Alessandra Adriani, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Humanities, University of Florence
Email: aadriani@syr.edu
Alessandra Adriani specialized in the methodology of teaching Italian as a second language at the Koiné School for Foreigners (1994); and in 1996, she held a six-month post-graduate position at the European Community in Brussels, Belgium. Before joining Syracuse Florence in 2006, Adriani taught at the University of Florence, Kent State, l’Accademia Italiana, and Pepperdine University in Florence. In addition to teaching Italian language and culture classes at Syracuse Florence, she teaches at the Società Dante Alighieri (2015) where she received her PLIDA Examiner certification. Adriani has also been a private language tutor in Latin and Italian for Italian high school students since 1990.
Simone Anselmi, Affiliated Faculty
MBA, Universita’ Scuola Direzionale Aziendale Bocconi
Email: sanselmi@syr.edu
Laurea in Economics, Università di Firenze; Certificate in Marketing, New York University. Certified trainer with NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). Simone Anselmi has extensive experience training, consulting and teaching Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Human Resource Management, Personal Development and Coaching for organizations like Pirelli, Unicoop Tirreno, McArthurGlen, Intesa San Paolo, Monte dei Paschi , BNL, Electrolux, Whirlpool, Telecom Italia, BMW, Tod’s, Stefanel, Ikea, API – IP, ABB, Valtur, and Zegna. He also has executive-level market research and advertising experience with international organizations. He has been a member of the ICF (International Coach Federation) and of the ICF Italian Chapter organizing committee and is the author of numerous training manuals and check-up analyses. Anselmi teaches classes in Global Management, Made in Italy and luxury excellence, and Entrepreneurship at Syracuse Florence.
Wanessa Asfora Nadler
PhD in History, Universidade de São Paulo
Email: wasforan@syr.edu
Wanessa Asfora Nadler is a historian specialized in Medieval and Early Modern Food History. She has published various articles in scholarly journals on the relationship between food and medicine in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and a book on the medieval history of the Roman cookbook attributed to Apicius (2014). Her teaching experience has included courses and workshops for different institutions in Brazil and Portugal. She is currently a researcher at the Centre for Classical and Humanistic Studies at the University of Coimbra. Since 2018, she has coordinated a research area of the Laboratory of Theory and History of Medieval Media (Lathimm) of the University of São Paulo and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. She is also a correspondent member for Latin America of the journal Food & History, published by the Institut Européen d’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation.
Riccardo Avanzinelli
PhD in Earth Sciences, University of Florence
Email: ravanzin@syr.edu
After obtaining his doctorate Riccardo Avanzinelli carried out research in Italy and the UK, including 4 years at the University of Bristol as a Marie Curie Research Fellow and Research Assistant (2006-2010), before returning to the University of Florence in 2010 as a “Rientro dei Cervelli” Fellow. In 2009 he won the “Bianchi” Price, awarded by the Italian Society of Mineralogy and Petrology (SIMP) for the best young scientists in the field of mineralogy and petrology and was a member of the Directive Board of the Italian Association of Volcanology (AIV) from 2014 to 2018. He has taught Petrology and Petrography at the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Florence since 2013. He specializes in the geochemical and isotopic study of volcanic rocks to understand the different geological processes explaining the occurrence and eruptive behavior of volcanoes worldwide and the evolution of the earth’s mantle. His recent research also includes the application of petrological, geochemical, and isotopic analyses in other fields such as cosmochemistry and archaeology.
Dorothea Barrett
PhD in English, Cambridge University
Email: llbarret@syr.edu
Dorothea Barrett (PhD Cambridge 1987) has taught at Beijing Normal University (China), Glasgow University (Scotland), and the University of Florence (Italy). She is the author of Vocation and Desire: George Eliot’s Heroines (London: Routledge, 1989) and the editor of the George Eliot’s Romola (London: Penguin Classics, 1996). She has published a variety of essays on nineteenth- and twentieth-century British and American literature and edited volumes of Oscar Wilde, E. M. Forster, James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, and others. At Syracuse Florence she teaches “Sex, Politics, and Religion in Italian Literature” and “A World of Difference: Literature and Exclusion from 1900 to the Present.” Her research interests are Victorian, modern, and postmodern fiction and the representation of gender, sexuality, politics, religion, and imperialism in literature.
Victoria Bartels
PhD in History, University of Cambridge
Email: vbartels@syr.edu
Victoria Bartels is a cultural historian of early modern Italy. Her research interests include visual culture, weapons, clothing, contemporary notions of gender, the culture of warfare, and the historicization of the Renaissance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She has worked as a Research Fellow on the project “Refashioning the Renaissance: Popular Groups and the Material and Cultural Significance of Clothing in Europe 1550–1650,” funded by the European Research Council and has also held a Kress Fellowship at the Medici Archive Project in Florence. She has presented her research at numerous universities, museums, and institutions across Europe, the UK, and the USA, and her work has been featured on BBC Radio, The Guardian, ABC Radio Australia, and The University of Cambridge. She has written on the connection between dress, weapons, and armor, including a recent article on the Florentine state’s use of convicts in military campaigns.
Antonella Battaglia, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Pisa
Email: abattagl@syr.edu
Antonella Battaglia received her DITALS (Didattica dell’Italiano a Stranieri) certification in the methodology of teaching Italian as a second language from the Università per Stranieri di Siena and studied methodologies in second-language instruction at the Istituto Francese di Firenze and the Università di Siena. Battaglia co-authored the Italian language textbook for beginners Dimmi! (Guerra Edizioni, 1999). She has taught Italian at the University of Santa Barbara in California, the Università per Stranieri di Siena, and the Istituto Universitario Europeo di Firenze. She has been teaching Italian language and culture courses at Syracuse Florence since 1996.
Francesca Bea, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Modern Languages and Literature, University of Florence
Email: fbea@syr.edu
Francesca Bea specialized in the methodology of teaching Italian as a second language and teaching Italian literature to foreigners at the Koinè School for Foreigners.She has been teaching Italian as a Second Language at Syracuse Florence since 2000 and is a faculty supervisor for the Syracuse Florence internship program. In the past, she has also taught at the Florence centers for the Università per Stranieri, Pepperdine University, the Accademia Italiana, and California State University. In addition to teaching Italian as a Second Language to foreigners, Francesca Bea has been a private language tutor in Greek and Latin for Italian high school students since 1995.
