Licia Proserpio

Università di Bologna, Department of History and Cultures, Adjunct

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Licia Proserpio is Adjunct Professor at the Department of History and Culture, University of Bologna (Italy) and at the School of Liberal and Media Studies, UPES (India).

Her research explores the political dimensions of education, as well as the historical and contemporary roles of universities and social movements across Southeast and South Asia. She conducts fieldwork to gain in-depth insights into these areas, allowing her to understand the lived experiences and local contexts that shape these complex issues.

In 2024, she released her first book, Resistance through Higher Education: Myanmar Universities’ Struggle against Authoritarianism, published by Bristol University Press, which draws on her PhD research.

Licia's current research interests center on access and participation in higher education for forcibly displaced students, as well as the role of universities as safe spaces in South and Southeast Asia. Licia is committed to exploring the intersections of education, politics, and societal change.

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Andreas Umland

National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy"

Remo Caponi

University of Cologne

Armando Marques-Guedes

UNL - New University of Lisbon

Michael W Charney

SOAS University of London

Emre San

Istanbul 29 Mayis University

Thongchai Winichakul ธงชัย วินิจจะกูล

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gerard McCarthy

Institute of Social Studies, The Hague

Emanuela Ceva

Université de Genève

Andrea Acri

Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Bryce Beemer

Duke Kunshan University | 昆山杜克大学

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Books by Licia Proserpio

Resistance through Higher Education - Myanmar Universities’ Struggle against Authoritarianism

Bristol University Press, 2025

In February 2021, Myanmar experienced the third coup d’état in its modern history. Unprecedented ... more In February 2021, Myanmar experienced the third coup d’état in its modern history. Unprecedented strength was displayed by Myanmar civil society as it fought back against these new authoritarian drives. Where did this strength come from?

Fearing the loss of the benefits gained in the previous decade of reforms (2011–2021), students, teachers, professors, and activists fuelled the Spring Revolution. To understand what is happening in Myanmar, this book outlines the historical efforts by Myanmar universities to advocate for a more just society and offers unique insight into the long-lasting struggle of education against authoritarianism.

By exploring Myanmar’s social and political struggles through the lens of higher education resistance, the book offers a compelling narrative about the life of the country following the latest coup d’état, an event that continues to puzzle the international community.

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NAVIGATING THE EVOLUTION OF MYANMAR HIGHER EDUCATION: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE INSIDE

The volume focuses on the great transformations that the Myanmar higher education sector experien... more The volume focuses on the great transformations that the Myanmar higher education sector experienced in the last 10 years (2011-2021). In particular, it tackles challenges and opportunities through the lenses of specific macro-themes: the role of ethnic education, the importance of quality assurance mechanisms and student-centred approaches, the need for capacity-building programs and the successes and sustainability of internationalization structures.

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Papers by Licia Proserpio

Safeguarding, Enhancing and Managing Archaeological Heritage and Museums in Iraq: The Contribution of the EDUU Project

Helsinki University Press eBooks, Sep 28, 2023

How Can International Partnerships Support the Study of Archaeology in Iraq? The Case Study of the Erasmus+ Capacity Building KA 2 Project “WALADU”

Harrassowitz Verlag eBooks, 2023

The university ranking game in East Asia: the sensemaking of academic leaders between pressures and fatigue

by Licia Proserpio and Marie Lall

ASIA PACIFIC EDUCATION REVIEW, 2024

Rankings dominate higher education policy making, although little is known about the experiences ... more Rankings dominate higher education policy making, although little is known about the experiences of those involved in perpetuating rankings. This paper explores middle-level academic leaders’ sensemaking about university rankings and related policies in East Asia. Since university rankings have affected higher education policies and strategies more intensely in East Asia than in other regions of the world, our research aims to trace the process of meaning construction and reconstruction of the middle-level academic leaders directly involved with the rankings game. Qualitative data have been drawn from in-depth interviews with key informants across elite institutions in three East Asian countries (Mainland China, South Korea and Japan). Our findings show how even in the well performing countries (Mainland China and South Korea) the “ranking fever” has been replaced by the “ranking fatigue”. There is no running from rankings, but the paradox of not believing in them but engaging with them has created an affective response that is deeper than lack of trust towards the commercial system of ranking: it is a deeply rooted feeling of fatigue. This is leading the discussion on how to find an alternative to rankings and possibly forge a new path forward for East Asian universities, reshaping the geography of higher education in the region.

