Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Prof. Thomas Casadei re-elected Director of CRID – Interdepartmental Research Centre on Discrimination and Vulnerability

A full professor of Philosophy of Law at the Department of Law, where he also teaches Theory and Practice of Human Rights, Prof. Casadei continues to lead CRID, which he co-founded in 2016 with Prof. Gianfrancesco Zanetti, who directed the Centre for two terms.

Since its foundation, CRID has served as a meeting place for scholars from different departments (Law, Enzo Ferrari Engineering, Marco Biagi Economics) and from universities across Italy and abroad. With a strong international focus, the Centre collaborates with research networks, organisations, associations, and institutions to study various forms of discrimination and vulnerability, including emerging or “invisible” issues in digital contexts, and to identify possible intervention strategies.

The Executive Board currently includes Prof. Gianfrancesco Zanetti (Law), Prof. Tindara Addabbo (Economics), and Prof. Claudia Canali (Engineering).

CRID hosts several active work areas: the “Lab on Discrimination and Vulnerability”, the “Migrants Observatory”, the “Legal Training towards the Legal Clinic” laboratory, and the “DET – Law, Ethics, Technology” IT workshop, which includes teams on applied bioethics and responsible digital use. Established programmes focus on equality, minors, and, more recently, the needs of older adults.

In recent years, CRID has participated in various projects. Prof. Casadei’s first term saw the conclusion of the FAR Mission Oriented Project “The Second Generations: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Discrimination and Inclusion”, resulting in the publication Sconfinamenti (Giappichelli, 2023). The Centre is currently involved in the CITIES project – Cities Initiative Towards Inclusive and Equitable Societies , supported by public institutions, including the municipalities of Modena and Reggio Emilia, under the European Commission’s CERV programme.

CRID also coordinated the SAFELY project – Social Media Awareness for Education and Legal Youth , funded by the SERICS Foundation. Among its outcomes are three co-edited volumes by Prof. Casadei: Youth Online: A Guide to Responsible Use of Technology (2025), Unaccompanied Foreign Minors and the Exercise of Rights (2025), and Digital Society and Professional Worlds (2025).

Currently, CRID is working on a project to assess the needs of older adults in the province of Modena, in partnership with SPI-CGIL Modena and Auser ODV Modena, under collaboration agreements signed in May 2025.

International collaborations have also been strengthened, including partnerships with the Instituto de Derechos Humanos “Gregorio Peces-Barba” (Madrid), the Universidad de Sevilla, the Universidad Externado de Colombia, and the University of Coimbra. These agreements involve joint research, events, publications, and staff exchanges, with particular attention to supporting young researchers.

“I am very grateful for the renewed trust,” says Prof. Casadei . “I look forward to continuing the work started under Prof. Zanetti’s direction, supported by the Executive Board, the Scientific Committee, and the many young researchers who collaborate with us.”

“On the international front, we are very pleased with the consolidation and implementation of agreements signed with the University of Seville, the University of Coimbra, and the Universidad Externado de Colombia, in addition to the agreement with the Instituto de Derechos Humanos ‘Gregorio Peces-Barba’ of Carlos III University, Madrid. These are leading institutions on the international stage, with which we are able to design and develop research programmes and scientific dialogue, as well as mobility and exchange initiatives, greatly enriching our educational activities in combating all forms of discrimination.”

Thomas Casadei is a full professor of Philosophy of Law at the Department of Law at Unimore, where he also teaches Theory and Practice of Human Rights and runs the Philosophy Laboratory.

He is co-founder of CRID – the Interdepartmental Research Centre on Discrimination and Vulnerability – and since 2004 has been part of the “Legal and Social Aspects of Security” unit of CRIS – the Interdepartmental Research Centre on Safety and Risk Prevention at Unimore, currently serving on its Executive Board. At CRID, he founded the IT workshop “Law, Ethics, Technology”, for which he serves as scientific coordinator, and oversees the activities of the historical-legal archive “Anselmo Cassani”. On the international front, he was part of Unimore’s research unit in the Horizon 2020 EQUAL-IST project “Gender Equality Plans for Information Sciences and Technology Research Institutions” (2016–2019). He is also a member of the Ibero-American Network for Research on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and Human Rights and sits on the scientific committee of the journal Derechos y Libertades. He participates in various international projects, including e-CARE, a project on the right to care in the digital society funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science (2024–2027). He has also been Principal Investigator of national scientific projects, most recently SAFELY – Social Media Awareness for Education and Legal Youth. Prof. Casadei serves on the Board of the Interreligious Museum of Bertinoro (FC) and the Scientific Committee of the Collegio San Carlo Foundation.

He is a member of the Doctoral Board in Legal Sciences at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and of the Doctoral Board in Humanities, Technology and Society, promoted by Fondazione Collegio San Carlo, Unimore, and Almo Collegio Borromeo in Pavia. He has published five monographs, five textbooks, 40 edited volumes, and over 170 articles, essays, and contributions to collective works. He directs five editorial series and sits on the editorial boards of 20 national and international journals. He is co-editor of the journal Diritto artificiale. He is a Visiting Professor at the Facultad de Derecho of the University of Seville and has lectured at numerous universities in Italy and abroad. Since September 2024, he has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Society of Philosophy of Law (SIFD).

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