Our team - BSBI

Our team

Dr Barbara Gabriella Renzi

Lecturer
Dr Barbara Gabriella Renzi is a student-centred lecturer and a licensed psychologist with 20 years of experience in both academic and practical settings. She holds a BSc and MSc in Psychology, an MSc in Criminology, a BA and MA in Languages, a BA and MA in Philosophy and two PhDs—one in Culture, Education and Communication from Roma Tre University and another in Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences from Queen’s University Belfast. She is also a CBT therapist and an integrated counsellor and has secured funding from various agencies across Europe.

Overview

With over 20 years of experience in academia and research, Dr Renzi has taught at multiple European institutions, delivering courses on organisational psychology, strategic management, leadership and business studies at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature Climate Change, Environmental Communication and Ecological Economics, and has presented her research at conferences worldwide and contributed several books.

Dr Renzi is deeply passionate about teaching and finds great fulfilment in sharing knowledge with her students. She enjoys creating engaging and interactive learning environments, encouraging critical thinking and inspiring curiosity. She strives to mentor and guide students, helping them develop both academically and personally. Whether in the classroom, through research supervision or in professional training settings, she takes pride in fostering a love for learning and intellectual growth in those she teaches.

Beyond academia, Dr Renzi has worked as a CBT therapist and counsellor, providing psychological support in corporate, educational and multicultural settings.

In her free time, she enjoys painting and writing short stories for children and women.

Areas of Expertise

  • Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
  • Research Methods in Psychology
  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Workplace Well-being
  • Cyberbullying and Digital Ethics
  • Theories of Knowledge, Creativity, and Innovation
  • Strategic Decision-Making
  • Cross-Cultural Management and Global Leadership
  • AI, Human Cognition, and Digital Twins: Behavioural Insights and Business Applications
  • Environmental Communication and Sustainable Business Practices
  • Climate Change Anxiety and Its Impact on Consumer Behaviour
  • Psychology and Literature: Narrative, Identity, and Communication (Italian & English Literature)
  • Cultural Identity, Migration, and Diversity in Global Business
  • Nostalgia and Memory Studies: Psychological Drivers of Consumer Behaviour
  • Endangered Languages, Cultural Heritage, and Ethical Business Practices
  • Women, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship: Psychological Perspectives
  • Gender, Identity, and Inclusion in Business and Organizational Culture

Research interests

  • The psychological impact of storytelling in leadership and business communication
  • Cultural identity, migration, and their effects on global workforce dynamics
  • Nostalgia and memory as drivers of consumer behaviour and brand attachment
  • The role of endangered languages in cultural sustainability and ethical business practices
  • Women’s leadership styles and psychological factors in entrepreneurship
  • Gender identity, inclusion, and organizational culture in business settings
  • AI and Psychology: The impact of artificial intelligence on human decision-making and behaviour
  • AI and Cultural Identity: How AI influences identity formation, diversity, and inclusion in business
  • AI-Driven Consumer Insights: Using machine learning to understand emotions, nostalgia, and purchasing behaviour
  • The Role of Metaphors in Cognitive Science and Strategic Decision-Making
  • Digital Twins in AI, Healthcare, and Business Applications

Awards and Honours

  • 2022: FEL Scholarship – The Foundation for Endangered Languages (FEL)
  • 2013-2016: Roma University – School of Education Fund
  • 2002-2005: DHFETE Postgraduate Studentship.
  • 2002-2003: Larmor-University Studentship.
  • 2003: Helena Wallace Scholarship Fund.
  • 1997: Scuola Internazionale di Filosofia e Storia della Biologia (International School of Philosophy and History of Biology)

Publications (selected)

