Professors and Staff
Lavinia Bracci
Founder and Director
School of Translation and Interpreting (SSIT), Rome: Specialized degree in Translation and Simultaneous Interpreting in German and Russian. Università degli Studi di Siena, four year course in Portuguese Language. Università per Stranieri di Siena, Specialization in Glotto-technologies and Glotto-didactics. Lavinia has most recently co-authored a text on the FICCS (Full-Immersion: Culture Content and Service) instructional approach that she has developed with the core team of instructors at SIS for the development of reflective intercultural competence entitled L'educazione riflessiva interculturale: L'approccio FICCS allo studio della lingua e cultura italiana. She has also published several articles on language learning, as well as an Italian language text called Dimmi Tutto!. She co-founded and co-directed the StudyinSiena Program, and is founder and director of Siena Italian Studies and the International Center for Intercultural Exchange.
Margherita Baldisseri
Universitá degli Studi di Siena, M.A. in Philosophy. PhD in Anthropology. Her research interests include Migration and Transnational Peruvian Migration to Italy, gender relations, Italian Emigration and ethnic relations and multi-culturalism. She collaborates with contemporary culture center "Corte dei Miracoli" of Siena as a cultural mediator and with the center at the Universitá per Stranieri that specializes in the Italian spoken by immigrants in Italy.
Pazit Barki
Università di Bologna: M.A. in Contemporary History, Music Degree from Music Institute of Modena. Pazit holds the DITALS specialization in teaching Italian as a second language from the Università per Stranieri di Siena. Has extensive experience in teaching Italian language at several American universities and at the Università per Stranieri di Siena. Pazit has also published several books for foreign students learning Italian.
Fiora Biagi
Universita degli Studi di Siena: M.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature. PhD in Linguistics from the University of Siena. Fiora holds the DITALS specialization in teaching Italian as a second language from the Universita per Stranieri di Siena. She has worked as a Professor at the Università per Stranieri of Siena as well as an Italian/English translator. She has most recently co-authored a text on the FICCS instructional approach called L'educazione riflessiva interculturale: L'approccio FICCS allo studio della lingua e cultura italiana and currently teaches Italian language at Siena Italian Studies.
Marianna Bolognesi
PhD in Applied Linguistics from a consortium between the Universities of Torino, Basel, and London. She also holds a M.A. in Applied and Computational Linguistics (University of Pavia). Her research interests are: cognitive linguistics, bilingualism and modeling of the mental lexicon. She has most recently co-authored a text on the FICCS instructional approach called L'educazione riflessiva interculturale: L'approccio FICCS allo studio della lingua e cultura italiana and currently teaches Italian language at Siena Italian Studies.
Nevin C. Brown
University of Virginia, M.A. in American Southern History, University of California Santa Barbara B.A . in History. Nevin Brown has built an extensive career with educational organizations in the Washington D.C area such as the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), The Education Trust, and District of Columbia Public Schools. He has most recently worked as Dean of Academic Programs and President of the International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership, and as Senior Fellow in Postsecondary Initiatives at Achieve. Nevin has published numerous articles regarding higher education, global civic engagement and service-learning. At the IC he acts as a Senior Fellow, contributing to the development of IC initiatives regarding intercultural exchange.
Sergio Carapelli
Università degli Studi di Firenze: M.A. in Modern Letters. PhD in Linguistics from the Jagiellonian University of Kraków (Poland). Sergio holds the DITALS specialization in teaching Italian as a second language from the Università per Stranieri di Siena. He worked as a professor at the Università per Stranieri di Siena for more than a decade. Sergio carries a trainer for teachers of Italian L2 in Italy and abroad. He has published articles and book on teaching Italian for foreigners.
Alfonso Casella
Università degli Studi di Siena: Degree in Law with specialization on the History of the Italian Legal System. In addition to teaching, Alfonso works as a journalist for a local newspaper. Alfonso currently works for the University of Siena and has worked for the European Parliament in France. In 2007 he published a novel entitled Cicoria, which has received critical acclaim.
Estela Castañeda
Universidad del Valle de Atemajac, Degree in Mass Communication, Translation and Interpretation. Estela is a co-founder of the Global Mother Divine Foundation of Guayaquil, Ecuador (Maharishi Transcendental Meditation knowledge) and alumna of Siena Italian Studies. She currently acts as the Central American fellow for the International Center for Intercultural Exchange.
Elena Cellai
Elena Cellai holds a M.A. in Political Sciences with a concentration in International Relations from the University of Siena and a postgraduate diploma in "Management of EU co-funded projects" from LUISS Business School in Rome. She has 5-years of experience in management of EU co-financed projects under different programmes, such as Youth in Action, Youth, Leonardo da Vinci 2000-2006, Lifelong Learning Programme - Grundtvig, Europe for Citizens, European Fund for the integration of third country nationals and for several public and non-profit organizations in Tuscany. Member of Associazione Culturale Ulisse since 2007, she also cooperates with Siena Italian Studies, teaching the "History of the European Integration" course.
