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Undergraduate Research IN ITALIAN STUDIES

We are proud to showcase the work of our undergraduate students who are involved in research beyond the classroom. Some of these students have been funded by the Office of Undergraduate Research and they have presented at their OURI annual conference, Italy in Transit and other important venues.

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Ida Pettener: The Cardia Family, Spring 2026

Ida Pettener, double major in Spanish and Arts History interviewed Vivian Cardia, Grand Dame of the Order of Savoy and Cavaliere del Lavoro, about her family history in New York City. Graduate student Alicia Sowisdral started this research in the class Italian America: Translating Identities. The material is part of .

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Olivia Forlini: Cesare Beccaria and the Founding Fathers, Fall 2025-Spring 2026

Olivia Forlini developed a research on Cesare Beccaria and his influence on the American Founding Fathers, titled “Cesare Beccaria and the American Constitution.” She presented the poster at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, ̽����Ƶ on April 3, 2026. Mentor Ilaria Serra, in the photo with classmates and Alessio Giovene.��

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Emily Oswald: From Italy to Vernon Avenue, Fall 2025-Spring 2026

Emily Oswald presented her independent research poster titled “From Italy to Vernon Avenue: An Italian Family Migration Story” at the OURI Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 3, 2026. Emily also won a $600 scholarship. The result of her work is published in the research website: ). Mentor: Ilaria Serra. In the photo: Emily, her mother and Prof. Serra.

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Reeselyn Haring: The Venetian Ghetto, Summer 2025-Spring 2026

Reeselyn Haring presented her website "" in a juried panel during the Undergraduate Research Symposium, ̽����Ƶ on April 3, 2026. In the photo, with mentor Ilaria Serra and classmates, Emily and Lila. Reeselyn also presented her research at the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium. The project took place in Venice under the mentorship of Prof. Ilaria Serra and was the recipient of a $4000 grant for the SURF-Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.��

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Olivia Forlini: Cesare Beccaria and Bioethics, Spring-Fall 2025

Olivia Forlini, double major in Italian and Business, presented her research on Cesare Beccaria's Jurisprudence and Contemporary Bioethics at the Undergraduate Research Symposium in FAU Davie, October 2025. Mentors: Alessio Giovene, Ilaria Serra.

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Ida Pettener and Stella Potenti: Giulia Caruso Kanner, Fall 2024-Spring 2026

Undergraduate Researchers Stella Potenti and Ida Pettener interviewed Giulia Caruso Kanner, a war bride who ran the successful Talbert shop in Madison Avenue. The students, recipients of the Marco Pozza Research Fellowship for Special Projects, prepared a digital humanities page for the. Stella Potenti presented the poster at the 15th Undergraduate Research Symposium at FAU in April 2025.

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Ormea Undergraduate Research Camp, Summer 2024

In summer 2024, FAU Italian Studies has been invited to Ormea in Piedmont for a summer research camp to discover the interesting history of this border city. In the picture the research group with the Mayor Giorgio Ferraris. They were graduate student Alessio Giovene, and undergraduate students Lauren Reynolds, FAU Honors College, Analinda Morel, Italian Studies, Madison Wagrodzky, FAU. The result is a bilingual booklet (in press).

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Orianna Soublette: Photographer Gigi Ferrigno in Venice, Summer-Fall 2023

Italian Major Orianna Soublette presented her research on photographer Luigi Ferrigno, started in Venice in Summer 2023. With her, an authentic Venetian, Margherita, who was completing an internship at ̽����Ƶ.��

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Castiglione del Terziere Research Camps, Summer 2022-2023

For two summers, undegraduate, graduate and alumni gathered in Castiglione del Terziere, a castle in Lunigiana, Tuscany, to study ancient manuscripts, incunabula and poetry. Description of research.

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GKA National Italian Honor Society Research Day: Rahul, Spring 2022

The Spring 2022 Research Day was dedicated to a new art book project by Manuela Filomena, Calli Abisognio and Italian artist Paola Persello, titled "Rahul." This was the first book in three languages: Italian, English and augmented writing for autistic readers.

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Isabella Cipollone: Il Verde Senso, Spring 2021

Isabella Cipollone Movilla presented her research on “Il verde senso: An Analysis of the Symbolic Meaning of the Garden in Italian and Italian American Culture” at the 11th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 9, 2021. Faculty mentor Dr. Ilaria Serra.��

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Nicholas Christodoulidis: 3-D Printing to Preserve Italian Monuments, Summer 2019-Spring 2020

Nicholas Christodoulidis, a student of Italian and graduate of the School of Architecture, participated in the 2009 Study Abroad program in Venice. He returned to Venice to complete an independent research on 3-D scanning and printing of Italian monuments and works of art with Prof. Ilaria Serra. His innovative research was presented at the 2020 FAU International Symposium "Italy in Transit."

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GKA National Italian Honor Society Research Day: WWII Letters, Spring 2020

In Spring 2020 GKA Research Day was dedicated to hands-on study of the original letters from WWII that formed the core of the Badia-Fruttauro collection in.

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Nicole Barilla: Language Borrowing: Loanwords in the Italian Language and their Effect on Italian Culture, Summer 2019

Undergraduate Researcher Nicole Barilla recevied the SURF-Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for her research dedicated to the presence of English loanwords in the city of Venice, during Summer 2029. She presented her work with a poster at the OURI Undegraduate SURF Symposium in August 2019.

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Alberto Gonzales and Dominic Santoya: Music by Storie Storte, Summer 2017

Alberto (Tito) Gonzales and Dominic Santoya interviewed Giorgia Dalle Ore, singer and songwriter, employee of the Venetian Curia Patriarcale, in Venice, Summer 2017, within their independent research on Venetian culture, with Dr. Ilaria Serra.

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Stella Alves: La Fabbrica del Vedere and Poet Anna Toscano, Summer 2016

Undergraduate student Stella Alves interviewed the past director of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, founder and director of the Museum of Cinema, “La Fabbrica del Vedere,” where precious historical artifacts and a huge video collection preserve the image of the city. She also met Anna Toscano, teacher and poet, journalist and cultural activist, in Toscano’s personality-infused house.

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Colleen Nelson: Veneziani Resistenti, Summer 2016

Undergraduate student Colleen Nelson won a SURF award, to interview and share work with the Venetian group who “resist” the tourist invasion and the decay of the city. She interviewed Nicola Tognon, activist (in the photo); Nelson Padoan, painter; Dariella and Gastone Finotello, wholesome wine makers; Irene Sollazzo, documentarist; Giorgio Garbo, traditional baker; Gianni Giancarlo, folk singer; and protesters against the cruise ships (No Grandi Navi). Faculty mentor, Dr. Ilaria Serra.