Lorenzo Benini
Laurea in Economics, Università di Firenze
Email: lbenini@syr.edu
Lorenzo Benini is a Florentine entrepreneur who has run his own company, Kostelia srl, since 2005. The company is a leader in the fourth party logistics sector with many sister companies in different sectors of the economy (e.g. boat chartering, agriculture, and trading). After specializing in marketing at university, he worked from 1987 to 2004 in managerial roles within prestigious companies like SAMEC spa (Unilever Group), DECORLINE spa, and ALPI SERVIZIO MODA srl (Albini & Pitigliani Group). Most of his career has been spent in logistics and supply chain management. He has taught Industrial Technique and Supply Chain Management and Logistics at the University of Florence from 2004 to 2011, and Managing Global Supply Chains at CAPA Florence since 2015. Benini is the founder and operations manager of Purpose Trust Sostratos, which finances archaeological excavation, research, and restoration.
Stefania Berutti
PhD in Greek Archaeology, Italian Archaeological School in Athens
Email: sberutti@syr.edu
Stefania Berutti wrote her doctoral dissertation “The Iconographical and Iconological Interpretation of the figurative decoration of the Greek Shield-Bands”. She is specialized in the organization of archaeological tours in Greece and Italy with 10 years of experience collaborating with archaeological museums, including organizing a temporary exhibit for the Uffizi Museums. In addition to teaching for Syracuse, she has also taught Greek and Roman Mythology at the Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute in Florence since 2015.
Elisa Biagini
PhD in Literature, Rutgers University
Email: ebiagini@syr.edu
Elisa Biagini has published several poetry collections such as “L’Ospite”, (Einaudi, 2004), “Fiato. parole per musica” (D’If, 2006), “Nel Bosco” (Einaudi, 2007), “The guest in the wood” (Chelsea editions, 2013 – “2014 Best Translated Book Award”), “Da una crepa” (Einaudi, 2014), “The Plant of Dreaming” ( Xenos books, 2017), “Depuis une fissure” (Cadastre8zero, 2018; Prix Nunc 2018), “Filamenti” (Einaudi, 2020), “Filaments” (Le Taillis Pré, 2022) and “TRÅDAR” (Bökforlaget Edda 2023). Her poems have been translated into fifteen languages and she has translated several contemporary American poets for reviews, anthologies and complete collections (“Nuovi Poeti Americani” Einaudi, 2006) as well as a selection of Paul Celan’s poems. She also teaches at NYU Florence and is the artistic director of the international poetry festival “Voci Lontane, Voci Sorelle.” www.elisabiagini.it
Erika Bianchi
PhD in Ancient History, Università di Firenze and University of Oxford
Email: erbianch@syr.edu
Erika Bianchi is a historian specialized in the ancient Mediterranean cultures and in the historical narrative of ancient and modern sports. Her long teaching experience has included courses, seminars and workshops for both undergraduate and graduate students in several study abroad programs in Florence. In addition to Syracuse University, she is currently teaching Ancient Rome and Archeology courses at ISI Florence. She is also a published novelist and a literary translator.
Luca Bisconti
PhD in Mathematics, Universita’ degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”
Email: lbiscont@syr.edu
Luca Bisconti is an Associate Professor in the “U. Dini” Department of Mathematics and Informatics of the University of Florence. His research concerns Partial Differential Equations in Fluid Dynamics, Dynamical Systems, Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations, and Topological Methods in Mathematical Analysis.
Molly Bourne, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in Art History, Harvard University
Email: mhbourne@syr.edu
Specializing in Renaissance Mantua and the network of princely courts in early modern Italy, Molly Bourne has published on a range of topics. Her books include Francesco II Gonzaga: The Soldier-Prince as Patron (2008) and, as co-editor, Encountering the Renaissance: Celebrating Gary M. Radke and 50 Years of the Syracuse University Graduate Program in Renaissance Art (2016). She is a member of the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana and has held fellowships from the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at I Tatti and the British Library. Bourne teaches art history and coordinates the Florence Graduate Program in Italian Renaissance art history.
Ezio Buzzegoli
MA, Istituto Statale d’Arte
Email: ebuzzego@syr.edu
Ezio Buzzegoli is Chief Painting Conservator at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Laboratory in Florence where he has worked since 1969. He is specialized in the conservation of canvas and panel paintings and has been responsible for the restoration of works by artists including Michelangelo, Botticelli, Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Bronzino, as well as numerous research projects on new methods and materials for conservation. His many presentations and lectures at international conferences include the Fondazione Longhi and Villa I Tatti in Florence, the Courtauld Institute and the National Gallery in London. His research and restoration projects have been published in many catalogues and scientific journals, such as Studies in Conservation, and in technical bulletins including OPD Restauro and the London National Gallery’s Studying Old Master Paintings. Buzzegoli has been teaching courses in easel painting restoration at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure training center since 1978, and painting techniques and history of conservation at Syracuse University Florence since 1988. His artistic activity centers on multimedia objects and the digital elaboration of drawings and paintings. Presented in various exhibitions, his works may be found in private collections in Europe and America.
Cosimo Campani
PhD in Architecture and Urbanism, Roma Tre University and the Architectural Association
Email: ccampani@syr.edu
Cosimo Campani is an Italian architect and researcher. In addition to tutoring Italian modern history of architecture at Syracuse Florence, he is also a research fellow at Autonomy UK. He doctoral work focused on the interaction between labor, architecture, and urbanism, particularly the historical implications of capitalist production. His PhD thesis called “Redneck Urbanism” spans from manufacturing and domestic work to automation and logistics. Throughout his career, he has lectured as a visiting professor at the Yale Architecture Advanced Design Studio (with Pier Vittorio Aureli) and organized courses and seminars on architectural and urban design at RomaTre University, Royal College of Art, and the Architectural Association. He took part in research projects in Russia (Derailed Lab), the Pearl River Delta, and California-Arizona-Nevada (Department of Ontological Theatre). His work has been exhibited at the Architecture and Landscape Biennial (Versailles), the FRAC Center (Orléans), Manifesta (Palermo), the Strelka Institute (Moscow), Saatchi Gallery (London), the Royal College of Art, and the Royal Institute of British Architects (London).
Silvia Cattiti
PhD in Architectural History and Conservation, La Sapienza University of Rome
Email: scatitti@syr.edu
Silvia Cattiti’s approach to research combines her background as an architect and architectural historian. In her research she focuses on the communicational power of architecture at both the ideological and practical level. She works on the analysis and graphic rendering of the dynamic relationship between the physical space and the individual, at three different scales: urban, architectural, and interior design. Her range of interests includes history of (ideas and approaches to) the physical environment in Early Modern and Modern Italy; Italian Renaissance architecture and architectural drawing; circulation of ideas; exchange among the visual arts in Early Modern Italy; history of residential typologies, kitchens, and design of private gardens; original display and viewing conditions of collections of objects; history of museum and exhibition installation design.
