Luisanna Sardu

Luisanna Sardu holds a Ph.D in Comparative Literature from The Graduate Center CUNY, with a specialization in Italian studies. (2016) She is visiting assistant professor of Italian and she has taught Italian and Spanish language courses at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, as well as courses in medieval and early modern literature. Her research and teaching interests explore the role of emotions in society. Specifically, her research analyzes the use of anger in the texts of Italian and Spanish early modern women writers. Her studies include the history of emotions and the use of affect theory in the interpretation of women’s literature as well as the role of emotions in the acquisition of foreign languages. 

Education

  • B.A. in European Languages and Literature, Universita' di Sassari, Italy
  • M.A. in Comparative Studies, Languages and Linguistics, Florida Atlantic University,Florida
  • Ph.D. in Comparative Literature/ Italian Specialization, The Graduate Center, CUNY

Courses Taught

    • SPN 201-202- Spanish for Communication I & II
    • ITAL:101 -102  Italian for Beginners I & II
    • ITAL:201 - 202 Italian for Communication I &II
    • ITAL: 203- Intensive Writing in Italian
    • ITAL: 204- Intensive Conversation in Italian
    • ITAL: 316- Aspects of Italian Culture, "Facciamo un giro in carosello" 
    • ITAL: Study Abroad in Florence, Italy, "Dante in Florence"
    • ITAL: 323- Fashion, Food, Art, Business, and Science in Italian Advertising-FFABS
    • ITAL: 323- Cinema of the Italian Diaspora
    • ITAL 318- Sociology of Diasporic Art: African Presence in Italian Renaissance Art
    • ITAL 340- Italian Renaissance and Hollywood
  • Research

    The Project Manifold: Facciamo un giro in Carosello!, The Graduate Center CUNY. Task creator for visual pedagogy and open source material for teaching Italian online.                                                                            

    The Library Liaison Project: teaching information literacy, Manhattan College. Contributing scholar to create a database for Italian language and culture. Implemented new forms of online research and reference for Italian language, history, and literature.  

    The CILC/ILECT Project: Task Based Learning for Italian Language, The Graduate Center- Task creator for visual pedagogy.

    Research and Teaching Interests: 16thand 17thcentury Italian and Spanish Literature, Renaissance Literature, Women’s Studies, History of Emotions, Second Language Acquisition Pedagogy, Digital Research in Humanities, Translation Studies.

                                                                    

     

  • Publications and Scholarly Activities

    Book Reviews:

    Grazia Deledda. Ivy. Trans by Mary Ann Fress Witt & Martha Witt. New York: Italica Press, 2018. Pp. 181. Review in Annali d’Italianistica: Nation(s) & Translations. Ed. Norma Bouchard, Valerio Ferme. Vol.38, 2020.

    Laura Bacio Terracina.Dialoghi Sopra le Prime Stanze de’Canti d’Orlando Furioso. A cura di Rotraud Von Kulessa e Dario Perocco. Franco Cesati Editore. December, 2018.

    Rosalina Kerr. The Rise of the Diva on the Sixteenth-Century Commedia dell’Arte Stage.Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015. XLVIII/4, Winter 2017 Sixteenth Century Journal.

    The Art of Arguing in the World of the Renaissance Humanism. Ed. Marc Laureys and Roswitha Simons. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2013. XLVIII/4, Winter 2017 Sixteenth Century Journal.

     Lodovico Dolce. Dialogo della instituzion delle donne, secondo li tre stati che cadono nella vita umana. Ed. Helena Sanson. Cambridge (UK): The Modern Humanities Research Association, 2015. Pp.178. Review in Annali D’Italianistica. Volume 34, 2016.

     Articles:

    “What Do Epic Poems Teach Us about Emotions? Teaching about Anger in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso and Giulia Bigolina’s Urania.” Chapter contribution, Teaching World Epics, MLA Options for Teaching Book Series, June 2023. Peer Reviewed.

     “Scrutinizing History, Translating Experience: Diario di una Maestrina, a Narrative of Action,” International Journal of Childhood and Women’s Studies. Ain Shams University Press, Egypt. Vol.2, Issue 2, April 2022. Peer Reviewed.

    “Selling Emotions, Buying Ideas: Teaching Italian through Advertising, ” Network: Critical Conversation and the Academy. Journal of the Faculty Resource Network. Co-authored with Matilde Fogliani. Peer Reviewed. Forthcoming on April 2020.

     “How Gaspara Stampa Challenged Classical Tradition and Conventional Notions of Women's Anger”Emotions: History, Culture, Society. Brill Publisher, n.3 (1-23), June 2019.

    “Learning with Technology: The Impact of Video Presentations on Italian Oral Skills,” TILCA Special Edition: Proceeding from ILCC 2017. Peer Reviewed. November 2018.

     “Politics of Recognition and Devotion: Motherhood at Stake in Gabriella Kuruvillas’ short story, Ruben,” in LA FUSTA, Journal of Italian Literature and Culture. Vol. 22, August 2014. Rutgers University Press, New Jersey. Peer Reviewed.

     Books:

    Cinema: La Settima Arte: Spazi di Cultura Italiana attraverso le Diverse Forme di Realizzazione Fimica. (April 2023, Studio Arcobaleno Publishing House)

    E Ora la Pubblicità! La Lingua attraverso gli Spot, co-authored with Matilde Fogliani, (March 2020, Studio Arcobaleno Publishing House)

     

  • Professional Experience and Memberships

    Conferences:

    "Irony, Humor, and Laughter in Italian Literature" NeMLA, Boston, March 2020

    “Study of emotions, cultural bias, and the reader’s interpretation of women’s texts” NeMLA, Washington DC, March 2019                                                                             

    “Intrigue, disguise, and marriage: Ariosto’s presence in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew” RSA, New Orleans, March 2018 

    “Italian Art in Teaching and the Art of Teaching Italian” Montclair State University, NJ, October 26, 2018

    Memberships: 

    Modern Language Association

    Renaissance Society of America 

    The Sixteenth Century Society and Conference.

    AAIS- America Association Italian Studies

  • Honors, Awards, and Grants

    FRN New York University Research Scholar Residency-In program, June 2019

    The Medici Archive Project Winter Scholarship, January 2017

    Enhanced Chancellor Fellowship The Graduate Center, CUNY, Fall 2009