H EATHER R ENEE S OTTONG
959 Gayley Ave. Apt. 7, Los Angeles, CA 90024
765-265-8532
[email protected]
Education
Ph.D. in Italian, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Expected May 2016
Dissertation Title: “Dante and Argentine Identity,” GPA: 4.0
Director: Massimo Ciavolella
Committee Members: Efraín Kristal, Luigi Ballerini, Franco Betti
C.Phil. in Italian, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Fall 2013
M.A. in Italian, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Summer 2010
Laurea in Foreign Language and Literature, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 2008
German, French, and U.S. Literature, Media: 110/110
B.A. in German, University of Notre Dame, 2004
Cum laude, GPA: 3.55
Scholarly Publications
Articles
“Three Argentine Visions of Francesca: Victoria Ocampo, Jorge Luis Borges, and Leopoldo
Lugones,” in Women in Hell: Francesca da Rimini & Friends Between Sin, Virtue, and Heroism,
edited by Massimo Ciavolella and Ferruccio Farina (Rimini: Editrice Romagna Arte e Storia,
2013), 59-72.
“The Crowd and Manzoni’s Conception of Cultural Unification,” Carte Italiane 8 (2012): 2939.
“Excess and Antagonism in Giordano Bruno’s Il candelaio,” Carte Italiane 7 (2011): 1-13.
“Marinetti’s Metaphorical Break with Tradition,” Carte Italiane 6 (2010): 7-16.
Translations
Chapters 2 and 3 of Scipio Sighele.The Criminal Crowd and Other Writings, edited with an
introduction and notes by Nicoletta Pireddu (Lorenzo da Ponte Italian Library. University of
Toronto Press). Forthcoming
1
Italo Calvino. “Il taciturno ciarliero.” In Those Who From Afar Look Like Flies: An Anthology of
Italian Poetry from Officina to the Present, edited by Luigi Ballerini and Beppe Cavatorta, Vol. 4,
1 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press). Forthcoming
Eugenio Gazzola. “Corrado Costa, quello che preferite dei due.” In Those Who From Afar
Look Like Flies: An Anthology of Italian Poetry from Officina to the Present, edited by Luigi
Ballerini and Beppe Cavatorta, Vol. 4, 1. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press).
Forthcoming
Sergio Pautasso. “Lettura di Erba.” In Those Who From Afar Look Like Flies: An Anthology of
Italian Poetry from Officina to the Present, edited by Luigi Ballerini and Beppe Cavatorta, Vol. 4,
1. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press). Forthcoming
Francesco Leonetti, Francesco. “La paura: Note on Volponi.” In Those Who From Afar Look
Like Flies: An Anthology of Italian Poetry from Officina to the Present, edited by Luigi Ballerini and
Beppe Cavatorta, Vol. 4, 1. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press). Forthcoming
French and Italian dialogue for Season 1 of Fox’s television series “Touch,” 2012-2013.
German dialogue for episode #208 of HBO’s “The Newsroom,” 2013.
Reviews
Dennis Looney, Freedom Readers: The African American Reception of Dante Alighieri, in Annali
d’Italianistica (2012): 280.
Helen Hyde, Cardinal Bendinello Sauli and Church Patrongage in Sixteenth-Century Italy, in Comitatus
41 (2010): 265-267.
Gregory Heyworth, Desiring Bodies: Ovidian Romance and the Cult of Form, in Comitatus 41 (2010):
261-264.
Invited Lectures
“Fortune in Ariosto’s Comedies.” Voces Nostrates Lecture Series, UCLA Center for Medieval
and Renaissance Studies, Los Angeles, April 16, 2013.
Conference Papers
“Dante and Argentine Identity.” American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL),
San Diego, November 20-22, 2015.
“La cultura italiana: un argomento trascurato nei corsi di italiano per principianti?” American
Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI), Siena, Italy, June 22-26, 2015.
“Young Italy, Young Argentina.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS), Boulder, CO,
March 26-28, 2015.
2
“Madness and Melancholy in the Love Poetry of Guido Cavalcanti.” Madness, Melancholy,
Myth, Los Angeles, May 31, 2014.
“Conflicting Conceptions of Love: Dante vs. Petrarch.” Medieval (and Other) Myths of Love,
Los Angeles, June 2, 2012.
“Three Argentine Visions of Francesca.” Women in Hell: Francesca da Rimini & Friends Between
Sin, Virtue, and Heroism, Los Angeles, April 20-21, 2012.
“La folla della farina: A study of mass psychology in Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi.” (Dis)Unity in
Italy, Los Angeles, April 27-28, 2012.
“The Origin of Improv: Commedia dell'arte.” Poets, Performers, and Other Mythical Creatures of
the Middle Ages, Los Angeles, June 3-4, 2011.
“Dante in Peruvian Narrative.” Dante in the Americas, Los Angeles, April 7-9, 2011.
“The Fat Woodcarver: Victim of a Renaissance Sense of Humor.” Renaissance Society of
America, Montreal, March 24-26, 2011.
“Perceptions of Italians in 19th-Century American Fiction.” Modern Language Association
(MLA), Los Angeles, Jan 6, 2011.
“Excess and Antagonism in Giordano Bruno’s Il candelaio.” Forbidden Ideas: Controversial Modes
of Engagement in the Italian Intellectual Tradition, Los Angeles, Oct 29-30, 2010.
