People

Melissa Bertolini Rodrigues

Mel Bertolini Rodrigues

First-Year PhD Student

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 RESEARCH INTERESTS
Language Policy and Linguistic Nationalism, Italian Fascism and Cultural Politics, Organizational Violence and the Cult of Personality, Science and Technology Studies (STS), Digital Humanities.

 

Melissa Bertolini Rodrigues is a first-year PhD student in Italian Studies at Rutgers University. BA in Italian Language and Literature from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), where she wrote a thesis on the history of the Italian language and Paolo Monelli’s lexicographic work. Masters in Technology and Society from the Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR, 2023) and BA in Law (1998).

Her research explores the intersections of language, culture, and technology, with interests in History of the Italian Language, Paolo Monelli, LInguistic Autarchy, dialect archives, women’s writing, translation, language policy, and digital humanities. She collaborates with ArPeR – Archivio dei periodici romaneschi, an external project dedicated to digitizing Roman dialect periodicals (1870–1920) to recover marginalized voices and broaden scholarship on post-Unification dialect culture. 

Her recent publications address AI in education, language, and society, and her teaching focuses on communicative, culturally grounded approaches to Italian as a foreign language.

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & CONFERENCES

Articles

  • Rodrigues, Melissa Bertolini, and Paula Caldas Brognoli. “Uso do ChatGPT por estudantes italianos na Università degli Studi di Perugia (UNIPG).” Revista Nova Paideia – Revista Interdisciplinar em Educação e Pesquisa, vol. 7, 2025, pp. 332–350.
  • Brognoli, Paula Caldas, and Melissa Bertolini Rodrigues. “A Banalização do Trabalho Docente: Desafios dos Professores no Curso de Administração.” Administração: Ensino e Pesquisa (RAEP), vol. 25, 2025, pp. 227–250.
  • Rodrigues, Melissa Bertolini, Francis K. Meneghetti, and Luís M. B. Maretti. “‘A Disfuncionalidade do Ensino Superior e a Reconstrução Dialógica com a Comunidade por Meio da Extensão Universitária: A Experiência do Projeto Talian.’” Revista Extensão, vol. 9, 2025, pp. 36–46
  • Rodrigues, Melissa Bertolini, and Paula Caldas Brognoli. “Convergências: Estudos em Humanidades Digitais.” Convergências: Estudos em Humanidades Digitais, vol. 1, 2025, pp. 292–315.