After passing my preliminary exams, I designed a new upper-level undergraduate course for the Italian Program at Duke, which I taught myself in the Fall of 2025. With the title of "Black Italy: Identity and Race in 20th and 21st century", this course was born out of the need to make black Italian artists more visible in an environment that still struggles to recognize them as part of the fabric of the nation. With a recent increase in ethnographic studies and new theoretical approaches to blackness in the context of Italy, I see this course in conversation with all the scholarly contributions that seek to highlight black excellence in Italy and beyond [V4]. Additionally, I wanted to ensure that my students got a full picture of the relationship between Italy and the African continent, starting from the depiction of Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century and how the Italian colonial empire shaped the uncertain future of many African nations.
I planned this course to have a flipped delivery approach to learning, with students completing assigned reading/viewing beforehand in order to be better equipped to discuss in small and large groups during class [K2]. Assignments like critical reflections and group presentations are scaffolded so that they build onto each other, leading to final projects that can be tailored to the interests of individual students [V2]. What took the most effort on my part was to select a diverse set of media to give a multi-faceted view of the topics treated in this class: to study fascism and the colonial era, I planned lessons in which students looked at physical newspapers from the 30s, fascist-era volumes from the Rare Book & Manuscript Library Collections at Duke, and short documentaries and pictures from national digital archives [K4]; to understand what it means to have a “strong” or a “weak” passport, I planned lessons in which students explored Global Passport Rankings in online databases, discussing how this mobility spectrum informs accounts of migration and diaspora that we also read about in novels and short stories; finally, I selected modern Afro-Italian cultural productions, from art to music, film, and documentary, to discuss how artists are inspiring social change through their work. With this kaleidoscopic view of modern Italy and the use of authentic materials, I hope to inspire my students to follow their curiosity while learning about current world issues.
Teaching as an instructor of record has been an incredibly rewarding journey. Even more than teaching my own courses, I have had transformative experiences when being invited to guest lecture across departments and institutions. At Duke, I have been invited to teach lessons in very different contexts: first, for the course “America from Abroad,” I gave a lecture on Spanish and Latin American cinema in the early twentieth century, focusing on a specific director’s work (Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados). Since the course explored depictions of America in foreign literature, film, and other media, I asked students to consider how film can frame and re-frame reality for a specific audience, considering the use of genre, social issues, and power dynamics. By offering a mix of lecture, small-group discussion, and classroom-wide debates [V2], students felt comfortable enough discussing the issues at hand with an instructor they did not know, which challenged me to be prepared for moments of uncertainty or simple shyness. Similarly, I was invited to lecture for the course “Modern European Short Fiction.” For this lesson, students got a mix of lecture, group discussions, and even a debate for which they had to argue in favor or against the inclusion of the work in question to the Index of Banned Books (some of this author’s works were, indeed, banned by the Catholic church at the time) [K2]. Even the students who had not participated as much during the first part of the lecture came alive during this critical exercise, showing them that literature is always in conversation with real-world issues. While I had a general expectation of how Duke students would engage with me in these lectures, I still learned the value of flexibility when it comes to adapting questions and discussions to different audiences [V1].
More challenging than lecturing students you do not know in an environment you do know, was my experience of guest lecturing for the students at Elon University, an environment I was unfamiliar with. When I was invited to lecture on migration and diaspora in literature for the course “Black Mediterranean,” I first had to consult with the instructor of record to make sure that I could develop a lesson that fit the needs of this small liberal arts college [K2]. This open discussion with my colleague allowed me to provide students with consistency (as in how well this lecture fit within the rest of the course) and a more effective delivery, proposing discussions that I knew would encourage their participation [V5].
I consider feedback and tailored forms of assessment to be crucial for the effectiveness of my teaching. In all my Italian language courses, from elementary to more advanced, I use a wide variety of assignments to track students’ progress and to ensure that everyone has sufficient time and opportunities to improve [K1]. For instance, to avoid the growing use of AI to assist in the writing process, I ask students that they complete in-class, small writing assignments that engage with pertinent grammatical and thematic elements of our course. I then evaluate these first drafts completed in class based on content (how well students answered the given prompt, how much they used vocabulary from the current unit, etc.) and following a rubric that I share with them ahead of time. Final grades are based on the improvement from the first to the second draft (also written in class) and on a small metacritical reflection in English that helps students focus on the writing processes they are developing, as well as on the challenges they are facing.
In content-heavy courses, whether taught in English or in a target language, I prefer forms of assessment that include critical reflections and a degree of freedom of choice when it comes to media. To that extent, I have my advanced Italian students create final portfolios in which they showcase examples of the work conducted during the semester (purposefully selected and improved by them) to illustrate their language and culture competencies. Similarly, the final projects in my literature and culture courses are tailored to students’ specific interests, majors, and creative inclinations. For example, students have chosen their final project to take the form of essays, podcast episodes, an educational videos, or formal presentation submitted alongside a self-reflective piece that contextualizes their choices and their learning experience [K4].
While I am prepared to design all materials and assessments on my own, I consider collaboration with my colleagues to be an essential practice for the improvement of course materials and for the environment we foster for our students. In the past, I have worked closely with other faculty to develop and implement Integrated Performance Assessments for foreign language courses, grading rubrics, a system of peer-reviewed drafts for writing assignments, and cross-level materials that allow students to collaborate with peers above or below their proficiency level. Additionally, I collaborated with language faculty on the design of an intermediate curriculum that does not require a textbook and, instead, relies completely on the use of authentic materials (real-world cultural productions that are not created or modified for instructional purposes) [V5].
