Anna Santucci is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) at University College Cork (UCC, Ireland), where she directs the MA in Teaching and Learning for Higher Education and currently leads a nationally funded initiative to build sustainable capacity for academic growth and institutional transformation towards inclusive teaching and equitable learning through student partnerships and intentional change agency. She sits in the EDIN committee, and supports UCC’s contributions to Teaching & Learning efforts for the UNIC European University alliance. She was previously a faculty developer at the University of Rhode Island (USA), facilitating equitable learning, Inclusive Excellence initiatives, and High Impact Teaching programs. Her story includes a BA in Modern Languages (Padova, Italy), MA in English (Nottingham, UK), and PhD combining Italian and Theatre & Performance (Brown University, USA - where she also served as Sheridan Center Head Graduate Teaching Consultant). 

Anna grew up in Italy, developed her passion for educational development in the United States, and moved to Ireland in 2022. She cultivates her professional values as an active member of networks such as the “Yes, And…” Higher Ed Network, and organizations such as ISSOTL, ICED, and POD Network. She is currently Editor of POD Speaks and Chair Elect of POD’s Professional Development Committee. 

Anna’s interest in how our positional, intersectional and liminal identities shape our Teaching & Learning journeys plays a key role in her commitment to promoting intercultural relationships equity and justice in higher education via co-creation, reflection, and dialogue. Her trans-disciplinary scholarly practice focuses on critical pedagogies informed by applied theatre, performance theory, and language & culture studies. Her international collaborations include her role as co-facilitator of the Deep Teaching Residency (a US-based NSF-funded STEM educational development program). Her published work appears in venues such as Research in Drama Education, the Scenario Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning and Research, the Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, the Journal of Faculty Deve