Team > Jun. Prof. Dr. Valentina Serreli

Faculty of Languages and Literatures
Chair of Arabic Studies

I am Junior Professor of Arabic Studies at the Faculty of Languages and Literature since April 2017. I hold a joint PhD from the University of Sassari (Italy) and the University of Aix-Marseille (France) and my research interests revolve around the culture, society and sociolinguistics of the Arabic-speaking world.

My doctoral thesis 'Society, language and ideologies in the oasis of Siwa (Egypt). Listening to peo-ple's voices' was awarded a dissertation prize by the University of Aix-Marseille in 2017 and shortlisted among the ten finalists of the Joshua Fishman Award 2018.

Academic CV

• 2020: Positive mid-term evaluation
• Since 2017:  Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies, University of Bayreuth
• 2016 – 2017: Research fellow, IREMAM, University of Aix-Marseille
• 2016 – PhD : Joint Degree in Linguistics and Arabic studies, University of Sassari and University of Aix-Marseille
• 2015 – Visiting scholar, American University in Cairo
• 2011 – MA in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, Ca‘ Foscari University of Venice.
• 2008 – BA in Linguistic Mediation, University of Sassari.

Memberships 

• Since 2019 – Member of the Cluster of Excellence Africa Multiple
• Since 2018 – DAAD
• 2017/2019 – Deputy Gender and Diversity Representative, BIGSAS – Bayreuth
• Since 2017 – Senior Fellow, BIGSAS – Bayreuth
• Since 2017 – Member, IAS – Bayreuth
• Since 2017 – Member, AIDA (Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe) 

Scholarships, Grants, Awards

• 2018: Shortlisted among the ten finalists of the “Joshua Fishman Award 2018” 
• 2017: Award for the PhD Dissertation by the University of Aix-Marseille “Prix de thèse AMU 2016”
• 2013/2014: Grants from the IREMAM and the University of Sassari for field research in Siwa oasis (Egypt)
• 2012/2014: PhD scholarship from the University of Sassari

Faculty of Languages and Literatures
Chair of Arabic Studies

I am interested in the study of language as a social practice. 

My dissertation falls within the field of Linguistic Anthropology. The study is based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork aimed at describing the complex relationships between people, culture, language and identity and their evolution in a period of rapid social change. 

My current research is in the field of multilingualism and language contact and concerns the analysis of actual linguistic behaviour of native and non-native Arabic speakers in Siwa Oasis.

Research Topics

• Arabic Sociolinguistics
• Language attitudes and ideologies
• Language and identity
• Multilingualism and language contact

Regional focus

• Siwa Oasis (Egypt)
• Egypt
• SWANA region

Projects

• DFG Project : Modernity, Migration and Minorities: Three Case Studies of Arabic in Contact
• Team Member in the research project AVBRE - Arabic Varieties Bibliographic References (University of Salamanca)

Events

• Symposium "Intersectional Interrogations of Reproductive Health for Women from Africa and its Diasporas" (May 2021)
• International Conference "Language Contact Through Time and Space" (September 2021)
• International Conference "Arabic in Africa: Historical and Sociolinguistic Perspectives" (April 2023)
• EISA Itinerant School in Arabic Sociolinguistics. University Moulay Ismaïl of Meknes, Morocco (19-24 February 2024)

Faculty of Languages and Literatures
Chair of Arabic Studies

Publications

Faculty of Languages and Literatures
Chair of Arabic Studies

Jun. Prof. Dr. Valentina Serreli
Juniorprofessur für Arabistik

Universität Bayreuth
Building: GW I
Room: 1.04
Universitätsstraße 30
D-95447 Bayreuth

Telephone: +49 (0)921 / 55-3554
E-Mail: valentina.serreli@uni-bayreuth.de