Tag: Professorship

I am now full Professor/Chair in Urban Studies (Professore Ordinario in Studi Urbani) at the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield. Keep me in check for a wilder ride, for how I’ll exploit this position, for the collectivities I am indebted to & future ones.

There are too many to thanks – Francesca Governa sent me to do my PhD at the Geography Department at Durham Uni, where Ash Amin and Joe Painter started being my supervisors in 2008. There, I have learnt a lot from many, including the wonderful Colin McFarlane. I then moved to UTS in Sydney in 2011 (Stewart Clegg and his great bunch there!!), post-doc in Cambridge thanks to the Urban Studies Foundation in 2013 (sharing much with the great Tatiana Thieme and Esztiki Kovacs) and then a brief experience as lecturer in Geography at Cardiff in 2016. Thanks to all the ones I’ve encountered in this journey. At Sheffield I met so much support and so many wonderful people I can’t really thank them all here. It has been really a transformative place for me to be in. I will be forever in-debt with the support I received from John Flint and Ryan Powell, among many others, and most of all for the ones taken from my brother, friend and wild teacher AbdouMaliq Simone. Thank you, Maliq. And a huge thanks also to my USP colleagues, and in particular to that crazy bunch at the Urban Institute. Thank you, Simon Marvin, Beth Perry, Vanesa Castan Broto, Jonathan SIlver, Aidan While, for making it collective.

A massive thanks goes also to ‘my’ PhD students, Stephanie Lacey, Martyna Piliszewska, Sri Suryani, Francesca Guarino, Victoria Ogọegbunam Okoye, Eirini Glynou-Lefaki for teaching me so much and to Rowland Atkinson, Ryan Powell, Paula Meth and Alberto Vanolo for teaching me how to supervise! I also want to thank the AMAZING community of ECRs in Urban Studies we set up at Sheffield: too many, too strong, to mention you all. But what we achieved there, in terms of horizontal solidarities across post-docs is really important, so thank you for that.

There are collectives I shared pickets with, others inspired a journey (Institute on Inequality and Democracy), some I spent so much love to set up (Radical Housing Journal) or revamp (City – Analysis of Urban Change, Theory and Action) or live through streets (Frontul Comun pentru Dreptul la Locuire) — thank you, Nicoleta Visan, Veda Popovici, Ioana Florea & many more) —

— These are the reasons to continue.

Finally, 2020 has been a year of much family loss and pain. I am blessed, in my every day, to have Leo with me. In 2021 there will be changes, to stay closer to my sis and to life, to open new errands. I’ll keep on reminding myself of the privilege I have —

— Avanti!