Lidia Casado Ledesma
PhD in Psychology, University of Florence
Email: lcasadol@syr.edu
Lidia Casado Ledesma is a postdoctoral researcher in Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Florence. Her research focuses on writing and reading processes, reasoning and learning processes, and instructional methods in scholarly settings. Recent publications include “Learning science through argumentative synthesis writing and deliberative dialogues: A comprehensive and effective methodology in secondary education”, Reading and Writing, co-authored with Cuevas, I. and Martín, E. (2021); “Teaching argumentative synthesis writing through deliberative dialogues: Instructional practices in secondary education”, Instructional Science, co-authored with Cuevas, I., Van den Bergh, H., Rijlaarsdam, G., Mateos, M., Granado- Peinado, M., and Martín, E. (2021).
Tommaso Ciuffoletti
MA in International Wine Marketing, IED – European Institute of Design
3rd level diploma, WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust)
Email: tciuffol@syr.edu
Tommaso Ciuffoletti has worked for the Chamber of Deputies and the Regional Council of Tuscany. He has written about the agricultural market for the economic daily ItaliaOggi and was a columnist for the Tuscan edition of Corriere della Sera. For 8 years he was marketing manager of the Domini Castellare di Castellina group, which includes 4 major Italian wineries. Since 2017 he has been working at Treedom, of which he is now partner and Head of Content. Treedom is a company that plants trees in environmental and social sustainability projects and currently operates in 18 countries around the world, including Asia, Africa, Europe and Central and South America. In 2021, he founded his own winery in southern Tuscany, with which he started a project to reuse glass bottles and organizes a unique tasting event every year in which a panel of professional tasters sample wines by local farmers. He currently writes for Intravino, the most important Italian website dedicated to wine. He teaches the Master in Scientific Disclosure at the University of Siena and the Master in Green economy & sustainability management at Radar Academy. He has published Photos du XXe siècle: Une histoire en images (Eyrolles, 2015) and Giacomo Tachis e la luce di Galileo (Class Editori 2016).
Olivier de Maret, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in History, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Email: odemaret@syr.edu
Olivier de Maret is a food historian who teaches food studies. His academic interests focus on alternative food systems, Italian and Florentine food history and the relationship between food, migration and identity. He has published articles and a book on Italian migrants and food businesses in Brussels just before the first world war. Between 2017 and 2021, he was production co-editor for the journal Food & History. He has been teaching at Syracuse University’s program in Florence since 2016 and currently teaches “Farm to Fork”, “Feeding the City: Urban Food Systems” and “Food, Culture and Identity”.
Giovanni del Giudice, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Film History and Criticism, University of Florence
Email: gdelgiud@syr.edu
Giovanni del Giudice has taught Italian as a foreign language in various capacities since 2010, including for political refugees. In 2015 he completed a course in the theory and methodology for teaching romance languages at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 2007 he has taught U.S. college students both in the U.S. and in Italy, including at Pepperdine University in Florence since 2016. Del Giudice teaches courses in Italian language and culture at Syracuse Florence.
Luisa Demuru, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Florence
Email: ldemuru@syr.edu
Luisa Demuru has been teaching Italian language and culture at all levels at Syracuse Florence since 2002. She has taught for other study abroad programs in Florence including New York University, the British Institute, Richmond College, and CEA Study Abroad Program. She has also collaborated on numerous occasions with the Folkeligt Oplysnings Forbund (Cultural Institution for Adult Education) in Denmark as a visiting teacher of Italian language and culture, and she has been a linguistic support teacher for non-Italophone students in local elementary and middle schools. Her laurea degree from the University of Florence focused on German language and literature and her thesis was entitled “The Jews in Berlin 1933-1939: Aspects of the Jewish Reaction to Nazi Persecution.” She received a DITALS certificate to teach Italian as a foreign language from the University for Foreigners in Siena, Italy. Demuru’s educational background also includes an exchange scholarship with the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German academic exchange service) through which she attended the University of Potsdam for two terms. In addition to teaching, she has translated academic essays from German to Italian for the Giunti publishing house in Florence.
Matteo Duni, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in History and Civilization, European University Institute
Email: mduni@syr.edu
Laurea in Early Modern History from the University of Florence. Matteo Duni is the author of Tra religione e magia: Storia del prete modenese Guglielmo Campana (1460?-1541), (Firenze, Olschki, 1999), and Under the Devil’s Spell: Witches, Sorcerers, and the Inquisition in Renaissance Italy, Syracuse University in Florence, 2007 (Villa Rossa Series). Other publications include articles in scholarly journals such as Archivio Storico Italiano, Mélanges de l’École française de Rome, and Studies in Church History; as well as entries in reference works such as The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition (Santa Barbara, CA, ABC-Clio, 2006), and Dizionario storico dell’Inquisizione (Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2011). With Dinora Corsi, he organized the international conference “Thou Shalt not Suffer a Witch to Live. Witches in Treatises and Trials (XIV-XVII centuries)”. He co-edited the proceedings Non lasciar vivere la malefica: Le streghe nei trattati e nei processi (secc. XIV-XVII), Firenze University Press in 2008 and (with Mario Biagioni and Lucia Felici) Fratelli d’Italia. Riformatori italiani del Cinquecento (Torino, Claudiana, 2011). With Guido Dall’Olio (Università di Urbino), Duni organized the international conference “Prescritto e proscritto: Religione e società nell’Italia moderna” (2013), and co-edited the proceedings (with Andrea Cicerchia and Guido Dall’Olio) Prescritto e proscritto. Religione e società nell’Italia moderna (XVI-XIX secolo (Roma, Carocci, 2015). Duni teaches classes on Italian Renaissance history and the history of witchcraft at Syracuse Florence.
Chiara Faggella
PhD in Fashion Studies, Stockholm University
Email: cfaggell@syr.edu
Chiara Faggella is a fashion historian whose research focuses on Italy’s fashion industry and its postwar trans-European connections. She was a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute of Florence in 2019-2020 and a Research Fellow at the Politecnico di Milano in 2021-2022. From 2013 to 2022 she was an adjunct lecturer in fashion studies at Stockholm University and she currently teaches Italian fashion culture and fashion history at Lund University. In 2023 she received a scholarship from the Lerici Foundation to research Italian fashion in postwar Scandinavia. She collaborated on the Salvatore Ferragamo 1898-1960 exhibition and catalog and co-edited L’Italia al lavoro (2023). Her book Becoming Couture: The Italian Fashion Industry after the Second World War is forthcoming with Manchester U. Press.
Rossella Falciai
Laurea in Literature and Philosophy, University of Florence
Email: rfalciai@syr.edu
Rossella Falciai has taught in several US programs in Florence as well as technical schools in Belgium and France. She has a level II Master Itals in teaching language and culture to foreigners from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and completed the program at the Nova Terra Coaching School in Brussels to become a Professional Certified Coach. She is a “mental coach” specialized in learning coaching and intercultural coaching. She is particularly interested in finding the best ways to transmit culture.
