Education and Academic Degrees
2007 Ph.D. in Religious Studies: Social Sciences and Historical Studies of Religion (focus: Critical Exegesis of early Christian Texts), University of Bologna. Supervisors: Prof. Mauro Pesce and Prof. Dr. Peter Lampe. Dissertation title: «Lo spirito e la memoria: esperienza “profetica” e ricordo di Gesù nell’Apocalisse di Giovanni»
2003 Diploma in Philological, Linguistic and Historical Studies – Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa – Grade: 70/70 Hons.
2003 University Degree in Classical Studies – University of Pisa – Grade: 110/110 Hons. (Summa cum laude)
1998 Diploma from Classical Lyceum ‘Pontano-Sansi’, Spoleto (PG) – Grade: 60/60.
Teaching Activities
2018-2019 Coordinator of a 30-hour Ancient Christian Literature course (00555 - LETTERATURA CRISTIANA ANTICA (Modulo 2) – 6 cfu).
Coordinator of a 30-hour Coptic Language and Literature Seminary (29424 - SEMINARI (1) (LM) (G.C) - 6 cfu).
2017-2018 Coordinator of a 30-hour Ancient Christian Literature course (00555 - LETTERATURA CRISTIANA ANTICA (Modulo 2) – 6 cfu).
Coordinator of a 30-hour Coptic Language and Literature Seminary (29424 - SEMINARI (1) (LM) (G.C) - 6 cfu).
2016-2017 Modulo di insegnamento da 30 ore complessive di Letteratura Cristiana Antica (00555 - LETTERATURA CRISTIANA ANTICA (Modulo 2) – 6 cfu).
Coordinator of a 30-hour Coptic Language and Literature Seminary (29424 - SEMINARI (1) (LM) (G.C) - 6 cfu).
2016 Coordinator of a 30-hour course on the historical Jesus as part of the History of Ancient Christianity course held by prof. C. Facchini, Dipartimento of History and Cultura, University of Bologna.
2013-2014 Coordinator of the Ancient Hebrew course, as part of the early Christian Literature course held by prof. L. Perrone, Department of Classics and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna.
2010-2014 Coordinator of the Coptic Language course, as part of the early Christian Literature course held by prof. L. Perrone, Department of Classics and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna.
2010 Coordinator of a 30-hour course on Gnosis and Gnosticism as part of the early Christian Literature course held by prof. L. Perrone, Department of Classics and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna.
Focus: translation and commentary on the Apocryphon of John.
2006-2010 Coordinator of the Ancient Syriac Language course as part of the early Christian Literature course held by prof. L. Perrone, Department of Classics and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna.
Seminars and Meetings
2019 CISSR Sixth Annual Meeting on Christian Origins (Bertinoro, 26th-28th September).
Paper title: Re-Framing Disputes, Translation Errors and Variant Readings: How Much Johannist is the Secret Gospel According to John (NHC II,1)?
17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religion (Tartu, 25th-29th June).
Paper title: Before Plotinus. Graeco-Egyptian Traditions and Platonism in some Fragments Attributed to Basilides.
2018 Organization (together with professors A. Cacciari and A. Sirinian) of the International Workshop: Testi greci cristiani e traduzioni armene: un viaggio di andata e ritorno (12th October 2018, Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Italianistica – Bologna University).
CISSR Fifth Annual Meeting on Christian Origins (Bertinoro, 27th-29th September) as co-director of the panel «Pratiche ed esperienze religiose tra giudaismo ellenistico-romano e cristianesimo primitivo (II sec. a.e.v.-IV sec.e.v.)».
Paper title: The Living Water of Prophecy (Rev. 22, 17) or: Who Really Cares About Sacraments?
The Role of Esoteric and Apocryphal Sources in the Development of Christian and Jewish Traditions. International Conference convened under the Auspices of the Leibniz Programme, DFG, Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, Department of Ancient History, Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, (Bad Homburg, 26th-29th March).
Paper title: Apostles, Long Dead ‘Heretics’, and Monks: Noncanonical Traditions on Angels and Protoplasts in Two Late Antique Coptic Apocalypses (7th-8th Century CE).
2017 CISSR Fourth Annual Meeting on Christian Origins (Bertinoro, 28th-30th September) as co-director of the panel «Pratiche ed esperienze religiose tra giudaismo ellenistico-romano e cristianesimo primitivo (II sec. a.e.v.-IV sec.e.v.)».
Ex Nihilo Zero Conference of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe; Bologna, 18th-22nd June).
Paper title: La prostituta e i suoi amanti: rileggere la caduta di Gerusalemme nell’Apocalisse di Giovanni (panel: “And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed” [Lam. 1:6]. Reactions, Responses and Reflections on the Fall of Jerusalem from the 1st to the 7th Century A.D.)
Paper title: Il bambino, il vecchio, il servo: polimorfismo gesuano e divino nel Vangelo secondo Giovanni segreto (panel: Polymorphism of God in Ancient and Roman-Hellenistic Judaism).
