I am a Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. I completed my PhD at La Sapienza University of Rome in September 2022. My specialisations are in philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of language. I am especially interested in animal minds and the evolution of language.

My current research interests can be divided into three main subfields: the evolution of human syntax, the theoretical and methodological foundations of the comparative study of animal and human communication and the evolution of reference.

I am a post-doc on Richard MooreLink opens in a new window’s UKRI project ‘The Communicative MindLink opens in a new window’. I am also an affiliated member of the ‘Expression, Communication, and the Origins of MeaningLink opens in a new window’ Research Group (University of Connecticut), a member of the Warwick Mind and Action Research Centre and the ‘Groups networkLink opens in a new window’. I am co-founder of the project 'What is it like to be another animal'. I also work as a freelance editor.

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Publications

• 'Toward a bounded hierarchy framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax', Biology and Philosophy (*winner of the PAMBA 2025 Essay Prize; forthcoming).
• 'What is animal communication?', Ergo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy (forthcoming).
• 'Animal communication', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2024, ed. E.N. Zalta (with Richard Moore).
• 'A case for animal reference. Beyond functional reference and meaning attribution', Synthese 2024, 203(59).
• 'Pragmatic Interpretation and the Production of Ideographic codes', Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2023, 46, e236 (with Leda Berio, Berke Can, Katharina Helming and Richard Moore).
• 'L'intenzionalità. Breve storia di un concetto filosofico', La voce e il logos 2020, ed. S. Gensini, pp. 451-471.
• 'Simbolicità e emotività negli animali non umani: un tema attuale con radici lontane', Rivista italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio 2020, pp. 230-241 (with Stefano Gensini).
• Marin Cureau de la Chambre: Cognition and Language in Animals”, Blityri 2017, 6(2): 55-78.

Book reviews

• R. Humphreys, “Animals, ethics, and language. The philosophy of meaningful communication in the lives of animals”, for Bioethics (invited)
• S. Monsó, “Schrödinger’s possum: How animals experience and understand death (Italian edition)”, for Humanimalia (invited).

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Upcoming events

• ‘Toward a bounded hierarchy framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax’, keynote talk at PAMBA Conference, University of California, Santa Barbara (expected April 2025).
• ‘A bounded hierarchy account of the evolution of human syntax’, Workshop Animal Communication, Universitat de València (invited, expected May 2025).
• In July 2025, I will be a fellow at the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute at the University of St Andrews, Scotland (programme: AI and the Natural World).

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Teaching

University of Warwick

• Group Mindedness: Perspectives from Economics, Philosophy and Psychology (3rd year honours course).
• Introduction to Philosophy.

York University Toronto Summer School (organised by Kristin Andrews in Roatàn (Honduras), in collaboration with the Dolphin Communication Project).

• Lectures on animal communication.

La Sapienza University of Rome

• Philosophy of Language.

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Selected conference talks

Invited

• ‘The evolution of human syntax’, Roma Tre (Dec 2024). 
• ‘What is animal communication?’, UNED Madrid (Oct 2024).
• ‘The evolution of syntax’, University of Warwick Psychology (Oct 2024).
• ‘Thinking of animal and human communication together’, Evolutionary Pragmatics Forum (Apr 2024).

Peer-reviewed

The evolution of syntax

• Italian Association for Cognitive Science (Sep 2024).

What is animal communication?

• World Congress of Philosophy (Aug 2024).
• Evolang (May 2024, Madison, WI).
• Animal Minds Workshop (April 2024, London School of Economics).

The evolution of reference

• The Philosophy of Language Society Congress (Sep 2024, University of Rome La Sapienza).
• Protolang (Sep 2023, Roma Tre University).
• Inaugural Meeting of the Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behaviour Association (PAMBA) (Apr 2023, UNED, Madrid).
• Worskshop on Embodied Creativity (2019, University of Bologna).
• The Philosophy of Language Society Congress (2019, University of Cagliari).

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Public philosophy

Organisation of the exhibition "What is it like to be another animal?Link opens in a new window"in collaboration with the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery with funds from London School of Advanced Studies Innovation Award (with Simon Brown & Ross Pain).

Contact details

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Email:

Giulia.Palazzolo.1[at]warwick.ac.uk

Room: S2.63

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Advice and Feedback Hours:

Monday: 14:00-16:00 (FAB4.01)

Here is the linkLink opens in a new window to book a 15-minute slot in my office hours.