Marco Klee Fallani, Affiliated Faculty
MFA, California College of Arts and Crafts
Email: mkfallan@syr.edu
Marco Klee Fallani attended the Istituto d’Arte di Porta Romana and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence before getting his MFA in 1993. Fallani has participated in numerous shows in painting and sculpture, winning awards such as the Premio della Pittura from the city of Lucca. He worked as a set designer for Luca Ronconi’s production Lo Specchio, collaborated on the making of the monument to Joe Louis for the city of Detroit, and prepared the moulds and plaster casts of the Gugliemo pulpit for the Cathedral Works Museum of Pisa. His private works include a bronze portrait bust for a German government official, a series of paintings for Ron Dennis, and a large-scale painting, The Citation of the Mona Lisa, for the Gherardini Company. In 2005, Syracuse Florence commissioned him to sculpt a life-size figure in terracotta, The Huntress, for the Villa Rossa garden; and in 2006, he designed the set for the Syracuse University – Maggio Musicale operatic co-production of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. His paintings and sculptures have been exhibited in Italy, the U.S. and Netherlands. Fallani teaches sculpture, drawing and ceramics at Syracuse Florence.
Laura Fenelli
Ph.D in Medieval History, Università di Bologna
Email: lfenelli@syr.edu
Laura Fenelli, originally from Parma, has been living and working as an art historian in Florence since 2007. She works on the history of medieval and early modern images and saints’ iconography and hagiography. She has received several national and international fellowships (in Paris, EHESS; Berlin, UdK; London, the Warburg Institute, Bologna, Università degli Studi, Florence, KHI; Niki & Istituto Sangalli) and has published widely (including two books and several articles). Since 2009 she has taught medieval and modern art history for U.S. college programs in Florence and since 2013 she has helped develop high school art history textbooks for Italian publishers like Giunti TPV and Loescher.
Peter Fischer, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in History and Civilization, European University Institute
Email: pfischer@syr.edu
‘Magister Artium’ in Philosophy, Sociology and Art History, RWTH Aachen University. Peter Fischer has extensive professional experience with sustainability education having developed and managed several programs, initiatives and courses at American universities in Florence, Bologna, and Perugia. His major research interests are in the areas of sustainability in higher education, Mediterranean food history, and modern Italian politics and history. He is currently writing a textbook on “Food and Culture in the Mediterranean World” for use in sustainability curricula. His earlier published works include “Atomenergie und staatliches Interesse: Die Anfänge der Atompolitik in der Bundes-republik Deutschland 1949-1955,” Baden-Baden: Nomos 1994; “The Origins of the Federal Republic of Germany’s Space Policy 1959-1965 – European and National Dimensions,” Report ESA HSR-4 (Noordwijk: ESA, January 1994); and “West German Rearmament and the Nuclear Challenge,” in Francis F. Heller, John Gillingham (ed), NATO: The Founding of the Atlantic Alliance and the Integration of Europe, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991. He has also published numerous articles on Italian food culture. Fischer teaches a course on the Mediterranean diet at Syracuse Florence.
Carlotta Fonzi Kliemann, Affiliated Faculty
MA in History of Drama, University of Bologna
Email: cklieman@syr.edu
Carlotta Fonzi Kliemann has published several essays of criticism and articles on Italian film, international political film, and women’s films, and co-authored the books Abbasso i bulli (Ponte alle Grazie, 2012) and Diversamente uguali (Gedi, 2020). She has also translated articles and books from English and French into Italian, notably Shakespeare’s Restless World by Neal McGregor (Il mondo inquieto di Shakespeare, Adelphi, 2017.) In addition to serving as a jury member for film festivals (SguardiAltrove, 2009, and Balkan Florence Express 2012), she has participated in round tables on film in Turin, Florence, Milan, and Rome. Kliemann teaches contemporary and Italian film.
Tulia Gattone
PhD in Development Economics, Sapienza University of Rome
Email: tgattone@syr.edu
Tulia Gattone specializes in Development Economics and Applied Econometrics. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florence, on leave from the Italian public administration. She has worked as a private sector development analyst at the World Bank Group in Washington DC. She also gained professional experience at the Implementation Support Unit of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in Geneva and the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington DC. Gattone has also worked as a teaching, graduate, and research assistant at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. Before working on her doctorate, Gattone received a M.Sc. in Economics and Commerce from D’Annunzio University in Pescara, an M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Syracuse, NY, and a B.Sc. in International Economics, Management, and Finance from Bocconi University in Milan.
Marius Ghincea
Master of Research in Political Science, European University Institute
Email: gmghince@syr.edu
Marius Ghincea specializes in topics related to international relations and foreign policy analysis. He is a Researcher at the European University Institute (Florence) and a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Security at Hertie School (Berlin). He is also a recipient of the well-regarded ‘re:constitution fellowship’. He has taught at the Johns Hopkins’ SAIS, Bologna, and George Washington University. He has been affiliated with several other universities, such as the Freie Universität Berlin, Central European University, and the University of Bucharest. His research focuses on the domestic politics of foreign and security policy, especially in Germany and the United States.
Olivia Gori
Master of Architecture, University of Florence
Email: olgori@syr.edu
Olivia Gori is an Italian architect whose work focuses on public space and urban regeneration. In addition to her post-graduate studies at the University of Florence, she also studied at the ENSA de Paris-Belleville. In 2016 she co-founded the architectural practice ECÒL. Since then, the group has developed several projects on public space and public art in Italy and Europe involving unconventional strategies and aesthetics to address contemporary issues and needs. She has been active in the research and creation of alternative practices in the field of urban design and has worked as a research fellow for the architecture department of the University of Florence.
Kyle Griffith
PhD in Urban Studies, University of New Orleans
Email: kgriff17@syr.edu
Dr. Kyle Griffith earned his doctorate in Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans. Before joining SU Florence, he worked as a scholar and practitioner in England specializing in increased diversity and inclusion in the workplace. He teaches Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises and Production and Operations Management.
Francesco Guazzelli
Photographer, Fortman Studios School of Fine Arts
Email: fguazzel@syr.edu
Francesco Guazzelli is a professional photographer, teacher of photography and graphics technician. His photographic work focuses primarily on Italian fashion. Since 1996 he has been the official press office photographer for Florence’s Pitti Immagine and event photographer for the Stazione Leopolda exhibition center. Over the past 25 years Guazzelli has collaborated with numerous international fashion magazines including the Spanish Divos, the German Textil Wirtschaft and Textil Mitteilungen, the American Robb Report and the French Monsieur. His work has included the editorial page for the Italian magazine Benissimo and stage photography and set design for the theatrical company “Macchine di Bosco.” Guazzelli has also taught photography at Fortman Studios from 1986 to 1990 and the “Art…è” School of Design from 1991 to 1994, both in Florence. In addition to teaching at Syracuse Florence, Guazzelli is also graphics technician for the photo lab.