I have always seen learning and teaching as a dynamic practice that demands equal parts of recreational and re-creational efforts, which are respectively tied to enjoyment and active engagement. In my classes, I include a variety of activities that simultaneously promote instruction and entertainment: in my elementary and intermediate Italian courses, I like including language learning games like Charades and Guess Who? because they consistently lower performance anxiety and encourage a more confident use of the target language at lower proficiency levels; in literature and culture courses, I offer students the opportunity to participate in meme contests and collaborative playlists that tie into our areas of study, enabling them to engage with the material beyond the walls of the classroom [V2]. When recreation becomes an organic process in the day-to-day instruction, re-creational practices transform vulnerability into openness and growth.
As an instructor, I strive to create a generative space that accommodates diverse learning styles, career goals, and personal experiences, so I often invite students to use their unique set of skills and talents in the activities that they are asked to complete. For instance, I invite them to take part in the teaching experience by leading large- and small-scale classroom discussions on a topic they feel passionate about, so that they can showcase their progress while developing more self-confidence. This pedagogical goal to build an inclusive space for all students is furthered by my experience in teaching diverse student populations through the years. Before teaching at Duke, I taught various levels of Spanish language and composition courses at Mississippi State University, a public land-grant institution whose student demographics reflect an incredibly diverse racial, ethnic, and socio-economic background. This year, I also had the opportunity to enrich my teaching experience by guest lecturing at Elon University, a small liberal arts college in North Carolina whose students come from mixed backgrounds, resembling neither Duke nor MSU’s learning environments. From these diametrically different experiences I have learned the value of flexibility with my teaching practices and community building, as I understand that every student comes with a unique set of interests, skills, and personal experiences [V1].
Just as I encourage my students to always reflect on their practices when working on an assignment, I am very dedicated to keeping myself accountable for my personal improvement as a teacher and a mentor. For this reason, I actively search for opportunities to observe others teach (peers and colleagues) and to be observed in return, both at my institution and beyond it [K3]. At Duke alone, I completed the Certificate in College Teaching, I have participated in the professional developement program Preparing Future Faculty, and I have reflected on my teaching practices alongside colleagues who were similarly intrested in pursuing the Advance Higher Education Fellowship.
When taking Foreign Language Pedagogy courses at Duke and Mississippi State University, I had to observe several language instructors and professors as a way for me to examine their methods, to connect their approaches with larger conversations around teaching in higher education, and to reflect on my own developing teaching style [V3]. I found the required observations to be incredibly useful to understand what, in my opinion, works and does not work in a variety of settings. In the past few years, I have also been observed several times by peers and supervisors alike, receiving comments that helped me enhance my practices in the classroom — how to better scaffold daily activities so that students are increasingly more challenged, how to effectively lead a class discussion in a way that all students participate equally, and how to offer them effective and judgment-free feedback during our daily chats. For instance, this past semester I participated in Teaching Triangles, a peer teaching observation and feedback group that requires you to observe colleagues and, in turn be observed by them [K5]. As I continue to refine my pedagogy with every class I teach, it is a privilege to see the transformation that my students undergo in one short semester.
One of the core principles of metafictional writing takes inspiration from Shakespeare's notorious lines “all the world's a stage” (As You Like It II, VII, 139), for which both fictional characters and real people occupy one or multiple ‘roles’ instead of ‘selves’ every day of their life. Drawing on this world-stage model, my approach to teaching language and literature frames the classroom as a shared, dynamic space where knowledge and ideas move horizontally, establishing a space in which students are no longer passive recipients of new information, but rather vibrant agents of communal learning, reflecting, and acting. I see learning and teaching as a dynamic practice that demands equal parts of recreational and re-creational efforts. The recreational aspect of learning - which I offer in the form of learning games (Charades, Guess Who?), collaborative playlists, and meme contests - enables students to navigate and strengthen their bond with each other, as well as with the content material. When recreation becomes an organic process in the day-to-day instruction, re-creational practices transform vulnerability into openness and growth. Echoing the world-stage model, I invite students to take part in the teaching experience by having them re-create, re-elaborate, and share ideas with their peers, lead large- and small-scale classroom discussions, and bring in their unique set of skills and talents to showcase their progress. It is a privilege to watch the transformation that students undergo in one short semester. They not only occupy the role of ‘student,’ but also that of ‘researcher,’ ‘collaborator,’ ‘facilitator,’ and, my personal favorite, ‘critical thinker without reservation.’ The classroom is their stage.
As I continue to refine my pedagogy with every class, I always look forward to opportunities to develop and teach new courses. In particular, I am interested in developing courses that showcase the diversity of cultural productions in Italy, focusing especially on authors and artists who have been overlooked due to their gender and/or race. Moreover, given my own transnational approach to research, I would like to offer more classes that are comparative in nature, to show students the interconnectedness of literary and artistic movements across national traditions. For instance, I am currently planning an upper-level undergraduate seminar titled "Stranger than fiction" that looks at how international writers and directors have challenged narrative conventions to offer their audiences a revolutionized expeirence of fiction (and reality).
I consistently seek opportunities to improve my instructional methods by attending workshops, seminars, and national conferences, and I intend to continue searching for professional developement events wherever I am. With the steady expansion of the field of digital humanities, I would be interested in exploring how I can incorporate digital elements to my teaching practices, as well as how the digital element could make my research more captivating for a wide range of audiences.
ITA101 - Elementary Italian
ITA203 - Intermediate Italian
ITA327S - Black Italy (self-designed)
ITA328S - Stranger than Fiction (self-designed)