Italian Studies

Carla Simonini was born and raised in Providence.  Her Italian roots trace back to Tuscany and Lazio, and her father's family was among the first 12 families from Italy to settle in Providence, around the 1870s, in an area that became Little Italy on Federal Hill. Her research at Brown was focused on women voices in Italian-American literature, including her dissertation, co-directed by M. Riva and Fred Gardaphe. She was recently awarded the prestigious inaugural Paul and Ann Rubino Endowed Professorship of Italian American Studies at Loyola University in Chicago, where she will direct the newly established Italian-American studies program.