Diane Kunzelman
MA in Renaissance Art History, Syracuse University
Email: dkunzelm@syr.edu
Diane Kunzelman is a professional easel painting conservator working since 1977 for the Italian Ministry of Cultural Property at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure Laboratory in Florence. After receiving her Masters from the Syracuse University Graduate Program in Renaissance Art in 1970 she completed an internship in the Florence conservation facilities as a Fulbright Fellow. She has restored numerous paintings on panel and canvas including works by Bronzino, Fra’ Bartolomeo and Pontormo. Her special interests involve research on innovative methods of technical and scientific investigation for the treatment and documentation of artworks, and she has been responsible for overseeing conservation requirements for works of art exhibited in Italy and around the world. Kunzelman is the author of numerous conference presentations, lectures and publications. Her work has appeared in scientific journals such as Studies in Conservation and the Journal of the American Society for Conservation, as well as in the catalogues of many major exhibitions held in Florence and elsewhere. Since 1988 Kunzelman has taught a graduate seminar on the history of conservation and undergraduate courses on Renaissance painting techniques at Syracuse Florence.
Leonardo Lastilla
PhD in Italian Literature, University College Dublin
Email: llastill@syr.edu
Before getting his doctorate in Ireland, Leonardo Lastilla received a Laurea in Humanities from the University of Florence, an MA in Teaching Italian Language from the Università per Stranieri of Siena, and an MA in Intercultural Education from Roma 3 University. He has taught Italian language and literature, travel writing, English literature and Humanities, and Food and Wine for over 20 years. He has worked in many schools, institutions, and universities, especially US study abroad programs in Italy. He is also a poet and an author. Many of his essays and works have been published in volumes, magazines, and journals. He is fluent in English and French. Lastilla loves teaching especially in the study abroad sector because he shares with Henry James the importance of first-hand experience: “Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.”
Patricia Lurati
PhD in Art History, University of Zurich
Email: plurati@syr.edu
Patricia Lurati is the recipient of numerous Swiss research grants. In addition to scholarly articles, she has written the books Doni nuziali del Rinascimento nelle collezioni svizzere (2007), La chiesa di sant’Antonio abate a Morcote (2014), and Animali maravigliosi (2021). In 2014 she curated the exhibition Doni d’amore. Donne e rituali nel Rinascimento (Rancate, Switzerland, Pinacoteca Giovannni Züst), and in 2019 the successful exhibition Animalia Fashion (Florence, Uffizi Galleries, Palazzo Pitti, Fashion and Costume Museum). In 2022 she was appointed to set up the new Fashion and Costume Museum at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence.
Baret Magarian
PhD in English Literature, University of Durham
Email: bmagaria@syr.edu
Baret Magarian obtained his BA in English literature at the University of London and his PhD on Shelley at the University of Durham, parts of which were published in the Keats-Shelley Review. He was a freelance journalist in London and reviewed and wrote features for The Times, The Observer, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Independent. He had poetry published in Italian translation in the Florentine anthology Collectivo R. He has also had fiction published in Panurge magazine in the UK, and he has recorded an EP of rock. In addition to teaching academic and creative writing, Magarian has acted in Italian film trailers and directed fringe theatre in London. He has also completed a collection of 14 short stories which draw on genres as diverse as melodrama, science fiction, the Gothic novel, poetic dreamscape, noir, and social satire. Two of these stories appear in the Darker Times anthology.
Antonio Magliulo
PhD in History of Economic Doctrines, University of Florence
Email: amagliul@syr.edu
Antonio Magliulo is currently a Full Professor in the History of Economic Thought at the University of Florence and a board member of the PhD Programme in Economics at the University of Siena. His research interests include business cycles and the Great Depression of 1929; the reception of Keynesian and Austrian economics in Italy; the political economy of Italy; European economic thought and political history; and the economics of sustainable tourism. In addition to the book History of European Economic Thought published by Routledge in 2022, he has written various articles and chapters in journals and edited collections.
Matilde Milanesi
PhD in Economics, University of Florence
Email: mmilanes@syr.edu
Matilde Milanesi is Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Florence where she teaches Marketing and Management. Her research interests include international business and international marketing, industrial marketing, buyer-supplier relationships, and luxury and fashion marketing. She has published in top-ranked academic journals such as International Marketing Review, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Management, and Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. She has also authored chapters in edited books and recently published a book on liabilities and networks in the internationalization of fashion retailing and a book on the internationalization and business models of luxury fashion SMEs.
Jamie Miller Morris
MFA, Kent State University
Email: jamorris@syr.edu
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, Jamie Miller Morris has made Florence her home for more than 30 years, relocating to Europe after majoring in painting and minoring in drawing in graduate school. Jamie has taught in study abroad programs in Florence since 2007, and has held various workshops for people of all ages. The winner of the European Public Tender For Painting in the city of Pergine Valsugana, Trento, 2008, her work has been exhibited in the USA and Europe. Along with painting, drawing and mixed media work, Jamie has experience with wall restoration and decoration.
Jonathan Nelson, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in Art History, New York University
Email: jnelso03@syr.edu
Jonathan Nelson has published extensively on Italian Renaissance art. His research interests range from representations of Blacks and of women to economic approaches to art and responses of contemporary artists to the Renaissance. His books include Risks in Renaissance Art: Production, Purchase, and Reception (2024), The Patron’s Payoff: Economic Frameworks for Conspicuous Commissions in Renaissance Italy (2008), and monographic studies/exhibition catalogues on Filippino Lippi (2022, 2004), Robert Mapplethorpe (2009), Plautilla Nelli (2008, 2000), Leonardo da Vinci (2007), and Michelangelo (2002). He co-edits “Elements in the Renaissance” (Cambridge University Press) and is a Research Associate at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.
Sean Nelson, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in Art History, University of Southern California
Email: sanels02@syr.edu
Sean Nelson teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the Global Renaissance, with particular interest in cross-cultural interactions between Early Modern Florence and the Islamic Lands. He has received fellowships from the Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florence; the Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin; the Getty Foundation’s “Connecting Art Histories” Initiative; the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul co-sponsored by the Harvard Center for Renaissance Studies, Villa I Tatti; and CRAASH at the University of Cambridge among others. He has published several essays on the Early Modern Collecting of Islamic spoils by the Medici and their extended socio-political network.
