SOMMELLA Rosario

Rosario Sommella (1959) has been a full professor of Political and Economic Geography since 2011 in the Department of Human and Social Sciences at L’Orientale University.
Since November 1, 2024, he has served as Coordinator of the University Evaluation Board. He previously served as Vice Rector for Didactics and Chair of the University Didactical Center (2018–2024), as Director of the Department of Social Sciences (2005–2011), of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (2012–2015), and as Coordinator of the Master’s Degree Program in International Studies (2016–2017).
After earning his bachelor’s degree in Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures from the Orientale (1983), he taught General and Economic Geography in high schools (1985–1995). He then became a research fellow in Economic and Political Geography at the Orientale (1995–98, Faculty of Political Science) and subsequently an associate professor in the same field, first at the University of Foggia (1998–2001, Faculty of Economics) and then again at the “Orientale” (from 2001 until 2011, Faculty of Political Science).
He has published numerous articles on the geographical contexts of Southern Italy and the Mediterranean region, focusing particularly on urban issues and regional development. In recent years, his research has focused on Southern Italy, Italy as a whole, and Southern Europe, with a particular emphasis on political geography (textbook geography, popular geopolitics, and the geopolitics of illegal powers) and urban studies (the geography of commerce and consumption, and representations of space and place). He has participated in conferences in Italy and abroad (including as a member of scientific and organizing committees) and in research groups characterized by national and international collaborations, including several PRIN projects since the 1990s.
He is involved in Third Mission activities, specifically serving since 2018 as the scientific coordinator of a residential scientific and artistic research project in the Ponticelli neighborhood of Naples.
He is a member of the scientific committees of various book series; he currently serves on the Editorial Board of the journal of the Association of Italian Geographers (A.Ge.I.) “Geotema” (Class A Journal in Italy).
She has also been a member of the A.Ge.I. Executive Committee since 2009. She is currently the Association’s vice president.