Michela Piccin

I earned my Bachelor's and Master's in Classics at Ca' Foscari University, Venice and my PhD in Assyriology at La Sapienza University, Rome. During my studies I spent several periods in the UK on research (Cambridge and Oxford). Subsequently, I served as a Visiting Professor of Assyriology, History and Cultures at Northeast Normal University (NENU), Changchun, China, for several years. Since 2019 I have been a Research Fellow in Semitic Linguistics at North-West University (NWU), Potchefstroom, South Africa. Over the years I have benefited from contracts and research grants, which have allowed me to deepen my research on Ancient Near Eastern Studies.

My research focuses mainly on stylistic-linguistic issues associated with "rhetoric" and literary texts and has received awards for innovation and creativity. Years of interest in reception studies resulted in my authoring and performing a 12-hour public reading of the Epic of Gilgameš, an adaptation based on the plays and criticism editions of cuneiform sources. The presentation of the work was central to NENU celebrations of Reading Day in China (for more, read: https://iaassyriology.com/in-popular-culture-gilgamesh-in-12-hours/ & https://www.imagines-project.org/outreach/gilgamesh-in-12-hours).