Tempo di tornare a casa…
2020 has been hard on my family, and so, after 13 years abroad, from 1st April (no fool!) I’ll return to Italy & take up a full professorship/Professore Ordinario in Geography at the Interuniversity Department of Urban Studies at the Polytechnic of Turin (DiST, http://dist.polito.it/en/).
Above, a shot of the countryside I grew up in (& the only bridge we had to do tagging as kids).
Sure, Italy is sexier than that bridge. But ‘home’ is what it is and rarely one to choose. So if those northern flatlands of ricefields and wasted industrial warehouses, the FIAT factory were my father worked, the house my mother Marina cared for with devotion, and the one my beautiful, strong and inspirational sis Silvia & I grew up in, pushed me to move around — like many, many of my friends…
… those same fields and those same people pull back, demand a renewed care and attention, implicitly so, because it is not a matter of asking or complying, but just of redirecting a flow.
Plus, let’s be honest: this is as well a thrilling move for me, ’cause as my bro & sis know very well, I never exactly loved the Queen and her island!
And yet, I am grateful for what it provided. For the people I encountered in Durham, in Cambridge, in London, in Cardiff, overseas in Sydney & especially to those who really made a difference & always supported me to this very move at the University of Sheffield. Including, above all, Leo.
I will retain a visiting professorship at the Urban Institute at Sheffield & continue to enjoy the vibe. I will also soon re-load my ERC project & hire internationally in Turin —
— so it appears the move is just the iteration of a vantage point. My intention is to exploit all my privilege to maintain it radical.
To conclude, two more shots: 1/9/08 departing for my PhD at Durham — 1/4/21 packing to coming back ‘home’.
Peace!
