
Nausica Palazzo
Associate Professor
Nausica Palazzo works in the areas of family law and constitutional law as an Associate Professor at NOVA School of Law, and Director of the NOVA Centre for the Study of Gender, Family and the Law.
She holds a law degree from Bocconi University, an LL.M. from the University of Michigan School of Law, and obtained a Ph.D. in Comparative Law, cum laude, from the University of Trento, with a thesis on the legal recognition of non-traditional families in Canada, the United States and Europe. She received six fellowships and grants to complete her dissertation, including a Fulbright Fellowship and Michigan Grotius Fellowship. She has received several awards for her work, including the Fulbright 75th Anniversary Award, which is given to Fulbright alumni who have made significant contributions to U.S.-Italian relations, and the Young Leader Academy Fellowship for the 2023-2025 term, which was awarded by the EUTOPIA University Alliance.
In 2023, Nausica was a visiting professor at Reichman University, in Herzliya, and in 2024, a visiting professor (JG McLeod Professor in Family Law) at Western Law, London, Ontario. Prior to joining NOVA, Nausica was an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Law at Bocconi University and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has held visiting positions at the European University Institute and McGill University.
She is especially interested in queer approaches to family law, critical approaches to anti-discrimination law and theory, comparative constitutional law, and the relationship between gender and religious norms in illiberal regimes. Nausica has published articles in these areas in top journals such as the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law (article reviewed in Jotwell), the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, Law & Ethics on Human Rights, and The Review of Faith & International Affairs.
Her latest book, Legal Recognition of Non-Conjugal Families, came out in February 2021 with Hart Publishing, and a co-edited collection on queer and religious alliances in family law was published in Anthem Press’s Law and Society Series in 2022 (with J.A. Redding). Nausica was recently invited to author a “Principles of Non-Marriage Law” for the “Principles of” Series at Edward Elgar (with A. Hayward).
Bachelor’s degree (1st cycle)
- Family law (Comparative Family Law)
- Freedom, Justice, and Security – Special EU Law
- European Constitutional Law
- Comparative Legal Systems
- EU Family Law (Jean Monnet Module)
Master’s degree (2nd cycle)
- Advanced EU Law
- Comparative Equality Law
Ph.D. level (3rd cycle)
- European Law
Monograph
- Legal Recognition of Non-Conjugal Families: New Frontiers in Family Law in the US, Canada and Europe,Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2021.
Editorship
- Themed Section: “Meet the Queer Family: A roadmap towards legal recognition“. A Transdisciplinary Journal of Queer Theories and Studies, Vol. 4, 2021.
- Edited Volume: Queer/Religious Alliances in Family Law Politics and Beyond (co-editor J.A. Redding). Anthem Press, New York, forthcoming
Journal Articles
- “Famílias em mudança: O estudo de caso das famílias sem componente sexual” (co-author F. Gama). In: Revista do Ministério Público, nº 181, 2025, 79–101.
- “Famiglie ´non tradizionali´ e accesso all’istituto dell’adozione: Un’analisi di diritto comparato“. In: Politica del Diritto, no. 4, 2025, 617–653.
- “Functional recognition and polyamory: glitters and hard truths in the O’Neill judgment“. In: Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, vol. 46, 2024, 187–207.
- “The Religion of Illiberals and the Anti-Gender Backlash“. In: Law & Ethics of Human Rights, vol. 18, 2024, 107–137.
- “Fedotova and Others v. Russia: Dawn of a New Era for European LGBTQ Families?” In: Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, vol. 30, no. 2, 2023, 216–228.
- “A Closer Link: Registered Partnerships and Modern Families in Europe” (co-author N. Kornet). In: Child and Family Law Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2023, 275–304.
- “Comprehensive Security and LGBTQ Rights“. In: The Review of Faith & International Affairs, vol 20, 2022, 54-61.
- “Marriage Apostates: Why Heterosexuals Seek Same-Sex Registered Partnerships“. In: Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Vol. 42, No. 1, 2022, 186–258.
- “Finding a Place for ´Public Family Law´ in Comparative Law”. In: Ius Comparatum, 2022.
- “Judicial Activism’ in Europe: Not a Neat and Clean Fit“. In: Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021, 399–422.
- “Terre di mezzo e mine vaganti: Una lettura post-strutturalista del riconoscimento giuridico del genere della persona trans” [In-between spaces and loose cannons: A post-structuralist account of trans persons’ gender legal recognition]. In: GenIUS, No. 1, 2021.
- “Equality in Canada: A Tale of Non-Normative Groups Struggling with Grounds for Discrimination”. In: Oñati Socio-Legal Series. Vol. 10., No. 1, 2020, 88–122.
- “The Strange Pairing: Building Alliances Between Queer Activists and Conservative Groups to Recognize New Families“. In: Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. Vol. 25. No. 2, 2018, 162–237.
- “Who Fears the Big Government? A Coordinated Attempt to Downsize Federal Agencies’ Power in the United States” (co-author G. Romeo). In: Global Jurist. Vol. 18. No. 2, 2019, 1–12.
- “Bugie di carta: Un argine penale al negazionismo“. In: Nomos, No. 2, 2017, 1–22.
- “I referendum in materia di diritti delle coppie omosessuali: minoranze e vox populi” (co-author M. Tomasi). In: GenIUS, No. 1, 2016, 89–103.
Book Chapters
- “The EU Family: Surviving Ideological Familism in Times of Illiberalism“. In: M.J. Öberg, A. Tryfonidou (eds.), The Family in EU Law, Cambridge University Press, 2025.
- “Non-Conjugal Couples and Legislated Cohabitation“. In: A. Hayward, M. Briggs (eds.), Family Property and the Law, Edward Elgar, 2024.
- “Il riconoscimento giuridico della persona bisessuale“. in A. Castro (ed.), Bisessualità, ETS Edizioni, 2023.
- “Illiberalism and Gender: The Body of the Nation” (co-author S. Mancini). In: A. Sajo, R. Uitz, S. Holmes (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Illiberalism, Routledge, 2021.
- “Queer/Religious Convergences Around Non-Conjugal Couples: ‘What Could Possibly Go Wrong?“. In: N. Palazzo, J.A. Redding, Queer/Religious Alliances in Family Law Politics and Beyond (co-editor J.A. Redding). Anthem Press, 2022.
- “The EU family: Is marital status emerging as a prohibited ground of discrimination?” In: E. Bernard, M. Cresp, M. Ho-Dac (eds.), La famille dans l’ordre juridique de l’union européenne, Larcier/Bruylant, 2020.
- “Law-making power of the Italian Constitutional Court“. In: M. Florczak-Wątor (ed.), Judicial Law-Making in European Constitutional Courts, Routledge, 2020.
- “Identity politics e il suo reciproco: riflessioni giuridico-politiche sull’attivismo queer“. In: A. Murgia, B. Poggio (eds.), Prospettive interdisciplinari su formazione, università, lavoro, politiche e movimenti sociali, Università degli Studi di Trento, 2017.
Recensões de livros:
- “Family law and revolutions in the Mena Region”. In: American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 72, No. 3, 2024, 732–737.
- “The Landscape of LGBTQI+ Rights in Italy: Advancements and Setbacks“. In: Italian Law Journal, Vol. 9, 2023, 401–411.
- Comparative Law
- Family Law
- Constitutional Law
- Discrimination Law and Theory
- Sexuality and the Law
- Law, Gender, and Religion
- Illiberalism Studies