Taking cover before the outbreak: understanding precautionary behaviors of Chinese in Italy in the COVID-19 scenario

by Licia Proserpio and Alessandro Albana

Fuori Luogo, 2022

This paper provides an empirical exploration of the preemptive measures adopted by the Chinese in... more This paper provides an empirical exploration of the preemptive measures adopted by the Chinese in Italy vis-à-vis the early outbreak of COVID-19. Based on a quantitative dataset collected through an online survey, the assessment of preemptive self-isolation has been pursued in relation to: the sources of information regarding the pandemic, the perception of risk, the level of trust towards both Italian and Chinese authorities, and the level of perceived stigma. The results revealed that the Chinese living in Italy began an “all-out self-isolation” before the enforcement of the national lockdown. Such behaviours have apparently been triggered by individual decisions taken according to a personal, high perception of risk, apprised by Chinese sources of information and fueled by a certain skepticism towards the effectiveness of policies enforced by the Italian governmental authorities. This article suggests that the precautionary behaviours of the Chinese in Italy can be seen as the result of the combination of their “preparedness” and their perception of stigma and discrimination.

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Myanmar universities in the post-coup era: The clash between old and new visions of higher education

Myanmar After the Coup, 2022

In the wake of the 1 February 2021 military coup, Myanmar universities became the sites of multip... more In the wake of the 1 February 2021 military coup, Myanmar universities became the sites of multiple and overlapping conflicts. At the macro-level, the military has faced massive nationwide protests with teachers and students in the vanguard. This broad opposition has been met with highly repressive and violent systems of social control, including mass firings of university staff, the imprisonment of student activists, and a halt to the higher education reforms that had been underway for more than a decade. The State Administration Council (SAC) is now rapidly moving forward with a national vision of higher education that replicates old and repressive Tatmadaw policies and strategies. On the other side of the divide, participants in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and other social movements are re-imagining a new higher education system rooted in the idea of education and oriented toward a federal and just society. At the meso-level, within the different university institutions, educators are divided along conflictual and unbridgeable frontlines: those who kept their positions and now work in the new military educational framework for “the sake of their fields of study and their students” and those who left or were forced to leave their occupations at great personal cost. At the micro-level, this latest military coup imposed an as yet underestimated cost on the higher education staff and students who had played such a central role in Myanmar’s metamorphosis in the decade before the coup. Our article gives an insight into the coup’s impact on Myanmar by focusing on the higher education sector. At this time of crisis, it draws on a set of qualitative data gathered through online interviews with students and university staff to produce an analysis of this extremely challenging chapter in the history of the country and its education system.

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Culture and Education as Cornerstones of EU-INDIA International Relations: the case of the E-QUAL project

This article is intended to present the "E-QUAL - Enhancing Quality, Access and Governance of Und... more This article is intended to present the "E-QUAL - Enhancing Quality, Access and Governance of Undergraduate Education in India" project, explaining why the European Union funded it and with which aim. It will consider how so-called cultural diplomacy plays a key role in EU-India international relations. EU international cultural relations are shaped to make the EU a stronger global actor and to connect international partners at a deeper level, involving key civil society actors such as Universities. The EU has developed a comprehensive approach and a series of tools to finance education actions. Among these was the "Support to Indo-European Interactions on Higher Education\u201d programme which funded the E-QUAL project from 2013 to 2017. The E-QUAL project aimed to create an innovative approach to enhance the quality, access to and governance of undergraduate education in India, which was going through a phase of acute crisis due to a mismatch between quality and qua...