“Language as Politics: Vincenzo Borghini’s Ruscelleide.” American Association for Italian Studies
(AAIS), Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 22-25, 2010.
“Remains in Ritual: The Reliquary Bust of St. Zenobius.” The Renaissance Conference of Southern
California (RCSC), San Marino, February 6, 2010.
“Marinetti’s Metaphorical Break with Tradition.” Futurism, Los Angeles, October 9-10, 2009.
“Pietro Germi’s Feminist Perspective: Divorzio all’italiana and Sedotta e Abbandonata.” American
Association for Italian Studies (AAIS), New York, May 7-10, 2009.
Professional Experience
UCLA Department of Italian
Graduate Teaching Fellow, 2014-2015
- Taught all levels of Elementary Italian (1-3) as main instructor
- Developed pedagogical materials and wrote quizzes and exams
- Taught an intensive course for UCLA’s study abroad program in Rimini, Italy
3
UCLA Freshman Cluster Program
Graduate Student Instructor, 2012-2014
GE30 Cluster Course, “Never-ending Stories: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Myth.”
- In conjunction with the mythology cluster I created and taught my own seminar
entitled “Dante’s Inferno: Adapting Classical Mythology to Christian Judgment,”
offered Spring quarter of 2013 and 2014. During Fall and Winter quarters of the
same years I taught two discussion sections per week, wrote quizzes, helped students
develop research papers, graded all papers and assignments, and lectured once a
quarter to the entire class
UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Research Assistant, 2010-2012
- Compiled bibliographies, collected research materials, and assisted with multiple
research projects conducted by professors in Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- Catalogued and entered data for the Celtic Studies of North America’s Online
Bibliography
- Copyedited articles for the Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare’s Poetry (2013)
UCLA Department of Germanic Languages
Teaching Assistant, Spring 2009
- German 1 (main instructor)
- Developed lesson plans and activities and graded all written and oral exams
Teaching Assistant, Winter 2009
- Taught 3 discussion sections per week for film course “Hollywood and Germany”
- Assisted students in selecting a research topic and graded all assignments and exams
Institute for Intercultural Studies, Los Angeles
English Instructor, 2008
- Taught English as a second language to Japanese and Korean students
Tolomei Cultural Institute, Settignano, Italy
Instructor of Italian Culture, 2006-2007
- Created and taught a course on the Florentine Renaissance for American studyabroad students from the Benedictine College in Kansas
- Facilitated day and weekend educational excursions to museums, churches, and other
historical landmarks in Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Perugia, Orvieto, Assisi, and Rome
Inlingua, Milan, Italy
English Instructor, 2005
- Provided on-site English instruction for over 15 client companies using Inlingua
methodology
4
Service to Profession
Editor, Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2015-2016.
Editorial Board, Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2012 – 2015.
Carte Italiane, 2009-2010, 2015-2016.
Head Copy Editor, Carte Italiane, 2010-2011.
Head Coordinator (U.S.) Bibliografia generale della lingua e della letteratura italiana, 2011-present.
- Head of team responsible for cataloging all U.S. publications in Italian Studies for
BiGLI bibliography project.
Interviewee in Dante’s Hell Documented (2014)
- Commented on various cantos of Dante’s Divine Comedy in the documentary directed
by Boris Acosta.
Conference Co-organizer
- “Dante in the Americas,” International Symposium, UCLA, April 7-9, 2011.
- “Forbidden Ideas: Controversial Modes of Engagement in the Italian Intellectual
Tradition, UCLA, October 29-30, 2010.
Fellowships and Honors
Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2015-2016
AATI Graduate Student Dissertation Award, November 2015
AATI Travel Grant, June 2015
AAIS (American Association of Italian Studies) Graduate Student Travel Award 2015
Harry and Yvonne Lenart Graduate Travel Fellowship, 2014
Ahmanson Summer Fellowship, 2011, 2012, 2013
UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Travel Grant, 2011
UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies Conference Travel Funds, 2011
UCLA Department of Italian Travel Grant, 2010, 2009
UCLA Graduate Research Mentorship, 2010-2011
The George T. and Margaret W. Romani Fellowship, 2009-2010
UCLA Graduate Summer Research Mentorship, 2009, 2010
Honors at Università degli Studi di Firenze (six grades of 30 + lode)
Dean’s Honor List, Notre Dame University, Spring 2002, 2004
Eli Lilly Scholarship- four-year full-tuition scholarship to Notre Dame University, 2001-2004
Valedictorian of Franklin Country High School, 2001
Professional Memberships
AAIS (American Association of Italian Studies)
AATI (American Association of Teachers of Italian)
MLA (Modern Language Association)
5
Languages
Advanced in Italian, French, Spanish, and German
Academic References
Massimo Ciavolella – Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature
UCLA Department of Italian, 340B Royce Hall, Box 951535, Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 825 5943
[email protected]
Joseph Nagy – Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures
UCLA Department of English, Humanities 278A, Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 825 5943
[email protected]
Efraín Kristal – Professor of Comparative Literature and Chair
UCLA Department of Comparative Literature, 350A Humanities, Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 825 7650
[email protected]
Elisa Tognozzi- Director of Italian Language Studies
UCLA Department of Italian, 340A Royce, Box 951535, Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 794 8910
[email protected]
Theodore J. Cachey, Jr. – Director of Dante and Italian Studies, Professor and Chair
Notre Dame Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Notre Dame, IN
(574) 631-6887
[email protected]
6