About
Giovanni Minicucci is a Ph.D. Student in Romance Languages and Literatures at The University of Chicago. He
received his Master of Arts in Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture (2023) from Syracuse University, NY, where he also taught Spanish and Italian. He obtained the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Latin American/Caribbean Studies “PLACA” from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University. His final thesis focused on the role of romances used by the Moriscos, with a particular emphasis on analyzing the romances found in the Tratado de los dos caminos por un morisco refugiado en Túnez and those by Luis de Góngora. In addition, he holds a Master of Arts in Italian Studies (2022) from Middlebury College, VT, focusing on Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean Studies. Since 2023, he has been a Teaching Language Faculty at Middlebury College (Language Schools), where he also collaborates in organizing cultural events.
Before obtaining his Masters, Giovanni completed his “Laurea” with honors at the University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy, specializing in Translation Studies, Linguistic Mediation, and Intercultural Communication in English and Spanish Studies (2020). He furthered his academic pursuits as an Exchange Scholar for two semesters at Nazareth University (NY) and gained diverse experiences in the languages, literatures, and linguistics field at American and Canadian universities, including St. John’s University (NYC, Queens), St. Thomas University (Miami), Occidental College (Los Angeles), and Niagara College (Welland, Ontario). He has presented his research on Hispanic and Italian Studies at various conferences, including the Mediterranean Studies Conferences, the Luci e Ombre Film Conferences, the AISNA Graduate Conference, and the MLA Conferences, among others.
He is the Director and Founder of ITALengUSA, supported by the General Consulate of Italy in New York, where he has been coordinating a language exchange project between colleges and universities in the United States and Italy for four years. He also served as the former Chair for the Graduate Students Conference: Romance Languages Colloquium, which took place in November 2022 at Syracuse University, marking its first occurrence.
His latest article publication is “El don de la palabra: voz, poder e in/exclusión en Malinche de Laura Esquivel” (El Cid Journal, 2023), where the significance of a female voice in a patriarchal setting is explored, drawing on Gayatri Spivak’s theories. The research reexamines the myth of La Malinche from a sociological perspective, emphasizing the power of words and the woman who wields them. [Access here]
His personal website is giovanniminicucci.com
Education
Ph.D. Student, Romance Languages and Literatures (Area of Study: Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies); The University of Chicago, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (Division of The Humanities) Chicago, IL (USA).
Master of Arts in Spanish Language, Literature and Culture; Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, (USA). Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics.Thesis: La representación de las minorías ibéricas en la tradición del romance: el caso de los moriscos y Luis de Góngora. (Advisors: Dr. Ana Méndez-Oliver & Dr. Katheryn Everly Committee member: Dr. Myrna García-Calderón)
Master of Arts in Italian Studies; Middlebury College Languages Schools, Bennington, VT, (USA). Major in Italian Cultural Studies with specialization in Medieval-Early Modern Italy and Cinema Studies. (Advisors: Prof. Antonio Carlo Vitti & Patricia Zupan)
Bachelor of Arts with honors; Linguistic Mediation and Intercultural Communication, English and Spanish Studies; Universitá degli Studi di Chieti e Pescara, Pescara (Italy). Thesis: The Language of American Newspapers. [Advisors: Prof. Emanuela Ettorre, Dr. Maria Rosaria Vitti-Alexander (Nazareth University)] Publications
“El don de la palabra: voz, poder e in/exclusión en Malinche de Laura Esquivel”,
El Cid Revista – Citadel, 2023.
Link
“Tonino Valerii, il western e il suo Abruzzo, prendilo è tuo!”. Rivista Luci e Ombre, November 2020, pp. 1-10. Online on Rivista Luci e Ombre 2020.
“Gabriele D’Annunzio e la sua mediterraneità. La bellezza come stile di vita, natura come oggetto del ricordo” in Mediterranean Encounters and Legacies Incontri e lasciti mediterranei, December 2021, pp. 163-172. ISBN: 978-1-59954-188-4
“La Vita Davanti A Sé”. Rivista Luci e Ombre, vol 8, no. 2, 2020, ISSN:2372-7500.
Memberships
Honorary member at the Cultural Italian American Organization at Auburn, New York in May 2019.
Gamma Kappa Alpha – National Italian Honor Society in the U.S.A.
AATI – American Association of Teachers of Italian.
MLA – Modern Language Association
LASA – Latin American Studies Association
AAIS – American Association for Italian Studies
AATSP – American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
SCOLAS – The Southwest Council of Latin American Studies
