Dr Antonia Liguori

Antonia Liguori is a distinguished academic in the field of storytelling, currently holding the position of Professor of Participatory Storytelling and Public Policy at Teesside University's School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Law. Prior to this prestigious role, Dr. Liguori enriched Loughborough University with her expertise for nearly a decade. Her tenure there included roles such as the Senior Lecturer and Director of the MA Storytelling Programme from May 2021 to February 2024, Lecturer in Applied Storytelling from December 2018 to April 2021, and Research Associate in Applied Digital Storytelling from November 2014 to November 2018.
Dr. Liguori's progressive career path showcases her deep commitment to evolving the practice and understanding of storytelling within public policy and education. She has always been drawn to the space where History and Technology intersect, and opportunities for methodological innovation arise. 

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Her career has spanned an exciting array of experiences, from both in the heritage sector in Italy to holding significant academic positions in the UK, highlighting her extensive and rich professional journey.

Her educational background is in Modern and Contemporary History, with a focus on Social History between World War I and World War II. During her doctoral studies in History and Computer Science, at the University of Bologna, Italy (2002-2005), she worked in an interdisciplinary team carrying out studies for the virtual reconstruction of historic cities, taking into consideration social, demographic, artistic and cultural aspects. 

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As part of her research, she looked at technologies and tools for enriching History learning

Before moving to the UK, from 2006 to 2012, she coordinated the Multimedia Department at BAICR Sistema Cultura, a prestigious Consortium of cultural institutions (including the Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, Fondazione Antonio Gramsci, Fondazione Luigi Sturzo, Fondazione Lelio Basso, Società Geografica Italiana) with the aim of contributing to the enhancement of cultural heritage through the use of innovative methodologies and the creation of digital environments. During that period, she had the opportunity to learn about and experiment with the Digital Storytelling methodology in formal and non-formal education, and to apply that as a tool for community engagement and public history.

Since 2008, she has been involved in a variety of international research projects to develop tools and methods to foster innovation in education; to explore the role of storytelling and memories in today’s digital world; to investigate and trial ways of using digital storytelling as a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary research. Over the past five years her research has been focusing on three main strands: applied storytelling on environmental issues; digital storytelling in (cultural/heritage) education; storytelling, sense of place and cultural values.