Faculty

Faculty for Fall / Spring 2009-2010

 

   Ambassador Sergio Silvio Balanzino
Ambassador Balanzino graduated in law from the University of Rome and entered the Italian Foreign Service, where he served in the Directorate for Economic Affairs and the Press and Information service. Mr. Balanzino was ambassador to Canada from May 1990 to January 1994. He assumed office as Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on February 1, 1994, and was appointed ambassador in December 1995.

   Bruna Capitini
Dott.ssa Capitini earned her laurea cum laude from the Universita` degli Studi La Sapienza in Rome and holds Italian State Qualifications at the highest levels to teach Italian language and literature, Latin, history, and geography. Professor Capitini has been working with students at the John Felice Rome Center for many years. She has extensive teaching experience as an instructor in seminars for students from widely diverse linguistic backgrounds, ages, and levels.

   Susana Cavallo, Ph.D.,
Dr. Cavallo serves as a professor of Spanish and women and gender studies at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Cavallo received her PhD in Romance languages and literatures from the University of Chicago and her MA in Spanish from Middlebury College. She is a specialist in twentieth century Hispanic poetry, women’s narrative, feminist theory, and poetics and prosody. Among her publications are La poética de José Hierro; El sujeto femenino en escritoras hispánicas, edited in collaboration with Luis Jiménez and Oralia Preble-Niemi; and numerous articles on twentieth-century Hispanic literature and women’s writing in journals both in the United States and abroad. Professor Cavallo is also a poet, translator, pianist, and composer. 

   Marco Conti
Professor Conti was born in Rome in 1961. After obtaining a degree in Classical Literature (Laurea in Lettere Classiche) at the university La Sapienza in Rome, he moved to Leeds (UK) to begin a graduate course in Classics. In 1991 he gained a MA in Classics by research at the university of Leeds (School of Classics), and in 1996 a PhD in Classics at the same university. In the fall semester of 1996 he worked as a teaching assistant in History of Christianity at the university of Manchester, and as a teaching assistant in Latin and Greek language at the university of Leeds. In 1997 he moved to Durham (UK) where he worked as a research fellow in Greek and Latin Patristics until 2000. At the moment he teaches Medieval Latin Literature at the Università Pontificia Salesiana and Latin language at the Pontificio Istituto Liturgico Anselmiano.  He also gives courses on Classical Mythology and Religions in Late Antiquity at the Richmond university. With Brepols he has published a monograph in 1998 (Marco Conti, The Life and Works of Potamius of Lisbon, (Instrumenta Patristica  XXXII) (ISBN 2-503-50688-7) Brepols, Turnhout  1998) and a critical edition of the works of Potamius of Lisbon (Marco Conti, Potamii Olisponensis opera omnia (Corpus Christianorum - Series Latina LXIXA) (ISBN 2-503-00694-9) Brepols, Turnhout  1999). His latest publication is a volume in the series Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Edited by Marco Conti. ISBN-978-0-8308-1475-6. Inter Varsity Press Downers Grove, Illinois, June 2008). In the same series he has also edited the volume on Job together with Manlio Simonetti (2006), and the volume on Genesis 1-11 in collaboration with Andrew Louth (2001). At the moment is about to publish a complete translation with text, introduction and commentary of the works of Priscillian of Avila in the series Oxford Early Christian Studies of the Oxford University Press.

Nadia Cristiani

 

DiBiagi      Flaminio Di Biagi, 
Dr. Di Biagi holds a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Rome, an MA in Romance  languages from the University of Washington, and a PhD in Italian literature from New York University. His extensive publications include Sotto l’arco di Tito: le “Farfalle” di Gozzano, Il cinema a Roma: guida alla storia e ai Luoghi dei cinema nella capitale. He has translated classic authors, such as Conrad and D.H. Lawrence, into Italian and has edited a highly acclaimed critical edition of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd.


