May 14, 2014
Stefania Lucamante, professor of Italian and comparative literature in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, will serve as the Emilio Goggio Visiting Professor for the 2015 spring semester in the Department of Italian Studies at the University of Toronto.
"The Emilio Goggio Visiting Professorship is North America's highest recognition of scholarly standing in the field of Italian studies," says L.R. Poos, dean of arts and sciences. "We are very proud to join in celebrating Professor Lucamante's appointment to this chair, in its affirmation of the significance of her research and writing, and in the distinction it reflects upon Catholic University as a whole."
During her visiting professorship, Lucamante will teach a graduate course, Righteous Indignation in Contemporary Italian Literary Narrative and Film, and will give two public Goggio lectures.
"I am looking forward to holding my seminar at the University of Toronto with graduate students who have read my work and are interested in my research," says Lucamante. "I see the Goggio Visiting Professorship as a wonderful opportunity that will motivate me to further my inquiry into themes that are at the core of contemporary literature: the domain of passions, ethics, and engagement as values still to be felt by authors as well as by scholars."
The visiting professorship is named for Emilio Goggio, who was chair of the Department of Italian and Spanish at the University of Toronto from 1946 to 1956. Lucamante is the 21st distinguished scholar to hold the position since its establishment in 1997, including internationally acclaimed author Umberto Eco, who was the Goggio Visiting Professor in 1998 -1999. Others prominent scholars from the list include Remo Bodei of the University of Pisa (1997 - 1998), Giuseppe Mazzotta of Yale University (1999 - 2000), Giulio Lepschy of the University of London (2000 - 2001), and Millicent Marcus of the University of Pennsylvania (2002 - 2003).
"Dr. Lucamante truly deserves this honor. Not only is she an internationally recognized expert of Italian contemporary studies, in particular concerning the contributions of women writers to the Italian literary canon and to Italian culture, she is also responsible for the continuing growth of our program in Italian Studies here at CUA," says Claudia Bornholdt, associate professor and chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.
Lucamante earned her laurea in art history from Italy's University of Cagliari, studied in the Graduate Program of Art History at the University of Rome, and received a doctorate in comparative literature from Catholic University in 1995.
Lucamante joined the CUA faculty in 2000 and coordinates the Italian Studies Program. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses covering such subjects as the 20th century Italian novel, the representations of Rome in film and literature, international women writers' fiction and autobiography, the Holocaust in comparative studies, Italian-American studies, and social issues in Italian cinema.
In collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and the Embassy of Italy, Lucamante organized an international conference, Elsa Morante and the Italian Arts, in 2012.