Elia Nichols
Master of Fine Arts in Acting, University of Texas at Austin
Email: etnichol@syr.edu
Elia Nichols is a Public Speaking and Communication coach and professor, a TEDx Speaker Coach, a keynote speaker, as well as a tv, film and stage actress. She has coached 21 TEDx speakers from all over the world into stage and screen success. Elia is the lead public speaking coach for companies and institutes such as Menarini Pharmaceuticals, Confindustria, Syneos Health, Aquarance (Greece), Thomas Cuisine (USA), and Lions + Tigers (USA), and the European University Institute. Elia has taught Public Speaking, Body Language and Communication techniques the European University Institute (Fiesole), the European School of Economics, Istituto Lorenzo de’Medici, and the University of Texas at Austin. As an actress, Elia is best known for her starring role as Professor Tucker in the TV series Maggie & Bianca Fashion Friends that airs nightly on the RAI Gulp channel in Italy and worldwide in 180 countries on Netflix. She is also one of the two co-founders of F.E.S.T.A. Theatre Company and has produced and acted in many of its productions. In addition, she has been the presenter at Italian and English-speaking events throughout the USA and Italy.
Eric Nicholson, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in Renaissance Studies, Yale University
Email: eanichol@syr.edu
Eric Nicholson teaches courses in dramatic literature and theater history. An active member of the international research collaborative “Theater Without Borders,” with Robert Henke he edited Transnational Exchange in Early Modern Theater (2008) and Transnational Mobilities in Early Modern Theater (2014). His recent publications include Lovers’ Debates for the Stage, a translation/edition (with Pamela Brown and Julie Campbell) of Isabella Andreini’s Fragmenti di alcune scritture… (ITER, 2022). At Syracuse Florence and elsewhere, Eric has directed classic plays, and in Italy he has worked as a professional actor and speaker in theater, film, audio guides, and animated cartoon productions.
Roberto Pacciani
PhD in Industrial Engineering, University of Bari
Email: rpaccian@syr.edu
After completing his doctoral degree in 1997, Roberto Pacciani started working at the Research and Development Department of GE Oil & Gas (formerly Nuovo Pignone) as a turbine and compressor aero-design specialist. Since 1999, he has been a member of the mechanical engineering faculty at the University of Florence. He is presently an Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering. At the School of Engineering of the University of Florence he teaches courses in Fluid Dynamics and Turbomachinery. His research involves the development of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodologies with a special focus on turbomachinery design and analysis. He has contributed to the development of CFD codes which are currently used by several industries and research centers. Pacciani currently teaches a course in thermodynamics at Syracuse Florence (spring semester only).
Francesca Parotti
PhD in Science and Materials Technology, University of Florence
Email: fparotti@syr.edu
Francesca Parotti is a freelance engineer and professor of materials technology at the Florence Institute for the Industrial Arts (ISIA). Her research focuses mainly on material technologies for environmental sustainability, including developments in bamboo as a construction material.
Guglielmo Perfetti
PhD in Italian Studies, University of Glasgow
Email: gperfett@syr.edu
Before completing his doctorate in Scotland, Guglielmo Perfetti received a BA from La Sapienza University in Rome (2008) and an MA from Roma 3 University (2010). His research interests include Italian pop culture, cultural studies, youth culture, and the arts, especially music and cinema. He has taught students at various levels, including pre-teens and teens, undergraduate and postgraduate university students, older learners, and those suffering from life-changing conditions like dementia. In addition to Syracuse, he is teaches Italian Pop Cultures at Dickinson College in Bologna. He also works as a music event organizer and DJ. He hosted Lafropunk Radio Show on Subcity Radio Glasgow for 8 years (2014-2022) and he has been hosting the web radio show Permanent Daylight on Radiostart since 2020.
Sasha Perugini, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in Theater History, Tufts University
Email: perugini@syr.edu
A native of Tuscany with Serbian background, Professor Perugini is fluent in Italian, Serbian and English. She earned her Laurea Magistrale (MA comparable) in English and Russian at the University of Siena and her doctorate in History of Performing Arts from Tufts University. She has been the Director of Syracuse Florence since 2011 and acts as the program’s legal representative. She teaches cross-cultural management and communication. Perugini has published five books and many scholarly articles on topics ranging from language to food to AI and bias. Recipient of the Chancellor’s Fellowship in 2023. She is involved in advocacy for women in leadership, and regularly leads dedicated seminars on the subject.
Giulia Pettena
PhD in Classics, Universities of Florence and Pisa
Email: gpettena@syr.edu
As an expert in Etruscan, Greek, and Roman history with a focus on Etruscan maritime activities and links with contemporary Mediterranean civilizations, Giulia Pettena has published numerous articles and books on Etruscans and underwater archaeology including Gli Etruschi e il mare (“The Etruscans and the Sea”), Edizioni Ananke, Torino 2002, and the exhibition catalogue The Etruscans – An Ancient Culture Revealed on the Cambi Collection (Atlanta 2004). Since 2008, she has been teaching courses on ancient art, history, and mythology and conducting tours of archaeological sites for various American study abroad programs in Florence.
Natalia Piombino, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in Italian History, University of London
Email: npiombin@syr.edu
MA, Italian Studies, University College London; Laurea, Political Science, University of Florence. Natalia Piombino completed postgraduate studies in modern and contemporary Italy and problems and methods of historical research at the University of Florence. She has received research grants from the Central Research Fund of the University of London and her publications include Focus on the Family: Germi’s Cinema as a Map of a Country in Transition (forthcoming); and Il Sud di Rossellini (forthcoming). She teaches courses in Italian history and society at Syracuse Florence.
Isabella Pistolozzi, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Modern Languages and Literature, University of Florence
Email: ipistolo@syr.edu
Isabella Pistolozzi received her Master’s degree in Education with honors from the University of Florence specializing in Psycholinguistics and Foreign Language Teaching. Her thesis was entitled “Neurolinguistics in Second-Language Learning in Adults: Teaching Italian Language Acquisition.” She is a recipient of the National Certification in the Methodology of Teaching English as a Second Language and has taught Italian language courses at schools for foreigners throughout Florence. At the Hantarex S.p.A company in Florence, she developed and coordinated the company’s English as a Second Language program for employees at all levels. She has been teaching Italian language and culture courses at Syracuse Florence since 1989.
