Mariagrazia Portera
Mariagrazia is a researcher at the University of Florence, Department of Literature and Philosophy (DILEF), after being a EURIAS post-doctoral fellow (Marie Curie co-fund) at IASH, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, a DAAD post-doctoral fellow, Free University of Berlin, a NewFelPro post-doctoral fellow (Marie Curie co-fund), University of Zagreb and a post-doctoral fellow at CAS, Centre for Advanced Studies South East Europe, University of Rijeka. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Florence (Italy).
Mariagrazia’s main research interests lie in Aesthetics, the History of Aesthetics, Evolutionary Biology, and the Environmental Humanities. She moved from themes and topics concerning the history of Aesthetics between the 18-century and the 19-century in Germany and German literature (with a focus on the relationship between the life sciences and aesthetics) to themes and topics concerning the history of Darwinism, Charles Darwin’s aesthetic theory, contemporary evolutionary biology, and the Environmental Humanities, gaining, therefore, a significant intersectoral and interdisciplinary experience. She has written papers and book chapters on topics such as ecological aesthetics, aesthetics of biological conservation, aesthetics of biodiversity. Also, in the last few years she has been working intensively on the role of habits, habitual knowledge and improvisational capacities in the aesthetic experience and in artistic creativity.
At the University of Florance, she served as the principal investigator for the project (2021-2022) “Unveiling, Assessing, and Taking Advantage of the Aesthetic Dimension in Conservation Practices: Butterflies as a Case Study, Between New Theoretical Insights and Practical Applications”. She is also currently coordinating the project “Smart Beauty: Theory and Practice of the Role of Aesthetic Dimension in Conservation Strategies for Endangered Species,” in collaboration with Dr. Leonardo Dapporto (University of Florence, Department of Biology).
Mariagrazia represents the University of Florence in the European initiative “EUniWell,” under the research line “Environmental Humanities.” Within the University of Florence, she is the scientific coordinator of the research unit “ABC-Lab: Aesthetics for Biological Conservation. Interdepartmental Laboratory of Aesthetics and Environmental Humanities for Biological Conservation,”. As of June 2023, she is the coordinator and scientific lead for two EUniWell-funded projects: “NATCULT – Across Nature and Culture: The City of Florence as a Case Study for Natural-Cultural Conservation and Preservation Issues,” funded under the 5th Seed Funding Call EUniWell, and “Human and Non-Human Well-Being in the Anthropocene City: Guidelines for Interdisciplinary Research and Sustainable Policies,” in collaboration with the Universities of Nantes, Cologne, and Växjö. These projects will be carried out and implemented between June 2023 and August 2024. Mariagrazia was the principal investigator for the project “Nature and Culture in Urban Space: Establishment and Management of the First Pollinator Transect in Historically and Culturally Significant Green Areas in the City of Florence,” funded by University of Florence in 2023. Additionally, she is a co-partner in the project “URBeauty: Citizen Science Actions and Widespread Aesthetic Experience for the Conservation of Urban and Peri-Urban Biodiversity,” funded by the University of Florence in March 2024 (till December 2024).
She has been visiting the MESH laboratory at the University of Cologne as a Research Fellow in the summer term 2024 and in the winter term 2024/25.
Contact: mariagrazia.portera[at]unifi.it