Workshop «Per i romanzi di Alessandro Magno. Storie, incontri, tradizioni testuali» organized by G. Brunetti, L. Chines, L. Formisano, P. Vecchi (Bologna, 3rd May).
Paper title: Prima e dopo Alessandro: la nascita divina del sovrano dall’Antico Egitto ai ‘vangeli dell’infanzia’ sinottici.
International Workshop: «“Who is Sitting on Which Beast?”. Interpretive Issues in the Book of Revelation» (Loyola University, Chicago, 30th-31st March).
Paper title: Ierusalem (olim) regina: (Self-)Perceptions of Jerusalem’s ‘Kingship’ in some Hellenistic Jewish Writers.
2016 CISSR Third Annual Meeting on Christian Origins (Bertinoro, 29th September-1st October) as co-director of the panel «Pratiche ed esperienze religiose tra giudaismo ellenistico-romano e cristianesimo primitivo (II sec. a.e.v.-IV sec.e.v.)».
International workshop «Text and Context in Late Antiquity (2)» (Zichron Yaakov, Israele, 14-15 febbraio), organized by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Paper Title: John and the Mysteries of Egypt: Reading an 8th Century Coptic Apocalypse.
2015 Seminar at Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (15th December).
Paper title: I segni e la scrittura: lingue umane e lingua divina nel Vangelo di Verità (NHC I,3 / XII,2).
CISSR Second Annual Meeting on Christian Origins (Bertinoro, 1st-4th October).
Paper Title: L’eredità del maestro: Marco il ‘mago’, Valentino e la datazione del Vangelo di Verità.
17th International Conference on Patristic Studies (Oxford, 10th-14th August).
Paper title: Lots, Cups, and Ecstasy: Reconstructing the ‘Thiasoi' of Marcus, Disciple of Valentinus, and his Followers.
International Colloquium on Christian Apocryphal Literature (Besançon, 29th June -1st July), organized by the Association pour l’Étude de la Littérature Apocryphe Chrétienne (AELAC).
Paper title: Heavenly Revelations and Earthly Liturgy: Towards a Comparison of Late Antique Coptic Apocalypses and Homilies.
2014 Annual Seminar «Jüdische und christliche Apokalypsen: Wissenstransfer und Gattungsdefinition» (Berlin, 14th-15th November).
CISSR first Annual Meeting on Christian Origins (Bertinoro, 2-5 ottobre), as director of the panel Pratiche ed esperienze religiose tra giudaismo ellenistico-romano e cristianesimo primitivo (II sec. a.e.v.-IV sec.e.v.)».
Paper title: Di sorti, coppe ed estasi. I ‘thiasoi’ di Marco, discepolo di Valentino, e dei suoi seguaci tra profezia e unione con il soprannaturale.
Internation Workshop «Books of Threats and Threatening Books: Perceptions of “Threat” in Late Antique Book Culture» organized by th Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Jerusalem, 26th-28th May).
Paper title: Secret Books and Corporate Oaths, or: How To Cope with the Danger of Transmitting Sacred Texts. Some Evidence from Early Christian Writings (2nd - 3rd Century CE).
Seminar at Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (February 6th).
Paper title: Dio, il serpente, l’uovo: riflessi di cosmogonie egiziane tardo-antiche tra Orfismo, Cristianesimo ed Ermetismo.
2013 Opening paper at the 15th New Testament Meeting of ABI «Trasmettere la Parola nel I-II sec.d.C.: verso la formazione di un corpus cristiano normativo» (Bologna, 12-14 settembre).
Paper title: Il corpus cristiano dei primi secoli: vino nuovo in otri vecchi?
2011 International Meeting on the Apocryphon of John (Rome, October 3rd)
Paper title: Dio e gli dei: tracce di teogonia egiziana nell’Apocrifo di Giovanni?
Annual Meeting of the Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) «Il cristianesimo e la costruzione di nuove forme comunitarie» (Rome, September 26th-28th).
Paper title: Alessandria d’Egitto e i gruppi ‘gnostici’: annotazioni preliminari a margine di tre volumi recenti.
2010 International Meeting on «Die Johannesoffenbarung – ihr Text und ihre Auslegung» (Wuppertal, 26-27 novembre).
Paper title: »Discrepat evangelista et Septuaginta nostraque translatio«(Hieronymus, Briefe 57,7,5): Bemerkungen zur Textvorlage des Sacharja-Zitats in Offb 1,7.
Annual Meeting of the Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) «Il cristianesimo e la costruzione di nuove forme comunitarie» (Bertinoro, 25-27 ottobre).
Paper title: Tra Alessandria e Roma: narrazione cosmogonica e forme comunitarie nell’Apocrifo di Giovanni.
Advanced Seminar at Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.
Paper title: L’ostrakon di Khirbet Qeiyafa: la prima iscrizione ebraica?
