ReSearching for the Common Good: Giulia Gliozzi

February 12, 2026

As an interdisciplinary academic institute, the Institute for Social Concerns leverages research to respond to the complex demands of justice and to serve the common good. This series, ReSearching for the Common Good, highlights some of the scholars in our community.

Giulia Gliozzi is a Ph.D. student in Italian studies in the Department of Romance Languages & Literatures, a 2025–26 Graduate Justice Fellow at the Institute for Social Concerns, and a doctoral student affiliate at the Kellogg Institute.

What is the focus of your current research?

Within Italian literature, I focus specifically on Holocaust testimonies—a field that is usually dominated by survivor and chemist Primo Levi. It often feels as though Italian women didn’t experience the concentration camps or have anything to say. Sadly, this kind of erasure of women’s voices is relatable to societies beyond post–World War II Italy. It is a nearly universal experience.

To address this erasure, my research focuses on the early editorial reception of female Holocaust memoirs in Italy between 1945 and 1955. This is the decade before the Eichmann trial, which eventually sparked a boom in testimonies. I am trying to understand why some voices were neglected while others were promoted to the public during that short window. Ultimately, my goal is to reopen the Italian literary canon to integrate more female voices not simply to be more inclusive but in order to bring to life erased stories and uncover what might have been hidden. I focus on the reception of these books—not just who was listened to but also why others were not.

How did you get interested in this topic?

Though I began my career as a medievalist working with manuscripts, I felt a pull toward Holocaust history, an interest sparked first by visiting Auschwitz at the age of twelve. While that was a young age to be exposed to such a story, I have never forgotten it. My interest was further kindled by taking classes with my advisor, Charles Leavitt. During a period of discernment at Notre Dame, I realized that I wanted to develop that interest into a research project that motivates me and gives me a sense of purpose as a scholar responsible to future generations. This project allows me to merge my passion for archival research with modern questions of identity and history.

How do you view your research as contributing to the common good?

My research shows that if female survivors’ accounts mentioned being arrested by an Italian officer or being betrayed by an Italian neighbor, those accounts often disappeared or were published by tiny houses and never reached a broad public. Accounts that focused strictly on the experience within the camps—the in media res of the Holocaust—tended to have better fortune, though even these got lost in the Italian Holocaust literary canon over time.

My research advances the common good by restoring ownership to these survivors whose voices were mitigated by editors and historical narratives. In an era of rising nationalism, it is vital to challenge comfortable myths. By teaching students to look beyond the official version of history and engage with marginalized perspectives, I hope to foster a more critical, empathetic society that recognizes our shared humanity and resists repeating past injustices.