THE OCTOBER 2019 PROTEST MOVEMENT IN IRAQ: AN ANALYSIS OF THE "EARLY MOMENTS" OF THE MOBILISATION

On 1 October 2019, a wide-ranging anti-government protest took to the streets in Baghdad. Grievan... more On 1 October 2019, a wide-ranging anti-government protest took to the streets in Baghdad. Grievances included unemployment, a lack of basic services, the absence of social justice, and endemic corruption in political and economic institutions. Despite swift and severe state repression, the protest snowballed into a countrywide mobilisation encompassing the central-southern governorates to become the largest protest movement to challenge Iraq's post-2003 political order. By granting analytical weight to the role of early riser activists, this paper focuses on the factors that shaped activists' decisions and lead to different forms of spontaneous participation involving both sympathisers and bystanders. In so doing, it draws attention to the non-hierarchical structure of the movement and its "diffused communication" strategy, the repression as a "moral shock" and the rhetoric of protest slogans. At the crossroads between social movement studies and Iraqi studies, this article contributes to both bodies of scholarship with empirical research. On one hand, it enriches social movement literature by shedding light on strategies and actions adopted by activists operating in non-liberal contexts. On the other hand, it enriches Iraqi political studies by demonstrating that the country hosts a vibrant sphere of contentious politics, a sphere that deserves ample scrutiny.

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Local voices on heritage: Understanding community perceptions towards archaeological sites in South Iraq

by Licia Proserpio, Federico Zaina, and Giulia Scazzosi

Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage

Poster by Licia Proserpio

" Local Voices " on Heritage: Exploring Perceptions of Archaeological Sites in Southern Iraq

by Giulia Scazzosi and Licia Proserpio

This poster presents the preliminary results of an ethno-archaeological survey carried out in the... more This poster presents the preliminary results of an ethno-archaeological survey carried out in the region of Kufa (southern Iraq) in the framework of the EU-funded project " EDUU – Education and Cultural Heritage Enhancement for Social Cohesion in Iraq. " The ethnographic research is conducted by combining immersive observation, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The target groups included different families living near archaeological sites, SBAH operators, archaeological police and community leaders. The research question focused on an important issue related to the preservation of archaeological sites and cultural heritage in Iraq. The survey aimed at understanding and recording " local " voices, meaning the perceptions of the local communities around archeological sites. Are archeological sites considered and valued as part of the tangible local cultural heritage? Are they part of the local narrative of community's past and present history? Which space do the archeological sites occupy in the cognitive maps of local communities, are they placed inside or outside the community boarders? This preliminary study aims to provide new paths of research to the international scientific community. As the archaeological excavations are gradually increasing in number in southern Iraq, it would be necessary to flank them with anthropological and ethno-archaeological investigations. It would be of paramount importance to understand the perceptions of the local communities towards the archaeological sites and monuments and to listen to the " local voices " in order to better protect and give more value to the local cultural heritage.

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Talks by Licia Proserpio

Local Voices on Heritage: Exploring Perceptions of Archaeological Sites in Southern Iraq

by Giulia Scazzosi, Licia Proserpio, and Federico Zaina

The perception and engagement of local communities towards the tangible cultural heritage in Iraq... more The perception and engagement of local communities towards the tangible cultural heritage in Iraq have so far not received sufficient consideration by archaeologists and heritage experts, especially with regard to the pre-Islamic period. In the wake of the slow process of reconstruction of heritage sites and the renegotiation of social and political roles in the country, a serious reflection on these issues is critical. The proposed paper arises from this awareness, increased during two archaeological surveys season carried out between 2018 and 2019 in the Kufa governorate (Southern Iraq), in the framework of the Iraqi-Italian EU-funded project "EDUU -Education and Cultural Heritage Enhancement for Social Cohesion in Iraq". The surveys were carried out by archaeologists and anthropologists who have experimented an interesting cross-fertilization of both research fields.

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Resistance through Higher Education - Myanmar Universities’ Struggle against Authoritarianism

Bristol University Press, 2025

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NAVIGATING THE EVOLUTION OF MYANMAR HIGHER EDUCATION: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE INSIDE

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Safeguarding, Enhancing and Managing Archaeological Heritage and Museums in Iraq: The Contribution of the EDUU Project

Helsinki University Press eBooks, Sep 28, 2023