Evers   Alexander Evers,
Dr. Evers has a DPhil in ancient history from Oxford University and has been a lecturer at Utrecht University in The Netherlands since 2000. Prior to that, he served as a tutor in ancient history at Brasenose College in Oxford and as assistant dean (1998-1999). He is a practicing musician, playing organ and piano, both as a soloist and accompanying choirs, and performing in the Vatican Choir of Saint Peter’s in Rome. His forthcoming works include Cyprianus van Carthago: interactic tussen kerk en wereld and Church, Cities, and People. A  Study of the Plebs in the Church and Cities of Roman Africa. (Leuven: Peeters).

lorenza   Lorenza Fabretti
Professor Fabretti is the coordinator of the JFRC Dott.ssa Fabretti holds a master’s degree in economics and development from the University of Bologna, where she focused on refugee and migrant populations from former Yugoslavia. She also has a degree in social anthropology and linguistics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Professor Fabretti has worked in the field of elections and human rights for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the Balkan region.

Elena Faramondi



   Elizabeth Geoghegan

Elizabeth Geoghegan holds an MFA in Writing from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She also earned an MA in Creative Writing (Fiction) and a BA in English Literature, both from The University of Colorado at Boulder where her graduate thesis The Sound of Skin was selected for the Ruth Murray Underhill Award for an outstanding creative thesis. She teaches courses in writing and literature such as English and American Women Writers & Italy and Special Studies in Literature: Ernest Hemingway's Italy, France, and Spain. Other courses include: Society & Literature: Constructing "Italy" in Contemporary American Travel Narratives and The Writing of Fiction: Writing Rome, an on-site creative writing workshop she developed. She is the editor of Remus, a Rome-based literary journal, and the former editor of SniperLogic, the University of Colorado literary journal. Geoghegan also works as a freelance writer, editor, screenplay translator, and set-designer/stylist. Her fiction has appeared in a variety of journals, most recently in The University of Wisconsin's The Cream City Review. She has lived in Italy since 1999 and is currently at work on a collection of satiric essays about the real Rome.

Stefano Giacchetti

James Hentges

Emilio   Emilio Iodice,

Professor Iodice has spent over three decades as a senior executive in the public and private sectors, as an educator and now as a university administrator.  He joined Loyola University in 2007 as Director of the John Felice Rome Center.  One year later he was promoted to Vice President of the University.

During those thirty years of experience he was also a key official in Washington working for several Administrations. He was named by the President to the Senior Executive Service when he was thirty three and considered the youngest public servant to reach the highest levels of federal service.

In the US diplomatic corps he was among the most decorated officers in history and was awarded the gold medal for heroism, a gold medal for exemplary service and the Silver medal and nominated for two Bronze Medals.

Among his honors are being knighted by the former king of Italy and receiving Medals of Honor from Spain and Italy. 

He speaks several languages, has traveled across the globe and his passions in life are the Rome Center, its staff, faculty and its students, Loyola University, good music, writing and reading, his family and, in particular, his grand daughters, Sofia and Helena.


langer   Marshall Langer
Mr. Langer received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he has taken extensive graduate coursework in counseling psychology at New York University. Mr. Langer has an extremely diverse business background. He has worked on Wall Street in investment banking for Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette as well as in trading for Banque Paribas. His 12 years of professional experience in the United States for multinational corporations includes work in the areas of corporate management, marketing strategy, management consulting, and real estate. Mr. Langer has taught at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Fordham University, University of Connecticut, American University of Rome, University of Malta Link Campus Rome, and Loyola University Chicago.

