Doctoral Student Fellow
Doctoral Student, Department of Italian Studies, GSAS
Perversion, Polemic, and Affect: Sexual Dissidence in 1970s Italy
Matt Zundel (he/they) specializes in 20th century Italian culture through the lens of queer and critical theory. Their dissertation, ‘Perversion, Polemic, Affect: Sexual Dissidence in 1970s Italy,’ tracks the use of perversion as a political concept in theater, theory, and literature during the tumultuous economic, social, and political upheavals of Italy’s 1970s. Their recent publications include: essays on Mario Mieli in gender/sexuality/italy and About Gender – International Journal of Gender Studies; a translation of Luciano Parinetto in Barricade: Journal of Antifascism and Translation; and an article on Pier Paolo Pasolini forthcoming in Annali d’Italianistica. He would describe himself as gay in the old way and spends much of his time, when not feverishly attempting to finish his dissertation, binging hours of Rupaul’s Drag Race and being the drag assistant for his partner’s gigs.