Faculty
Laura Benedetti, Professor & Chair
![Laura Benedetti](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/Laura-Benedetti-Pic-1-1-150x150.jpg)
Laura and Gaetano De Sole Professor of Contemporary Italian Culture
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
email: lb227@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: 20th -Century Literature, Women Writers from the Origins to the Present, Gender Studies, Torquato Tasso, Renaissance Chivalric and Epic Poems, the Past-Present Continuum.
Francesco Ciabattoni, Professor
![](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/FC-150x150.jpg)
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
email: fc237@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: “Medieval and contemporary literature; the interplay of literature and music, language teaching and linguistics. Intertextuality, literary theory and cultural studies.”
Gianni Cicali, Professor & Director of Graduate Studies
![Gianni Cicali Pic 2](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/gianni_cicali_pic_for_dept-1-150x150.jpg)
Dottorato di ricerca, University of Florence
Ph.D., University of Toronto
email: gc227@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: 15th-18th century Italian theater; Italian opera and librettists; the relations between theater and the fine arts; Pietro Trinchera, religious theater; cinema.
Anna De Fina, Professor
![Professor Anna De Fina](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/De-Fina-edited-Pic_0-1-150x150.jpg)
Ph.D., Georgetown University
email: definaa@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: Discourse analysis: oral narrative, narratives in interaction and the relationship between storytelling and identity. Discourse an identities: processes of identity construction among migrant and transnational communities. Language use in Italian communities abroad. Dialects and language varieties in Italy. Italian American studies.
Nicoletta Pireddu, Professor
![Nicoletta](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/Nicoletta-1-150x150.jpg)
Dottorato di Ricerca, Università di Venezia Ca’Foscari
Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles
e-mail: pireddun@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: Comparative literature; European studies; Italian, English, French literatures; critical theories; cultural studies; history of ideas; early science-fiction; translation studies.
Louise Hipwell, Teaching Professor & Coordinator of the Italian Language Program
![Louise Hipwell Photo](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/louise-hipwell-PH-1-150x150.jpg)
Ph.D., Rutgers University
e-mail: lfh5@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: Language pedagogy, using technology to enhance student learning, integrating culture into all levels of language instruction, translation studies.
Donatella Melucci, Teaching Professor
![Donatella](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/Donatella-1-150x150.jpg)
Ph.D., Arizona State University
e-mail: dm527@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: Syntax, methodologies for teaching Italian as a second/foreign language, use of technology in foreign language classes, translation studies.
Fulvia Musti, Associate Teaching Professor
![Fulvia Musti Pic](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/Fulvia-Pic-1-150x150.jpg)
Laurea in Lingue e Lettere, University of Bologna
Ph.D Candidate, DLS, (’16)
e-mail: mustif@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: Teaching Italian language and culture using a drama-based approach; integrating web resources and technology.
Giuseppe Tosi, Associate Teaching Professor
![Pino Tosi](https://italian.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/186/2019/07/Pino-Tosi-1-150x150.jpg)
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
e-mail: tosig@georgetown.edu
website
Interests: Modern and contemporary Italian literature; cultural studies; interdisciplinary approaches to literature; creative writing; translation.