Full CV: HERE

Francesca Raffi is Associate Professor of English Language and Translation at the University of Macerata, where she works in the Department of Humanities. She has been an Honorary Fellow at the University of Liverpool since 2019.

Her research lies at the intersection of translation studies, digital technologies, and accessibility. Over the years, her work has developed across three closely connected areas: audiovisual translation and retranslation, linguistic and sensory accessibility to media and cultural experiences, and, more recently, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in translation and language education.

Her research on audiovisual translation has focused particularly on the circulation, translation and retranslation of Italian cinema in English-speaking contexts, with attention to subtitling, dubbing, linguistic variation, paratexts and reception. This work has progressively expanded into the study of media accessibility and intersemiotic translation, with a strong interest in audiences and in the ways translation and multimodal mediation shape access to cultural experiences.

A substantial part of her research is developed in collaboration with cultural institutions and professionals. She has contributed to and coordinated research and accessibility initiatives involving theatres, opera houses, orchestras, museums and cultural organisations in Italy, working on the design, implementation and evaluation of accessible experiences for live performance and cultural heritage.

She has participated in national and international research projects on accessibility, translation, language learning and translator education. More recently, her research has increasingly addressed artificial intelligence in translation and language education. From 2023 to 2026, she coordinated the University of Macerata research unit of the PRIN project Universally Inclusive Technologies to Practice English (UNITE), which investigated the use of AI-powered dialogue systems for English language practice from an inclusive perspective. Within this project, the Macerata research unit also collaborated with the Center for Applied Special Technology - CAST (USA) on Universal Design for Learning and the accessibility of AI-mediated learning environments. Her current interests include generative AI, AI-mediated language interaction, prompting for translation, translator education, translation competence and the development of digital and technological competences.

At the University of Macerata, she teaches English language and translation, specialised translation technologies and English for academic purposes for PhD students. She has contributed to teacher education in English culture and language teaching and CLIL. She has also taught and delivered specialist training within international training programmes on accessibility and inclusive cultural practice.

She is Regional Coordinator for the Marche region of the Italian Association of English Studies (AIA) and a Board Member of the I-LanD Interuniversity Research Centre. Her professional and scholarly memberships include the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and the European Association for Studies in Screen Translation (ESIST). She is also a member of CEIDIM, the University of Macerata Research Centre for Innovation, Digitalisation, Internationalisation and Management, and serves on the editorial boards of BRIDGE: Trends and Traditions in Translation and Interpreting Studies and ECHO: Rivista Interdisciplinare di Comunicazione, Linguaggi, Culture, Società. At the University of Macerata, she coordinates the University Working Group on AI Guidelines and serves as Department Delegate for Student Orientation, Schools and Tutoring.

She is involved in doctoral supervision at the University of Liverpool and supervises BA and MA dissertations at the University of Macerata in areas related to English language and translation, specialised translation and translation technologies, audiovisual translation and accessibility.