2022: PhD, German -- Johns Hopkins University (United States)
2013: PhD, Media and Communication, aka Philosophy, Art, and Critical Thought --
European Graduate School (Switzerland)
2005: MA, European Philosophy -- Manchester Metropolitan University (United Kingdom)
2001: BA and MA, Philosophy -- University of Bologna (Italy)

Elisa studied Philosophy in Italy, the UK, Switzerland and lived in Berlin for many years,
before continuing to study German thought and literature at the New York University and
at Johns Hopkins University. His education has strongly been affected by materialistic
traditions and deconstruction. Broadly speaking, Elisa works at the intersection of
literature and philosophy with great attention to the concrete worlds we share. A fast
writer, he pays great attention to textuality and slow reading.
Elisa received his first Ph.D. in Media and Communication (now known as Philosophy,
Art, and Critical Thought) from the European Graduate School, Switzerland, with a
dissertation on Walter Benjamin’s Windrose, which was published by Atropos Press
(New York, Dresden) in 2013. He has been working on the para-concept of “B anality”
for his second dissertation: B anal: Cipher Scheerbart, which heavily relies on the
thought of Benjamin as well as on the insights of philosopher and psychoanalyst
Laurence A. Rickels. In his most recent research project, Elisa addresses the figure of
the anecdote, focusing on Heinrich von Kleist and Robert Walser, while he daily works
on short or longer texts that focus on emerging political topics.
He joined Morgan State University as full-time lecturer in philosophy in Spring 2025
after a visiting-assistant professorship of German at Washington College in Fall 2024.
Prior to these roles, he held a postdoctoral position with the Office of Diversity and
Inclusion at Johns Hopkins University in 2022-2024, where he worked on trans studies.
He also taught several courses at Johns Hopkins University and the Peabody Institute.
At Morgan State University, Elisa is currently teaching “Ethics and Values” and “Power
and Gender.”

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Philosophy of history; philosophy of language; deconstruction; gender and race theory;
XIX and XX Century French and German literature.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Monographs
Windrose. New York, Dresden: Atropos Press, 2013.
B ANAL: Cipher Scheerbart. Published online by Johns Hopkins University (2021):
https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/items/e2e41e03-1f98-468f-9321-de2925d23c15

Articles and Reviews

• “Of Cats, Dogs, Pigs, and Trump: Hannah Arendt’s Anecdotes.” In The
  Philosophical Salon. January 2025
• Review of Paul B. Preciado, Dysphoria Mundi. Barcelona: Anagrama, 2022. In
  Arcadia 2023; 58(1).
• Review of Márton Dornbach, The Saving Line: Benjamin, Adorno, and the
  Caesuras of Hope. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2020. In MLN,
  German Issue, Volume 138, 2022.
• Review of Nathan Ross, Walter Benjamin’s First Philosophy. New York, London:
  Routledge, 2021. In Arcadia. International Journal of Literary Culture /
  Internationale Zeitschrift für literarische Kultur. Arcadia 2022; 57(1).
• “Rickels’s Bond, A Review of Laurence Arthur Rickels, SPECTRE” in “continent.”
  Issue 6.2 / 2017: 58-66.
• “Benjamin: Gewalt secondo Scheerbart” in Estetica. Studi e Ricerche. 2/2014.
• “Benjamin’s International Reception, 18th-20th September 2013, Berlin.” In:
  Radical Philosophy, RP 182 (Nov/Dec 2013).
• “Review of Edward W. Said, Orientalismo.” In E-Ching. Periodico mensile per la
  Pubblica Amministrazione Locale. Anno II, N. 6. July 2004.

CONFERENCE COORDINATION and PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Expanding Genders at Johns Hopkins University. Event organized for the Office
  of Diversity and Inclusion. 2024.
• Trans+ Utopia at Johns Hopkins University (narrations, art, and website). 2023-2024.
• Destitution and Power: The Trans Experience. Conference organized for the
  Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Johns Hopkins University. March 31-April 1,
  2023.