Maria Francesca is enrolled in the PhD program in Urban Planning at USC. She is broadly interested in spaces of identity and heritage. Specifically, she looks at how vulnerable subjects' uses and perceptions of heritage challenge -and contribute to- the understanding of authenticty. She investigates this issue in a transnational perspective, looking at the behavioral patterns of the informal workers of the landscapes of tourism in Rome, Italy, and Dhaka, Bangladesh. Maria Francesca holds a PhD in Architecture and Urbanism from IUAV, University of Venice, and a Master of Architecture and Preservation from Sapienza, University of Rome.