New Cabell Hall 482
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 11:00am-12:15pm & by appt

Education

Ph.D.: The Johns Hopkins University, Italian, Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures (2007)
B.A.: Smith College, Italian and Government, Cum Laude, Department of Italian Languages and Literatures and Department of Government (2000)

Research Interests

• Italian Children’s Literature, Media, and the History of Childhood in Italy
• Film Adaptation and Italian Cinema and Television
• Italian American Studies
• Italian-Language Pedagogy

Teaching

University of Virginia

Graduate:

• Dante’s Inferno on Film
• Italian Crime Fiction
• Giovanni Verga: Dal Verismo al Neorealismo
• I Promessi Sposi Oggi
• Tempi di Guerra: Representations of World War II in Italian Culture
• Filmmaking by the Book: Literary Adaptation and the Italian Cinematic Tradition

Undergraduate:

• Elementary Italian I
• Intermediate Italian I & II
• Neorealism Around the World: Italy and Global Film
• Growing Up Italian-Style: Children’s Literature
• Italian Political Thinkers
• Italian Mystery Novels
• Gothic Florence
• Italian-American Cinema
• Law and Order in Italy
• The Art of Writing Fiction (creative writing in Italian)
• Mafiosi vs. Goodfellas (comparative cinema)
• Frenemies? Italy and the U.S., Cross-Cultural Perspectives
• Italian History and Culture Through Film

College of William & Mary

• Elementary Italian I and II
• Intermediate Italian I and II
• Foreign Language Teaching Practicum (Team Taught)
• Italian Language Through Film
• Upper Intermediate Conversation and Composition

Graduate Advising

MA Theses:

Jacob J. Shirley, The Lost Boys of Italia: Scioltezza and Peter Pan Syndrome in Calvino’s Males, 2014-2015.

Alicia Mi Persson, Kim Ki-duk: Reflections of Reality and Fantasy, 2012-2013. 

Service

University of Virginia

Faculty Coordinator and Language Program Director, 1000-2000 level ITAL courses, 2016-present.

Editor: La Vendemmia, The Newsletter of the Italian Studies Program at The University of Virginia.

Organizer of Italian Studies Cineforum.

Language Judge, Dolcissimo: Speak the Sweet Life.

Moons and Bonfires: An Archive of Italian-American History. ITTR 3559: Italian American Cinema. Web.

College of William & Mary

Faculty Advisor, La casa italiana, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, 2006-2011.

Teaching Assistant Supervision, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, 2007-2011.

Publications

Articles

"Lions and Tigers and Piracy! Colonialism in Two Versions of Emilio Salgari's Sandokan." Tradition and the Individual Text: Essays in Memory of Pier Massimo Forni. Modern Language Notes. 34 Supplement (2019): S286-302.

“Discomfort Food: Food, Anxiety, and Panic in Italian American Mafia Films and Television Shows.” VIA: Voices in Italian Americana. 28:1 (2017): 15-29. 

“Guest-Starring Dante Alighieri: References to Inferno on American Television.” Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture, 1900-Present. 15.1 (Spring 2016).

“Targeting the Parents Through the Children in the Golden Age of Italian TV Advertising: The Case of Carosello.” Co-authored with Francesco Fiumara. Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. 3.1-2. (March 2015): 11-26.

“A Child’s Eye View of Where the Wild Things Are: Lessons from Spike Jonze’s Film Adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Picture Book.” Journal of Children and Media. 8.3. (June 2014): 253-266.

“The Amanda Knox Case: The Representation of Italy in American Media Coverage.” The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 31.1. (March 2011): 61-77.

“Diavoli della Casa? Storie di Isterismo in Cinque Romanzi Italiani.” Rivista di Studi Italiani. 28.2. (December 2010): 66-72.

Book Chapters

“A Woman.” Italian Literature and Its Times. World Literature and Its Times. Vol. 7. Ed. Joyce Moss. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005. 483-491.

“We Won’t Pay.” Italian Literature and Its Times. World Literature and Its Times. Vol. 7. Ed. Joyce Moss. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005. 473-481.

Book Reviews

Tre in treno per Europa (e un pollo). Directed by Emanuela Piovano. The Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. 8.1 (2019): 126-127.

Media Technology: What Makes it ‘Addictive?’ Dir. Anthony Cristiano. Reviewed in The Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. 4.3 (2016): 463-465.

The Transatlantic Gaze: Italian Cinema American Film. Mary Ann McDonald Carolan. Reviewed in The Journal of Transatlantic Studies. 13.3 (2016): 309-310.

Approaches to Teaching Collodi’s Pinocchio and Its Adaptations. Ed. Michael Sherberg. Reviewed in Annali d’italianistica. 5 (2007): 492.

Presentations

"New Writing Assignments for Language, Film, and Composition Courses," (Co-presenters Dr. Rachel Geer, Dr Alicia Lopez-Opere, and Ms. Zaida Villanueva), Roundtable Series on Language Teaching and Learning, The Institute of World Languages at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, November 15, 2019. 

"All Aboard La freccia azzurra: An Exploration of Class Differences in Gianni Rodari's Holiday Classic." 2019 Children's Literature Association Conference, Indianapolis, IN, June 2019. 

“Is Fantaghirò Another Disney Princess,” Through Their Gazes: Screening Women and Feminism, Charlottesville, VA, March 16, 2018.   

“The Good Witch of the South: Tomie dePaola’s Strega Nona and the Tradition of Female Healers in Italian American Communities,” Italian American Studies Association Annual Conference, Washington DC, November 2017. 

“America as a Symbol of the Future in the Novels of Emilio Salgari,” Children’s Literature Association 2017, Tampa FL, June 2017.

“The Talented Mr. Ripley: A Scenic and Murderous Tour of Italy,” American Association for Italian Studies Annual Conference, Baton Rouge, LA, April 2016.

“Reazione a Catena: Improving Italian Fluency Through Television,” Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, KY, April 2014.

“Sex, Lies, and Stereotypes: Images of Italy in American Media Coverage of the Amanda Knox Case,” Lecture, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, March 12, 2014.

“Dante in Primetime: References to Dante’s Inferno on American Television,” Dante Here and Now, High and Low, Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, January 2014.

“‘Alla Fine dei Corsi, Tutti al Mare:’ Teaching with Carosello,” American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, Philadelphia, PA, November 2012.

“Awakening the Language Instinct: Supporting Students with Language Learning Disabilities,”

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, Boston, MA, November 2010.

“Magical Puppets and Friendly Dragons: Important Moments in Italian Children’s Literature,” Lecture, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, October 27, 2009.

“Favole al Telefonino: How Claudio Rinaldi’s L’arcobaleno delle favole Reflects Major 20 th - Century Innovations in Children’s Education in Italy,” 81 st Annual South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention, Atlanta, GA, November 2009.

“Bringing Italy Home: Life in an Italian-Speaking Dormitory,” 80 th Annual South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention, Louisville, KY, November 2008.

“Autobiography and Adaptation in Disney’s The Adventures of Pinocchio,” AATI Annual Conference, Washington DC, October 2005.

Grants & Awards

2017-2018: Faculty Course Enhancement and Development Grant (co-recipient: Dr. Francesca Calamita), The Institute for World Languages at The University of Virginia.

2017: Grant Team Member, A Gendered Wor(l)d, led by Dr. Francesca Calamita. The Institute for World Languages at The University of Virginia.

2016-2017: Grant Team Member, Dolcissimo: Speak the Sweet Life, led by Dr. Francesca Calamita. The Institute for World Languages at The University of Virginia.

2000-2001: Singleton Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University.