Job description

Erika de Vivo is an early-career researcher specializing in Sámi studies, cultural anthropology, and critical museology. She is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) postdoctoral fellow at the University Museum of the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) . Her MSCA-funded research adresses Sámi experiences during colonial encounters in the late 19th century, with a particular focus on the individual life stories of Sámi women and children photographed by two Italian anthropologists between 1879 and 1886. This project seeks to critically analyze these visual archives to uncover the complexities of Sámi agency and representation during this period.

In 2023, Dr. de Vivo completed a 10-month postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh, where she conducted research on the linguistic landscape of the Márku-Sámi festival Márkomeannu. Her work at IASH examined the interplay between language, identity, and cultural expression within the context of this annual festival, contributing to broader discussions on Sámi cultural revitalization.

She earned her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Torino in 2021. Her dissertation, “Putting the Márka on the Map: An Anthropological Perspective on Cultural Efflorescence in Stuornjárga, Norwegian Side of Sápmi,” examines processes of cultural revitalization and identity-making among the Sámi communities in northern Norway. Her research combines ethnographic methods with critical theoretical approaches to examine the intersections of culture, history, and representation in Indigenous contexts.