Marc Di Tommasi (PhD FHEA)

Teaching Fellow

Biography

Background

I was born in Southampton but grew up in Naples, a city where history is never just in the past and where Vesuvius looms as both a geological and metaphorical presence. My grandfather was a Desert Rat under General Montgomery; he met my grandmother in Naples, married her, and returned to Southampton, where my mother was born. She later met my father—Neapolitan by birth—and moved back to Italy. That back-and-forth family history between Britain and Italy has shaped much of how I think about movement, belonging, and historical narrative.

 

I studied Digital Humanities and Economic History at the University of Naples Federico II, where I learned that spreadsheets and historical sources can, in fact, coexist. I moved to Scotland and after a career break to care for my father and later my daughter, I eventually joined the University of Edinburgh as a Teaching Fellow. My current work includes using digital mapping to reconstruct historical environments and urban experiences, alongside designing classroom activities that use digital tools—including AI personas—to help students think critically about historiography, authorial intent, and the ethical limits of digital recreations. I also enjoy board games and speculative fiction, especially the kind that takes historical ideas and runs sideways with them.

Undergraduate teaching

Historian Toolkit

Introduction to historiography

Modern European History

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research summary

My research follows two intersecting strands. The first traces the demographic and cultural impact of migrant populations in Britain over time, with a particular focus on the early twentieth century. I’m interested in how migration shaped urban life, challenged ideas of belonging, and left traces that are often harder to quantify than we’d like. The second strand explores how historical environments can be digitally reconstructed—not just with maps and data, but with the help of people whose stories and local knowledge bring those places back to life. I work with communities to recover lived experiences and reimagine urban spaces, using archival sources, spatial tools, and a healthy dose of curiosity. Alongside this, I also experiment with digital tools in teaching, including AI-based personas, to help students think more critically about historiography and the voices behind historical texts.

This article was published on