Luca Miles Ponsi, Affiliated Faculty
Master of Science in Architecture, Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio (AAM)
Email: lponsi@syr.edu
Luca Miles Ponsi is co-founder of Studio Ponsi – Architettura e Design and has worked in the United States, Switzerland, Portugal and Italy. For his Master of Science in architecture he worked with Elia Zenghelis, founder of OMA, as his thesis advisor. During his studies, he was awarded with a Fondazione Maletti Scholarship and an Erasmus Programme grant to study at the Universidade Luisiada in Lisbon. Ponsi has worked for Mark Mack Architects in Los Angeles and Moretti Costruzioni Spa in Italy to develop a pre-fabricated concrete housing system, now in production by the company. In 2013 his work was selected and exhibited at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, both in Florence and in Lisbon. From 2010 to 2015 Ponsi taught interior design and analytical drawing at the Florence Institute of Design International. Since 2011 he has been teaching courses in architectural design, analysis and representation at the Syracuse Florence School of Architecture, as well as covering the role of Architecture Field Studies Coordinator. He is a licensed architect in Switzerland and Italy.
Daniele Profeta, Affiliated Faculty
Master of Architecture, Princeton University
Email: dprofeta@syr.edu
Daniele Profeta is an Italian architect and designer. He is the Director of the Architecture Program of Syracuse University in Florence. He has previously taught at the Yale School of Architecture and at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Daniele is a partner at A/P Practice, a collaborative partnership with Maya Alam. Their projects combine everyday digital habits, contemporary imaging technologies, and traditional craftsmanship to surpass an introverted conversation and open up novel forms of practice. Past work ranges from small scale public installations to sites of speculative re-use.
Alessandro Ridolfi
PhD in Machine Theory and Robotics, University of Florence
Email: aridolfi@syr.edu
Alessandro Ridolfi is a PhD Researcher and Assistant Professor of Machine Theory and Robotics with the School of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering (DIEF) at the University of Florence (UNIFI), Italy. At the beginning of his PhD he worked on railway vehicle localization and wheel-rail adhesion modelling. His current research interests are underwater and industrial robotics, sensor-based navigation of vehicles, mechanical systems modelling, vehicle dynamics and bio-robotics. Ridolfi has worked as a Researcher and Assistant of the Coordinator within the FP7 European project ARROWS (ARchaeological RObot systems for the World’s Seas, 2012-2015). He is Principal Investigator for the University of Florence for two European projects on Marine Robotics. He has co-authored over 100 scientific papers for international journals and conferences on robotics and mechatronic topics, with a focus on underwater robotics.
Luca Salvatori
PhD in Risk Management on the Built Environment, University of Florence and Technical University of Braunschweig
Email: lsalvato@syr.edu
Luca Salvatori is Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation of Structures at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Florence. He is a consultant for structural engineering and computational-software development and is the designer of the computer-code SMARTmasonry. His scientific interests focus on the development and implementation of computational models. He has developed numerical schemes for bridge aerodynamics, dynamics of quasicrystals, concrete cracking, liquid-solid phase-transitions, optimization of shell structures, multiscale models, masonry structures, seismic analysis, cold-formed steel, computational geometry and topology, mesh generation.
Antonella Salvia, Affiliated Faculty
Master’s in Italian as a Foreign Language, Università “Ca’ Foscari” Venice
Email: asalvia@syr.edu
Antonella Salvia has been teaching Italian language courses since 2000 when she moved to Belgium to teach at the University of Brussels. After returning to Italy in 2001, she began teaching American students and since then has taught in several study abroad programs in Florence. Salvia regularly engages in professional development opportunities to stay updated on the latest advances in the fields of linguistics and Italian language learning and teaching.
Niccolò Sbaraglia
University of Florence Master’s degree in Economics
Email: nsbaragl@syr.edu
Born and raised in Florence, Niccolò Sbaraglia is an economist specialized in statistics and a production manager dedicated to luxury accessories with a niche in product communication strategy. After living in New York City for 8 years and having founded two companies , T-project showroom and PLUMA – ITALIA, Niccolò returned to Florence after accepting a teaching position in the Undergraduate and Master programs at Polimoda fashion school, for the course Craft to Business. He has worked as product manager of leather jackets for Kering Group. Later he was Head of Business & Art Direction Department at Polimoda and in 2020 was appointed Head of Commercial Development at Polimoda. Niccolò believes in the power of art and fashion to bring about dialogue among all cultures of the world.
Marcello Simonetta
Ph.D., Yale University
Email: msimon08@syr.edu
Marcello Simonetta has authored several books including his Medici trilogy, The Montefeltro Conspiracy (Doubleday, New York: 2007, translated into 10 languages), Volpi e Leoni. I Medici, Machiavelli e la rovina d’Italia (Bompiani, Milan: 2014, translated into 4 languages) and Caterina de’ Medici. Storia segreta di una faida famigliare (Rizzoli, Milan: 2018, translated into 4 languages). He has also published monographs on Petrarch and Machiavelli, Guicciardini, and Pier Luigi Farnese, and many scholarly articles. He has edited sources in Renaissance literary, historical, and diplomatic history. He currently manages the Arte del Negozio Project.
Debora Spini, Affiliated Faculty
PhD in History of Political Thought, Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento, University of Pisa
Email: dspini@syr.edu
Debora Spini has published essays in English and Italian on democracy and globalization, human rights, and European identity. Her publications include La Società civile post nazionale, Meltemi ed., Roma, 2006, and Le parole del mondo globale (co-editor with Andrea Giuntini and Piero Meucci). Numerous essays and book chapters include: “Of Leviathan and other animals: Notes on European Identity,” in L. Leonardi, ed.; “Sociology of Europe,” Firenze University Press, 2008; “Lobbying for Values. La società civile e la governance europea,” in Imago Europae, Dec 2007; “European Civil Society, Identity and Legitimacy” in F. Cerutti, S.Lucarelli, eds.; “European Union: Identity and Legitimacy,” London: Routledge, 2008; and “Fra Valori e Interessi: la società civile in un mondo post nazionale,” in Iride, 2008, n. 1. Her early research interests focused on the history of Protestant theology and early contractualist political thought. On these topics she has published the monograph “Diritti di Dio, diritti dei popoli: Perre Jurieu e il problema della sovranita 1681-1691“, Torino: Claudiana, 1997. Her more recent research focuses on political and social philosophy. At Syracuse Florence she teaches courses on European politics, citizenship, and identity.
Kirsten Stromberg, Affiliated Faculty
MFA in Arts and Consciousness Studies, John F. Kennedy University
Email: kstrombe@syr.edu
Website: www.kirstenstromberg.net
Kirsten Stromberg (b. San Francisco, CA USA) is an artist and educator who lives and works in Florence, Italy. She teaches classes on painting and sound art and runs workshops and residencies on contemporary art practice. Previous positions include SACI MFA Program Director, SUF Studio Arts Supervisor, and SUF Studio Arts Coordinator. Working with both experimental music and visual art, her work focuses on practices of listening and decentering as forms of critical resistance and reparative practice. Her work has been shown/performed internationally in solo and group exhibitions, including Florence, London, Berlin, Warsaw, New York, L.A., and San Francisco.
