Ilaria Ravazzolo
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Current PhD student & Graduate Teaching Assistant
Biography
Ilaria is a PhD candidate in Global Sustainable Development, where she also works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. She holds a BASc in Economic Studies and Global Sustainable Development and an MASc in Global Sustainable Development also from the University of Warwick and has experience mentoring and supporting undergraduate students. Her research interests lie at the intersection of gender, food, and identity, with a particular interest in the sense of belonging among Italians in Switzerland.
Being Swiss-Italian, Ilaria brings a personal connection to her research, combining her heritage with her academic expertise. Her work draws on interdisciplinary approaches to examine identity, belonging, and cultural continuity. she is particularly interested in how everyday practices - such as food preparation and sharing - intersect with gender and social norms. Through her teaching and research, Ilaria is committed to creating inclusive, engaging learning environments and fostering a deeper understanding of the social and cultural dimensions of sustainability.
Research Overview
Ilaria's doctoral research explores how Italian mothers and grandmothers in Switzerland experience identity and belonging through everyday food practices. Drawing on gastrofeminism, her work examines the kitchen as both a physical and conceptual space where cultural knowledge, family relationships, and gendered labour intersect. By centring women's narratives, the research highlights how cooking, feeding, and sharing meals function not just as domestic activities but as sites of cultural preservation, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and subtle forms of resistance to patriarchal norms.
To capture these dynamics, Ilaria uses oral history interviews in the form of kitchen table conversations, inviting participants and, in a second stage, their family members to reflect on culinary practices together. This methodology emphasises embodied, sensory, and relational ways of knowing, enabling rich insights into how traditions, recipes, and cultural values are transmitted and adapted across generations. Ilaria's research situates individual and family practices within broader social, cultural, and historical contexts, addressing intersections of gender, migration, and diasporic identity while challenging stereotypes of Italian motherhood and food practices.
Academic Background
PhD Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick (2024 - present)
- Thesis: 'Cooking Identity: A Gastrofeminist Oral History of (Grand)Mothers' Belonging, and Identity through Everyday Food Practices'
MASc Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick (2023 - 2024)
- Thesis: 'The Language of Integration: Exploring the Importance of Language in the Intergenerational Integration of Italians in Switzerland' under the supervision of Professor Stéphanie Panichelli-Batalla
BASc Economic Studies and Global Sustainable Development, University of Warwick (2020 - 2023)
- Thesis: 'Challenging the "Success Story" of Italian Integration in Switzerland: The Perspectives of Italian Women' under the supervision of Dr Maria Gavris
Supervisors
- Dr Edward Loveman - Assistant Professor in Global Sustainable Development and Design Studies
- Professor Stéphanie Panichelli-Batalla - Professor in Global Sustainable Development and Academic Director for Sustainability
- Dr Gioia Panzarella - Associate Professor in Global Sustainable Development
Research Interests
- (Gastro)Feminism
- Food culture(s)
- Identity and belonging
- Women's narratives
- Oral history
Teaching Experience
As a Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant, Ilaria has been involved in the teaching of the following modules:
- Economic Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD104) - Term 1
- Global Sustainable Development Project (GD107) - Term 2
In addition, she has been involved in the marking of assessments for the following modules:
- Economic Principles of Global Sustainable Development (GD104)
- Global Sustainable Development Project (GD107)
- Dissertation/Independent Study (GD307)
Conference Papers
‘Gastrofeminism in the Kitchen: The Role of (Grand)Mothers in the Evolution of Food Practices’ – International Conference on Food Studies ‘Culinary Evolutions’, London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, August 2025
‘Cooking Identity: A Gastrofeminist Oral History of (Grand)Mothers, Belonging and Identity’ – Global Sustainable Development PhD Symposium, University of Warwick, June 2025