Third Colloquium on Christian Apocryphal Literature: «La littérature apocryphe chrétienne et les Écritures juives» (Strasburg, January 14th-16th), organized by the Association pour l’Étude de la Littérature Apocryphe Chrétienne (AELAC)
Paper title: The Ambiguity of Gender: Representations of Wicked Women as Group Identity Markers from the Book of Proverbs to the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies.
2009 International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (Rome, 30th June – 4th July).
Paper title: The living water of Wisdom (Rev. 22, 17): another Johannine Jesus’ saying in the Revelation of John?
«Seminario Bolognese di Letteratura Cristiana Antica» (Department of Classics and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna).
Paper title: La porta del cielo. Forme e contesto di trasmissione di una parola di Gesù tra Ps.-Ippolito, Ref. V, 8, 21, e Afraate, Dem. IV, 5.
2008 «La trasmissione delle parole di Gesù nei primi due secoli. I Colloquio Biblico Bolognese ».
Paper title: “Apocalisse sinottica” e Apocalisse di Giovanni: verso un confronto.
2007 «Seminario Bolognese di Letteratura Cristiana Antica» (Department of Classics and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna).
Paper title: Quali tradizioni gesuane nell’Apocalisse? Annotazioni a margine di alcune “allusioni”.
2005 «Summer School on Anthropology, History and Religions – PhD Programs of Univ. of Bologna, E.P.H.E. Paris, Univ. of Torino» (Bertinoro).
Paper title: La formula evn pneu,mati e le esperienze visionarie di Giovanni a Patmos.
Advanced seminar «Neue Exegetische Methoden in der neutestamentlichen Forschung» (Wissenschaftlich-Theologisches Seminar, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg).
Paper title: Die Phänomenologie des prophetischen Erlebnisses in der Johannesoffenbarung.
«Centro Interdipartimentale di Studi sull’Ebraismo e il Cristianesimo» (University of Bologna).
Paper title: Ap. 10: vecchio e nuovo nella cosiddetta vocazione profetica di Giovanni.
Research Activities, Projects and Groups
2014- German translation of three Late Antique Coptic Apocalypses to be published in the new edition of the Antike christliche Apokryphen, Berlin, DeGruyter (in collaboration with the Theologische Fakultät ‒ Humboldt Universität zu Berlin).
2013- New Italian edition and commentary of the longer version of dell’Apocrifo di Giovanni, to be published by Brepols in the series Adnotationes.
2008-2010 PRIN (Research Project of National Interest): “Forme e strutture comunitarie del cristianesimo (I-IX secolo) fino alle soglie della formazione dell'Europa” (national coordinator: Mauro Pesce ‒ Bologna University).
2007-2014 Entries “Hebrew”, “Moabite”, “Ammonite” and “Edomite”, as part of the web-portal project «Mnamon. Portale delle antiche scritture del Mediterraneo», in collaboration with Laboratorio Informatico per le Lingue Antiche (LILA), Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa.
2006-2008 PRIN (Research Project of National Interest): “Cristianesimo e mondo mediterraneo: pluralismo religioso, convivenze e conflitti tra città e periferie (I-XI secolo)” (national coordinator: Mauro Pesce ‒ Bologna University).
2004-2006 PRIN (Research Project of National Interest): “La trasformazione del cristianesimo dal I al VII secolo: mutamenti e continuità nelle forme di convivenza comunitaria, politica e culturale” (national coordinator: Mauro Pesce ‒ Bologna University).
Scholarships
2007-2016 Post-doctoral fellowship at Department of Classics and Italian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna.
2005 One month intensive language course in Modern Hebrew (ULPAN), level A, at Haifa University, Israel, as part of the Ph.D. program.
2005-2006 One year research period abroad at «Wissenschaftlich-Theologisches Seminar», Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, under the supervision of and in collaboration with Prof. Dr. P. Lampe, as part of the Ph.D. program.
2004-2007 Three year Ph.D. scholarship
2001-2002 Six month scholarship from Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa to improve German and do research activities at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg.
1999 One month scholarship from Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa to attend and participate in an intensive language course in German, intermediate level, at Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen.
Languages
Advanced English – written and spoken
Advanced German – written and spoken
Good French Reading Skills
Good Spanish Reading Skills
Basic modern Hebrew – written and spoken
Ancient Greek, Latin, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Syriac, hieroglyphic Old, Middle and Late Egyptian, Hieratic (basics), Demotic (basics), Coptic.
Memberships
Member of ABI (Italian Biblical Association)
Member of the Italian Research Group on the Historical Jesus
Member of the Scientific Committee of CISSR (The Italian Center for Advanced Studies on Religions)
Italian Correspondent of AELAC (Association pour l’Étude de la Littérature Apocryphe Chrétienne)
Member of GIROTA (Italian Research Group on Origen and Alexandrian Tradition
Member of IACS (International Association of Coptic Studies)
Member of IAPS (International Association of Patristic Studies)
Secretary of Adamantius (2013-)
Redaction Member of Adamantius (2007-2013)