Stefania Talini
Professional Photographer
Email: stalini@syr.edu
Since 1980, Stefania Talini’s work has mainly focused on the music and fashion industries. From 1985 to 2000, she was the official photographer for Florence’s Pitti Immagine. She has made record covers for companies such as RCA, EMI, Cramps, and Indies, has collaborated with the RAI Italian television network and has worked on stage installations and video clips. Her photographs have been published in leading national and international magazines, her independent projects have been exhibited internationally and her work is included in several public and private photographic collections. In 2003, Talini co-authored Foto Parlanti (Bonacci Ed.), a photographic collaboration with American students on Italian culture. Her personal research in photography concerns the use of diverse techniques and supports in black & white, Polaroid and digital photography. In addition to Syracuse Florence, Talini’s teaching experience has included courses and workshops for the American Institute for Foreign Studies, Blith & Co., Nasson College and several private schools in Florence. Her intense didactic activity concentrates primarily on the expressive and cultural content of photography together with an accurate technical preparation. Since 1989 Talini has been teaching photography at Syracuse Florence, where she was also coordinator of the art department from 2006 to 2009
Christian Tarchi
PhD in Psychology, University of Florence
Email: ctarchi@syr.edu
Christian Tarchi is a Researcher and Lecturer in Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Florence. He has also taught several courses in psychology for study abroad programs in Italy, including cross-cultural psychology, human development in culture, and diversity in education. His research focuses on reasoning, learning, and intercultural competence. He has published extensively in prestigious academic journals and presented his work at several international conferences. Recent publications include “The influence of thinking dispositions on integration and recall of multiple texts,” British Journal of Educational Psychology, co-authored with Villalon, R. (2021); “Promoting intercultural competence in study abroad students,” European Journal of Psychology of Education (2021); “Effects of think‐aloud on students’ multiple‐documents comprehension,” Applied Cognitive Psychology (2021); “Learning from text, video, or subtitles: A comparative analysis,” Computers & Education, co-authored with Zaccoletti, S. and Mason, L. (2020).
Loredana Tarini, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Pisa
Email: ltarini@syr.edu
Loredana Tarini has been coordinator of the Italian Language & Culture Department at Syracuse University in Florence since 1994 where she also teaches Italian language and culture courses. She has been a Visiting Professor at Syracuse University, New York. Tarini has co-authored language and culture books, including Dimmi…, an Italian language textbook (A1/A2 level); Praticamente Dimmi, a workbook for beginners for the language skills acquisition through functional and communicative activities; and Praticamente Dimmi: Grammar Notes and Glossary. Tarini’s research interests include cross-cultural studies as well as the integration and incorporation of Italian life and culture into the process of language acquisition.
Vittoria Tettamanti, Affiliated Faculty
Laurea in Modern Languages and Literature, University of Florence
Email: vtettama@syr.edu
Vittoria Tettamanti has been teaching Italian language and culture from beginner’s to advanced levels since 1986. Alongside teaching, Tettamanti is a faculty supervisor for the internship program with local elementary schools and has been the coordinator of the volunteer program organizing and supervising activities that range from storytelling in primary schools, rehabilitation through creativity, soup kitchen and food for thought. She received the National Certification in the Methodology of Teaching English as a Second Language for public schools. Tettamanti co-authored Foto Parlanti (Bonacci, 2003), a textbook which aims to enhance Italian vocabulary through the use of photos taken by Syracuse University students, and Parliamo con la pubblicità (Soleil, 2004), a textbook which uses popular Italian commercials to help students from beginner to advanced levels develop language skills. She is also the author of Margherita va in pensione e… inizia una nuova missione (2011) a book which illustrates Milano 25 Onlus activities. She is particularly interested in developing innovative audio-visual materials for teaching Italian as a second language and in integrating Italian life and culture into the process of language acquisition. She volunteers for Milano 25 Onlus as a coordinator of didactic activities in schools, Make A Wish Italia and she teaches Italian to refugees.
Martino Traxler
PhD in Philosophy, Cornell University
Email: mtraxler@syr.edu
Martino Traxler has taught university students in both the US and Italy, including for several study abroad programs in Florence, since 1996. In addition to publishing essays in various academic journals, he has also served on the Atlanta Children’s Hospital Bioethics Committee and Agnes Scott College’s Institutional Review Board. His research focuses on migration and morals, global moral problems and international affairs, and preservation ethics. He has been a licensed tour guide for Florence and its province since 2018.
Lorenza Tromboni
PhD in Medieval Literature and Philology, University of Salento
Email: ltrombon@syr.edu
Laurea in Philosophy, University of Florence. Lorenza Tromboni has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florence, the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg and the University of Strasbourg with a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship, funded by the EU (project title INSPIrE). She has broad experience with digital tools for the arts and humanities and is actively involved sharing academic research with the general public (through blogs, websites, videos and articles). Tromboni is the author of Inter omnes Plato et Aristoteles. Gli appunti filosofici di Girolamo Savonarola (Porto, FIDEM, 2012) and co-edited Lenten Sermons: Fast of the Body, Banquet of the Soul (Firenze, Nerbini, 2017) with P. Delcorno and E. Lombardo. Other publications include articles in journals such as Rinascimento, Studi Danteschi, Bulletin de philosophie médiévale, Medieval Sermon Studies, as well as entries in reference works such as Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, ed. by M. Sgarbi (Springer International publishing Switzerland, 2014-) and Encyclopedia of Medieval Chronicles, ed. by C. Bratu and G. Dunphy (Brill’s Medieval Reference Library online, 2016). Tromboni recently organized the international conference The Making of Political Thought: Ruptures, Trends and Patterns between Henry VII and Louis the Bavarian (Strasbourg, 2018) and Inspire4Children “What is politics?” with an Italian primary school. Tromboni teaches a course on fake news and online communication at Syracuse Florence.
Margherita Velucchi
PhD in Economics, University of Siena
Email: mvelucch@syr.edu
Margherita Velucchi is Full Professor of Business Statistics at the European University of Rome and has taught Economics at New York University in Florence. She also teaches International Economics and Statistics at Corce Master (Italian Trade Agency), CEIDIM Master (Università Tor Vergata, Roma) and many others. Her research interests include business demography models, financial econometrics and models for international trade. She works on Survival Models for business demography, Multilevel models for Panel Data, and volatility models for financial markets. She has published in several academic journals, including the Review of Economics and Statistics and Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, as well as in international collections. At Syracuse Florence she teaches a course on healthcare in Europe.
Jane Zaloga, Affiliated Faculty
MA in Art History, Syracuse University
Email: jlzaloga@syr.edu
Jane Zaloga is a Fulbright Fellow and teaches art and architectural history courses for Syracuse University Florence.