted research on clinical trials in Switzerland, by looking at processes of medicalization, commodification of the body, biopolitics and social suffering. Meanwhile I have volunteered and worked as an Italian teacher to migrants for almost ten years.

I landed in China in 2011 where I have taught Italian and struggled with learning Chinese for almost three years. Puzzled by this country and its fast changes, I applied for the Ph.D. programme at CUHK as a way to deep my understanding about it.

I am currently working on a project on environmental health risk in rural industrial China as a case that embodies the urban/rural divide in the Reform Era, environmental suffering and the tensions between environmental health awareness and uncertainty.