Rachele Salvatelli

Profile

Biography

PhD (in progress) - Sociology, University of York

MA - Political Philosophy, University of York

MA - Philosophy and Ethics of Relations, University of Perugia

BA - Philosophy, University of Perugia

I joined the University of York in 2014 after being awarded the White Rose College of Arts and Humanities Master scholarship. In 2017, I began a PhD in Sociology on a project about the lived experiences of fat body positive individuals and the ways in which they narrate stories of their “unruly” bodies. My doctoral project focuses on the concepts of fatness, identity, stigma, and stigma resistance. The aim of my research is to understand how being part of the body positive movement has affected the narratives of fat individuals.

Since December 2020, I have also been working as a research associate on a multidisciplinary project titled Life in Lockdown. We use digital storytelling to understand the experiences of students during the first national lockdown.

Research

Overview

My current research centres around the narratives of fat body positive individuals and the ways in which they construct their identities in relation to their 'unruly' bodies. This project is supervised by Professor Sarah Nettleton and Dr Steph Lawler.

Publications

Selected publications

• Salvatelli, R. Coming Out as Fat. In A. Farrell, Routledge Companion to Gender and Fat. (Forthcoming).
• Glover, N., Usta, D., Salvatelli, R., Palma, T. Life in Lockdown. The University of York. (Forthcoming).
• Salvatelli, R. The body as a site of resistance: clothing practices among fat body positive women. Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society. (Revised and resubmitted).
• Salvatelli, R. (2019). On Fat Female Embodiment: Narratives of ‘Coming Out as Fat’. International Journal of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies. Vol. 4(1). Pp. 43-52.

Conference papers

• Salvatelli., R. (2021). Clothing practices among fat body positive women. Centre for Appearance Research, “Appearance Matters 9”. University of the West of England, 13 July.
• Glover, N., Usta, D., Salvatelli, R., Palma, T. (2021). Life in Lockdown: Student engagement with digital learning during the first national lockdown. Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, “The Changing University”, University of York, 2 July.
• Salvatelli, R. (2021). Food consumption and ‘healthy’ eating habits: the moral battlefield of eating in public while fat. BSA Food Study Group Virtual Conference “Food & Food Systems in a Time of Insecurity”, 23 June.
• Salvatelli, R. (2020). The body as a site of resistance: inhabiting the fat female body. BSA Annual Conference “Reimagining Social Bodies. Self, Institutions and Societies”, Aston University, Birmingham.
• Salvatelli, R. (2019). Body Positivity and Clothes Consumption: How Fat Body Positive Individuals Narrate Their Bodies Through Clothing. BSA Postgraduate Forum Regional Event "These are a few of my favourite things: exploring the value of material culture in the everyday". University of Sheffield, 1 March.
• Salvatelli, R. (2018). On Fat Female Embodiment: Narratives of 'Coming Out as Fat'. 3rd International Interdisciplinary Conference on Gender and Women's Studies. Eastern Mediterranean Academic Research Centre. Istanbul, 14 December.
• Salvatelli, R. (2018). On Fat Female Embodiment: Narratives of 'Coming Out as Fat'. Centre for the Study of Women and Gender. Graduate Seminar Series “Narratives of Embodiment: empowering bodies and practices". University of Warwick, 28 November.
• Salvatelli, R. (2018). Empowering Fat Bodies: 'Coming Out as Fat'. Sociology PG Conference "Empowered Bodies". University of York, 26 June.

Teaching

Undergraduate

Since 2018, I have been a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the following modules:

• Introduction to Sociological Theory (Department of Sociology)
• Introducing Sociology and Psychology (School for Business and Society)
• Contemporary Issues in Social and Political Science (School for Business and Society)
• Rethinking Society: Learning to Think Sociologically (Centre for the Lifelong Learning)

Other teaching

I am a Visiting Lecturer at York St John University, where I teach the following modules:

• Introduction to Sociological Theory
• Fundamentals of Criminological Theory
• Researching and Presenting
• Introduction to the Critical Justice System