  • 2025: “Navigating Interconnected Pathways: A Mixed-Methods Study on “Klimawandel und Ängste” (Climate Change and Anxiety) and the Role of Environmental Metaphors” with Giulio Napolitano and Marketa Lepicovsky in Discourse Studies
  • 2019: “Fracking and metaphor: analysing newspaper discourse in the USA, Australia and the United Kingdom”, Ecological Economics, by Matthew Cotton, Ralf Barkemeyer, Barbara Gabriella Renzi, Giulio Napolitano.
  • 2016: “Rebirth, devastation and sickness: analysing the role of metaphor in media discourses of nuclear power”, Environmental Communication 11(5): 624-640, by Barbara Gabriella Renzi, Matthew Cotton, Giulio Napolitano and Ralf Barkemeyer.
  • 2015: “Linguistic analysis of IPCC summaries for policymakers and associated coverage”, Nature Climate Change 6(3): 311-316, by Ralf Barkemeyer, Suraje Dessai, Beatriz Monge-Sanz, Barbara Gabriella Renzi & Giulio Napolitano.
  • 2013: “Review of Wray’s Kuhn’s Evolutionary Social Epistemology”, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 27(1): 101-104.
  • 2009: “Kuhn’s Evolutionary Epistemology and its being Undermined by Inadequate Biological Concepts”, Philosophy of Science 76(2): 143-159.

Conferences, Talks and Speaking Engagements (selected)

  • 04.12.2024: “Psychological Journey: Introduction to the Jungian Concept of the Shadow”, BSBI, Berlin (https://www.youtube.com/live/7HuypyeBbh4).
  • 02.11.2024: “The Power of ‘Weirdness’: Uniqueness as a Catalyst for American Innovation and Resilience” in The Politics of Weird and the Weirdness of Politics, Dunarea De Jos, University of Galati, Romania.
  • 28.02.2015: “Easter Rising Conference” “Loyalist Contemporary Language and Metaphors, a Cognitive Description”, Roma 3 Department, English School, Rome, organised by Franca Ruggieri.
  • 03.06.2015: “EFACIS, 2015” “Beyond Ireland: Boundaries, Passages, Transitions”. Paper Title: “Metaphors’ representations of ‘the other representation’”.
  • 15.09.2015: “Storytelling and Reconciliation: Wave Centre Belfast” hosted by Quo vadis, Narratologia? Perspektiven und Grenzen erzähltheoretischer Ansätze, Wuppertaler.
  • 12.10.2015: “Women and Revolution, il Resto di Niente”, School of English, Bonn University.
  • 02.04.2015: “Metaphors of conflict resolution in Northern Ireland, “EUPRA 2015”, Norway.
  • 11-14.07.2008: “A Type Hierarchy for Selection Processes”, Joint Session Conference, Annual Conference of the Aristotelian Society held in conjunction with The Mind Association, University of Aberdeen.
  • 29-31.05.2008: “Expressions of Analogy”, International Conference held at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon.
  • 16-17.11.2007: “Manzi, Friendship and E Venne il Sabato”, Friends and Foes, held at Queen’s University Belfast.
  • 08-09.06.2006: “Reconstructing and Defining Death: Edith, Limbo and the Presence of Absence”, The Philosophy of Film: Towards an Understanding of Film as Art, held at the University of Liverpool, Department of Philosophy. 
  • 02.05.2006: “Epistemology of Science: What’s Wrong with Kuhn’s idea of Speciation”, Irish Philosophy Research Conference, held at University College Cork.
  • 12-14.11.2004: “Misuse of Natural Selection in Descriptive Philosophy of Science and Evolutionary Epistemology”, Denaturing Darwin: International Conference on Evolution and Organization, organised by the CPPE and the Department of Critical Theory and Organisation of the University for Humanistic, Utrecht.
  • 08-09.07.2004: “Natural Selection, Exaptation and the Evolution of Science”, British Society for the Philosophy of Science, Annual Conference”, the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Memberships

  • Italian Order of Psychologists, registration number 29846.
  • CBT Therapist and integrated counsellor (Registered member #326995 of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, BACP).
  • ACTO, Association for Counselling and Therapy Online, LTD Membership, 462.
  • Member of the International Cognitive Linguistics Association.

Editorial Roles

  • Since 2020: Series Leader editor for Interconnection Series (Inter/Connexions Press).
  • Since 2025: Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Contemporary Humanities (IJCH).