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Department of Marketing | Staff List

Prof. Esterina NERVINO

PhD - Applied Linguistics (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
MA - Languages for communication in international enterprises and organizations (Universita' degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
BA - Language Mediation (Universita' degli Studi della Calabria)

Associate Professor

Prof. Esterina NERVINO

Contact Information

Address: M8011, R R S Creative Media Centre
City University of Hong Kong
Phone: +852 34428732
Fax: +852 34420288
E-mail:
e.nervino@cityu.edu.hk
CV:
LinkedIn

Research Areas

  • Business and professional communication
  • Social semiotics
  • Multimodal discourse analysis
  • Corpus linguistics
  • Luxury studies
  • Marketing
  • Sustainability
  • Reputation management
  • Cultural Development
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Arts & Culture

Esterina Nervino is currently Associate Professor holding a joint appointment at the Department of English and the Department of Marketing of the City University of Hong Kong, where she is also Associate Director of the Sales and Marketing Consulting Unit (SMCU). For both departments, she teaches subjects in the area of business and professional communication and entertains relationships with industry players for different purposes, including research, student internships, and career development. She is also Cultore della Materia (Junior Adjunct Professor) of Intercultural Communication and Language Variation at the Department of Studies on Language and Culture of the Universita’ degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (Italy) and invited External Member of the Research Centre for Professional Communication in English at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and her research interests include social semiotics, multimodal discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, business and professional communication, luxury studies in relation to digital transformation, art, space, sustainability, country of origin effect, reputation management, branding and retail experience.

Prior to CityU, Esterina was the Director of Retail in Asia (part of Bluebell Group) in charge of media brand operations including content selection, curation, edition, and commercial strategy. At Bluebell Group she also took on the additional role of Public Relations Lead for the Group working on both internal and external communication projects.

She holds a M.A. in Foreign Languages for Business Communication from the Universita’ degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (Italy), a B.A. in Language Mediation from the Universita’ degli Studi della Calabria (Italy), an Executive Education Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from INSEAD (Singapore), and a certificate in Business Sustainability Management from the Centre for Sustainability and Leadership of the University of Cambridge.

Professional Qualifications

Qualification Certifying Organization
Certificate in Business Sustainability Management Centre for Sustainability and Leadership of the University of Cambridge
Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship INSEAD (Singapore)

Awards

Award Title Institution
Artivator of the Third Paradise Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto
Teaching Excellence Awards City University of Hong Kong (TED)
Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2023 of PolyU Department of English and Communication - Professional Achievement The Hong Kong Kong Polytechnic University
RGC Award Research Grants Council Hong Kong SAR
Faculty of Humanities Distinguished Thesis Award The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Faculty Delegate at WC2 Network Conference The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme 2014/2015 Research Grants Council Hong Kong SAR

Teaching Areas

  • Business and professional communication
  • Artificial Intelligence

Research Grant

  • PI: "FASHION TO RECONNECT: A Tale of Two Style Capitals", CSI - CCIDA (HKSAR) , Amount: 9,184,000 (2025-2026) , Esterina Nervino, Alfred Tat-kei Ho
  • PI: "Interweaving Cities, Heritage, and Arts & Culture for Social Impact ", Contract Research - Hongkong Land Foundation , Amount: 337,850 (2025-2026) , Esterina Nervino, Deborah Agostino, Alfred Tat-kei Ho, Dong Liang
  • PI: "Understanding Philanthropy, Social License to Operate, and Social Impact in the Real Estate Industry across Different Markets", Contract Research - HOME FUND by Hongkong Land , Amount: 440,603 (2024-2026) , Esterina Nervino, Deborah Agostino, Lik Hang Tsui, Dong Liang
  • PI: "Interweaving Cities, Heritage, and Arts & Culture for Social Impact ", Contract Research - Hongkong Land , Amount: 400,000 (2024-2026) , Esterina Nervino, Deborah Agostino, Lik Hang Tsui, Dong Liang
  • PI: "Mapping sustainability in the luxury sector: A social semiotic analysis of environmental, social and governance multimodal discourse", Early- Career Scheme + RGC Award - Research Grants Council Hong Kong SAR , Amount: 662,000 (2022-2025) , Dr. Esterina Nervino
  • PI: "Artificial Intelligence Action Research Project - The use of AI for EN2837 ‘Communicating Fashion Culture’ ", AI-TDG - City University of Hong Kong - TED , Amount: 35,904 (2023-2024) , Dr. Esterina Nervino
  • PI: "Environmental, Social, and Governance Discourse in the Luxury Sector: A Social Semiotic Analysis of Social Media Posts", Start-Up Grant - City University of Hong Kong , Amount: 297,000 (2021-2023) , Dr. Esterina Nervino
  • PI: "Environmental, Social, and Governance Discourse in the Luxury Sector: A Social Semiotic Analysis of Social Media Posts", Top-Up Start-Up Grant - City University of Hong Kong , Amount: 100,000 (2021-2023) , Dr. Esterina Nervino

Teaching Activities (past 2 academic years)

Academic Year Level Title
2025-2026 Bachelor's Degree Internship
    Professional English Final Year Project
    The Language of Sustainability
  Postgraduate Degree Special Topics in Business II
2024-2025 Bachelor's Degree Fundamentals of Public Relations
    Internship
    Professional English Final Year Project
  Postgraduate Degree Special Topics in Business II

Supervisory Experience

Period Nature
1/2025 - 1/2029 PhD Thesis - Department of English
1/2024 - 1/2028 PhD Thesis - Department of English
9/2023 PhD Thesis - Department of English
9/2023 PhD Thesis - Department of English

Administrative Assignments

Period Name Position
1/2025 - Now Institute of Global Governance and Innovation for a Shared Future Associate Director
2/2024 - Now Digital Learning Co-ordinator (Department of English) Co-ordinator
1/2024 - Now New Frontiers in Professional Communication Lab Co-director
1/2022 - Now Sales & Marketing Consulting Unit (SMCU) Associate Director
2022 - Now Research Seminar (Department of English) Co-ordinator
2021 - Now BA in Business and Professional Communication (Department of English) Committee Member
2021 - Now EN3593 Internships (Department of English) Co-ordinator
2021 - Now Departmental Career Development (Department of English) Co-ordinator

Consultancy Experience and Executive Training

Year Client Role
7/2026 Senate of the Italian Republic in Rome Guest Lecturer

Professional Activities

Period Client Country / Region Role
7/2026 - Now PRHK Hong Kong, China Deputy Co-Chair for the Trend & Research Committee
1/2024 - Now Language for Specific Purposes and Professional Communication Association Hong Kong, China Outreach Officer and Executive Committee Member

External Academic Activities

Period Organizer Country / Region Role
1/2025 - Now SEGI University Malaysia International Research Fellow
2017 - Now Research Centre for Professional Communication in English (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) China (Hong Kong) Invited External Member
2014 - Now Universita' degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia Italy Cultore della Materia (Junior Adjunct Professor)

Conferences

Period Name Country / Region
29/5/2025 - 30/5/2025 CLAVIER Communicating transparency: New trends and insights for professional and intercultural settings Italy
1/4/2025 - 3/4/2025 6th Monaco Symposium on Luxury 2025 Monaco

Selected Publications

Journal Publications and Reviews
Conference Papers
Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works