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

Biography

My research concentrates on literature and media for children and young adults with special emphasis on how books, films, and television series depict how young people cope with traumatic experiences. I am particularly interested in texts from both Italy and the United States and in examining how they influence each other. In this regard, I explore how authors and content creators utilize theories of child development and trauma in their work to illustrate how children and young adults come to terms with loss, illness, or major life transitions. 

I am also passionate about teaching the Italian language. My research in this area focuses on how the use of games and storytelling activities in the classroom can help learners to overcome anxiety around speaking in a different language.  My favorite part of this work is co-creating original games with my students and colleagues. I also enjoy studying how television, and in particular streaming series, can facilitate the language acquisition process. 

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 & II
• Intermediate Italian I & II
• Advanced Italian I
• Small Screen Italy: Italian Television and Society
• Neorealism Around the World: Italy and Global Film
• Growing Up Italian-Style: Children’s Literature
• Brividi: Italian Horror and Fantasy Films
• The Best of Youth: Italian Coming of Ages Films
• Italian Political Thinkers
• Italian Mystery Novels
• Italian-American Cinema
• Mafiosi vs. Goodfellas (comparative cinema)

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.

Moons and Bonfires: An Archive of Italian-American History. ITTR 3660: Italian American Cinema. Web.

Publications

Workbook:

Clic! L’italiano col telecomando. Co-authored with Francesco Fiumara. Kendall-Hunt, 2024. Ebook. https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/clic-latmitaliano-col-telecomando.

Articles

“Roll Up Your Sleeves: Designing a Course on Italian for Healthcare,” Journal of Languages for Specific Purposes. 11 (1 March 2024): 7-17.

"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.

Reviews

A.P. Giannini: Bank to the Future. Directed by Valentina Signorelli and Cecilia Zoppelletto. The Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. 12:4 (2024): 637-639.

Waiting for Woody. Directed by Claudio Napoli. The Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies. 9.3 (2021): 496-498.

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

“Roll Up Your Sleeve: Designing a Course on Italian Language for Healthcare,” Roundtable Series on Language Teaching and Learning, The Institute of World Languages at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, October 11, 2023.

“Can Your Inner Child Help You Learn Another Language? Using Children’s Books and Media in Portuguese and Italian Courses,” (Co-presenter Dr. Lilian Feitosa), Roundtable Series on Language Teaching and Learning, The Institute of World Languages at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, October 14, 2022.

“It’s Like a Neorealist Sesame Street: Exploring Place in the Kids of Degrassi Street,” (Co-presenter Dr. Francesco Fiumara), 2021 Children’s Literature Association Conference, Virtual, June 2021.

“Mettiamoci in Gioco! Using an Original Role-Playing Game to Assess Speaking Proficiency in Intermediate Italian Learners,” 2021 KFLC: The Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Conference, Virtual, April 2021.

"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.

Grants & Awards

2024-2025: Language Program Small Grant, Sbagliando si impara: The Italian Language Program Tutoring Clinic, The Institute of World Languages at the University of Virginia.

Summer and Fall 2023: Faculty Research Grant, Shall We Play a Game: Using Role-Play Games to Assess Speaking in Intermediate Italian, The Institute of World Languages at the University of Virginia.

2023-2024: Language Program Small Grant, Diaries of Future Teachers: The Italian Language Tutoring Program, The Institute of World Languages at The University of Virginia.

Spring 2023: Thrive Grant, Peer-Tutoring Program for Italian Language Courses, The Center for Teaching Excellence at The University of Virginia.

2022-2023: Course Enhancement and Development Grant, Re-Designing ITAL 2030 as Italian for Healthcare Workers, The Institute of World Languages at The University of Virginia.

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