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Professor Ferrari earned his doctoral degree in 2006 with a dissertation titled, Italian  Myths  and  Counter-Myths  of  America:  Allegorical  Representations  of  America in 20th-Century Italian Literature and Film. He has taught undergraduate courses in language and culture at The University of Chicago, DePaul University, Columbia College, L’Università del Sacro Cuore, and L’Università degli Studi di Milano. Research interests include the study of narrative constructs of nation and nationalisms, film, gender, entre-deux-guerres European international relations, and 20th-century Italian and French poetry and prose.

2019-2020 Courses:

CLCS 199	The Pursuit of Happiness	FALL 2019
The course provides a platform for scholarly exploration of the concept of happiness as articulated across a variety of cultures and from multiple disciplinary perspectives: psychology, sociology, linguistics, philosophy, religion/spirituality, literature, and film. Students enrolled in this class will work collectively to analyze and reflect on the ideological implications and possible cultural bias implicit to diverse texts that purport, through various means, to render happiness more accessible to and sustainable for the general public. What can be learned about happiness discourse through guided efforts in close reading, focused critical thinking, theoretical reflection, and comparative textual analysis? Widely popularized theories of happiness frequently merge with compelling stories of a hero's inward and outward journey; the individual pursuit of an inalienable and self-evident right. This seminar invites students to consider this heroic journey in terms of a symbolic construct, assessing its possible strengths and weaknesses; the certain promises it holds, and the likely consequences it may also engender. Like all First Year Seminars, this course will cultivate the fundamental skills considered necessary for succeeding at university.
CLCS 228	Stardom, Influence, and Entertainment Cultures	FALL 2019
The star phenomenon consists not just of their films, but the promotion of those films and of the star's appearances and coverage (in public, print, tv, social media). Star images are always extensive, multimedia and intertextual. Star images have histories that outlive the star's own lifetime and are as entertainers they are often involved in making themselves into commodities often attached to or in contrast with the ideologies of capitalism. This course investigates the emergence of stardom and the cultural influence of stardom primarily through the vehicle of film, with a comparative focus on European and U.S. and Latin American stars of the past and present. From Rudolph Valentino in the silent era to Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Carmen Miranda, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, to Brigitte Bardot; the actor-celebrities studied in this course will serve for theoretical reflection on the iconic value of stars, past and present, as instruments for transmedia storytelling. How does the history of the pinups of the past translate into discourses of fame, fortune, happiness, and success in contemporary culture? How do the current entertainment industry and its global markets respond to ethical questions related to women's rights and queer visibility movements, and backlash from a variety of other socially engaged, politically charged resistance movements typically originating in the United States?
ITA 300	Advanced Italian, Part I	FALL 2019
For students who have completed at least two years of college-level language studies or the equivalent. This course offers cultural readings from a variety of sources, including some literary pieces, as well as magazine and newspaper articles reflecting the contemporary scene in the countries where the language is spoken. Vocabulary expansion and development of techniques of expression are accomplished through oral and written exercises.

Publications:

Books

"Americana: The American(ized) Woman as Represented by Five Italian Directors since 1945.” Pagina Pellicola Pratica. Ed. Rebecca West. Ravenna: Angelo Longo Editore, 2000.

Works in Progress:

Books

Myths and Counter-Myths of America in Italian Literature and Film (working title, single-authored book).

Virginio Ferrari: A Critical Anthology, 1957-2007 (working title, co-edited book). 

Awards and Honors:

I.R.E. Research Grant, Ministero degli Affari Esteri (Italy), for research on Italian-American cultural relations.

Areas of Research:

International cultural relations, identity politics, performance, contemporary visual arts, poetry, film, gender studies.