Lodici   Claudio Lodici 
Dr. Lodici is a graduate of the School of Political Science at the University of Rome and the author of several research articles on international affairs, decision-making processes, and Third Way policies in the Information Age. He presently works as an advisor for public affairs in the office of the Speaker of the Italian Senate. Among his extensive publications is Third Way–The Global Challenge. Professor Lodici writes a regular column for the Italian-American Democrat, a newsletter of the Italian-American Democratic Leadership Council, and contributes to Italy’s oldest scientific review, La Nuova Antologia, established in Florence in 1866.

maclaren

    Sarah Fiona Maclaren 
Dr. Maclaren has taught at the John Felice Rome Center since 1999. She earned her PhD in philosophy at the University of Rome, Tor Vergata, and her laurea in cultural and social anthropology at the University of Rome La Sapienza. Author of the books Magni cenza e mondo classico (Rome, 2003) and La magni cenza e il suo doppio. Il pensiero estetico di Giovanni Battista Piranesi (Milan, 2005), Professor Maclaren’s current fields of research include social and cultural aspects of traditional crafts and “studio crafts” in Italy and Japan, and aesthetic concepts in contemporary Japanese architecture.

   Roberto Mannino 
Professor Mannino earned a BFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and a diploma from the Fine Arts Academy in Rome. He has worked in intaglio, wood carving, printmaking, and papermaking. He has taught at the Cornell University Rome Program, Temple University’s Tyler School of Art in Rome, the San Giacomo Municipal School for Ornamental Arts in Rome, and the Rhode Island School of Design European Honors Program in Rome. His work is visible at www.robertomannino.it

 

   Nicola Moruzzi

Nicola Moruzzi earned his laurea cum laude from the Università` degli Studi La Sapienza in, with a dissertation on “The narrative structure in cinema.” He then studied Film Direction and Screenwriting in Rome and began working in the television and cinema field in 2001, first as assistant director then as a freelance filmmaker and director. In 2008 he established Fake Factory, a production company active in cinema and commercial production. Presently he is working on his debut feature film “A pugni aperti”, a love drama set on the shores of Lago Maggiore (Northern Italy).

 

Eric Nicholson

 


nicholson   John Nicholson
Dr. Nicholson received his PhD from the Dr. Nicholson earned his PhD from the University of Louvain, Belgium. Before joining the faculty of the Rome Center in 1968, he taught at the University of Ottawa and at Xavier Junior College in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Dr. Nicholson has extensive teaching experience in the fields of philosophy and history of art. In philosophy, he has specialized in theories of art and aesthetics, while in history of art, he has given courses on the artistic heritage of Italy and of Rome in particular.


   Euridice Orlandino
Prof.ssa Orlandino received her laurea and master’s degree in traduzione tecnica, scientifica, economica ed editoriale from the Ecole Superieure d’Interpres et Traducteurs of the University of Paris-Sorbonne. She has been teaching Italian at the DILIT International House in Rome since 2003 and, prior to that, at the Immigration Office for the City of Rome.

palladino   Maria Palladino
Dott.ssa Palladino received her laurea from the University of Naples. After passing the Italian State Quallification in English, she taught English for many years in Italian schools. From 1970 to the present, she has taught Italian to generations of students at the JFRC. In addition, for the past several years, she has been an inspector of secondary schools in Italy for the Ministry of Education. In this work, she oversees the implementation of programs and the improvement of teaching skills.

Giovanna Piga


renczes   Philipp Gabriel Renczes, S.J.,
Father Renczes is an assistant professor in systematic theology at the Gregorian University and an invited professor in historical theology at the Pontifical Institute Augustinianum. He earned his baccalaureate in theology from the Gregorian, his licentiate in theology and patristic science from the Augustianum, and his doctoral degree in theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris. Father Renczes has also earned a baccalaureate in philosophy from the Hochschule fur Philosophie in Munich and both a diplome d'Etudes Approfondies and a PhD in the history of religions and religious anthropology from the University of Paris, Sorbonne. He is fluent in German, English, French, Italian, Ivrit, and Spanish. Fr. Renczes was Werhan lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2004 and held the Wade Chair at Marquette University in 2007-08. Among his publications are : Agir de Dieu et liberte l'homme. Recherches sur l anthropologie theogique de Saint Maxime le Confesseur (Paris 2003), and Jesús, el Ungido, ¿centro de la creación? (Madrid 2007).

