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Dr Nico Pizzolato

Director of Postgraduate Research Studies

Nico Pizzolato

  • School Other Research

  • Department Research Knowledge Transfer Office

  • Location London

Research activities

I research at the intersection between history, social theory and labour and management studies. Most of my work touches on the following themes: labour migration and social movements, unfree and coerced labour in advanced capitalism, social policy in the age of Fordism, workplace democracy, critical pedagogy.

I am the author of Challenging Global Capitalism: Labor Migration, Radical Struggle, and Urban Change in Detroit and Turin (Palgrave, 2013) and the co-editor of the book Gramsci: A Pedagogy to Change the World (Springer, 2017). My work as appeared in leading peer-reviewed journals such as American Historical Review, Labor History, International Review of Social History, International Working Class History, Capital&Class, Contemporary European History, Historical Materialism. My research has also been disseminated in critical online magazines such as Viewpoint and Commonware.

I also have a strong interest in writing for professional and academic practice. I run writing workshops as part of my teaching portfolio and individual practice. My goal is to redefine what academic writing means. In 2024 I co-convened Researching and Writing at the Crossroads


Current Teaching

Most of my teaching is devoted to develop research students.

I am the Director of Postgraduate Research Studies and in that role I lead on the governance, quality assurance and development of postgraduate research in the University and across research partner institutions. I convene the postgraduate researcher  development programme and run my on sessions on various methodologies and writing. Together with Joanna Masangkay, I have established since 2020 the Doctoral Journeys cafe. In this podcast we tell what is it about.

I am a supervisor in the DProf (Transdisciplinary). This is a doctoral programme aimed at senior professionals who carry out academic research in their organisation or as part of their professional practice. I have supervised 16 research students to completion

I am an enthusiast of digital learning , in particular as applied to adult education in university and in the workplace, and in general the possibilities of learning in a digital, interconnected world.

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.


Biography

I have gained my PhD at University College London, and lectured at Queen Mary, University of London, Università di Palermo, and the University of Edinburgh. I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and of the Royal Historical Society. I am a seminar convenor at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London..

Publications

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