Salvadori   Sharon Salvadori
Dr. Salvadori received her PhD in the history of art from the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University in 2002, specializing in both the Roman and medieval periods. Her main interest is in the original socio-political and religious function and meaning of both public and private artworks. Her scholarly research currently focuses on religious imagery and the representation of gender in the funerary art of late antiquity. Born to an Italian father and a U.S. mother, she was raised in Rome and in 1995, after completing her BA and her graduate coursework in the U.S., returned to the city, where she has lived ever since.


      SchwartenJames R. Schwarten
Dr. Schwarten earned his PhD in Italian Literature and Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and has taught courses ranging from Italian language and literature to sociology. He has also taught English as a Foreign Language in and near Rome. His translation of Silvia Mantini's "Women's History in Italy: Cultural Itineraries and New Proposals in Current Historiographical Trends" appeared in the Journal of Women's History. He is the co-author of a book (forthcoming), Globalizzazione, linguaggio e territorio: Il caso della Marsica, and is currently engaged in sociolinguistic field research in the Abruzzo region of Italy.


Giovanni   Giovanni Scichilone,
Dott. Scichilone revised his DLitt summa cum laude from the University of Palermo, where he wrote a thesis on problems of archaic Greek architecture in Sicilian colonies. He later received a Fulbright Grant to the American Academy in Rome, a fellowship to the Italian Archeological School in Athens, and after nation-wide competition he received a post at the Villa Giulia, one of Rome's foremost museums. After holding the directorships of several national museums and sites in Italy, he now serves as General Inspector for Archaeology in the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage in Rome. He has held travel scholarships in England, Greece, and Egypt and has done excavations in Crete, Central Italy, and Libya. He has lectured widely in Europe and beyond, and published excavation reports, critical essays, and book reviews on subjects related to the classical world in such periodicals as Archeologia, Enciclopedia dell' Arte Antica, Annali della Facolta di Lettere dell' Universita di Perugia, and Archeologia Classica. He has several publications on various topics in both Archaeology and Museum Studies.

Sotis   Grazia Sotis
Dr. Sotis received a PhD in Anglo-American literature from the University of Rome La Sapienza and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Connecticut. Among Dr. Sotis's publications are a book on Walt Whitman, and articles and reviews in literary and academic journals in the U.S., Italy, and Canada on American, Italian, and German writers in the areas of prose, poetry, and theater. Her most recent work is a comparative stylistic analysis of D’Arrigo’s Horcynus Orca and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

Todd Waller      Todd Waller, M.Ed.
Mr. Waller  is Associate Director for Student Life at the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago and a doctoral candidate in international education at the University of London. He is the former Director of the Center for Democratic Studies and Constitutional Development at The Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center. He has taught service learning courses and coordinated international service projects at a number of universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, University of Denver, Regis University, and Fordham University.  He has directed two documentary films in Bosnia Herzegovina.  His most recent publication is Cultural Identity in the Balkans: perspectives on morality, identity and social justice (2007).


wing   Anne Wingenter
Dr. Wingenter earned a PhD in history from Loyola University Chicago, an M.A. in history from Indiana University-Bloomington, and a B. in international studies from Spring Hill College. Her dissertation, "Le Veterane del Dolore: Mothers and Widows of the 'Fallen' in Fascist Italy," examines how and why Fascist ideologues constructed the war mother as a central figure in the symbolic universe of the "new Italy." It is both an institutional history of the National Association of Mothers and Widows of the Fallen in War, whose actual bodies were utilized in this construction, and an attempt to interrogate how symbols are historically created and manipulated.

zammerLeila Zammar
Dott.ssa Zammar received her laurea from the University of Rome La Sapienza with a dissertation on Peter Brook and opera. In addition to teaching Italian and history of opera at the JFRC, she teaches English in Italian high schools. A student of music theory, history of music, and composition, she has passed the examination in piano at the Conservatorio di Musica. Dott.ssa Zammar has been teaching Italian at Loyola since August of 1995, after having taught Italian for years in several private schools for foreigners.