Antonella Filippone
Universita degli Studi di Siena: M.A. in Modern Letters with a Modern Languages focus. Antonella holds the DITALS specialization in teaching Italian as a second language from the Universita per Stranieri di Siena. She is President of the Associazione Culturale Ulisse. She worked as a professor at the Universita per Stranieri di Siena for more than a decade. Antonella has most recently co-authored a text on the FICCS instructional approach called L'educazione riflessiva interculturale: L'approccio FICCS allo studio della lingua e cultura italiana and has published several articles along with the Italian language text, Dimmi Tutto!.
Alfredo Gatti
Università Commerciale "L. Bocconi" di Milano: M.A. in Business Administration. Chartered Accountant (Albo Dottori Commercialisti di Milano) and Registered Auditor (Revisore Ufficiale dei Conti iscritto all'Albo Ministero Grazia e Giustizia). Alfredo has an extensive experience of Treasury and Capital Market products gained with Citibank, one of the world's largest and global Corporate and Investment Banks. He has also strong technical accounting skills and deep working knowledge of Back Office and Accounting systems gained in Caboto (IntesaSanPaolo Group), one of the leading Italian Investment Banks. Alfredo is now Group Finance Controller at the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the third largest banking group in Italy.
Antonio Giorgi
Università degli Studi di Siena: M.A. in Law with specialization in Bankruptcy Law. Antonio spent many years working with Sienese Agricultural Commission and then for the Studio Notarile Coppini, where he specialized in inheritance law. For the International Center he serves as a financial and legal consultant. Antonio currently acts as an administrative consultant for various International Education structures and is also a founding member and Treasurer for the Associazione Culturale Ulisse.
Johan Jonsson
Violinist and Professor of Music at Montana State University in Bozeman. Holds degrees from Conservatoire Darius Milhaud, France; Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden; and Indiana University. Active as recitalist and chamber musician in both Europe and the US. Founding member of the String Orchestra of the Rockies, a professional, conductor-less ensemble in Montana. Has led semester-abroad programs to Siena with US university students since 2001. In addition to English and Italian, he also speaks Swedish and French fluently. Johan is the founder of the Tuscany Arts Consortium and currently directs the Tuscany Arts and Humanities Semester in Italy, hosted at the International Center for Intercultural Exchange.
Roni Kennison
State University of New York at Geneseo: B.A. in History. Roni is a founding partner of Nove Culturae Ventures LLC, based in Avon New York, which collaborates with the International Center for Intercultural Exchange at Siena, as well as Siena Italian Studies to organize study experiences in Siena. After more than a decade in Siena, she is currently based in the U.S. and acts as Director of Marketing and Recruiting and North American Representative for the International Center and Siena Italian Studies. Roni also works as a freelance translator and is a founding member of the Associazione Culturale Ulisse, a Sienese association that works to promote volunteerism and service.
Marco LaPorta
Marco is a student at the Università di Siena. He has collaborated with Siena Italian Studies at the International Center for several years in various capacities. He leads excursions and serves as a liaison between the American students and the local community. Marco also directs the Language Exchange Partner Program and coordinates the various exchange activities between American and Italian university students.
Michael Manchester
Lewis and Clark College: B.A. in Communications. Michael is the Vice-President and a founding member of the Associazione Culturale Ulisse and coordinates service-learning projects in collaboration with the International Center for Intercultural Exchange, and Siena Italian Studies. He has worked as the English Program Coordinator for the Siena public kindergartens for four years as well as interpreter for the AC Siena professional soccer team. Michael is also a founding partner of Nove Culturae Ventures, LLC, based in Avon, New York, which collaborates with the International Center for Intercultural Exchange to organize study experiences in Siena.
Eliza Nash
Mount Holyoke College: B.A. in Art History, Master from the Università degli Studi di Siena in Oenogastronimic Toursim and Marketing. Eliza, along with Roni Kennison and Mike Manchester, is a founding partner of Nove Culturae Ventures LLC, based in Avon New York, which collaborates with the International Center for Intercultural Exchange as well as Siena Italian Studies to organize study experiences in Siena. She worked as a student affairs coordinator for six years with the University of California's Education Abroad Program in Siena. At the IC she currently serves as a Program Coordinator and works on the development and implementation of future study programs. Eliza is also a founding member of the Associazione Culturale Ulisse.
Piergiacomo Petrioli
Universita degli Studi di Firenze: M.A. in Art History and Art Criticism, PhD in Art History and Art Criticism from the University of Torino. Piergiacomo has extensive teaching experience with American study abroad programs and is a professor at the University of Florence. He has published numerous articles in the field of Art History
Carlo Tozzi
Carlo is currently finishing his degree in Italian Cinema and Cinematographic Production at the Università degli Studi di Siena. He has collaborated with the Siena Italian Studies Program for several years on numerous activities in the cinematographic field. Carlo has directed two documentaries in collaboration with SIS. The first in 2006, "Ricordati che eri stranieri", focused on the immigrant population in the city of Siena and the second in 2010, "Aquí me quedo", is a work in progress and was filmed entirely in Ecuador and focuses on the Italian migration to that nation. Carlo is involved in Italian Cinema courses and also helps manage the Italian Language Exchange program. He has worked on many Italian short films ("La marea silenzionsa", 2010, "Due di Tre", Stefano Lodovichi 2009) and on international films such as "Letters To Juliet", 2010. His short film, "Incisioni" 2008, was a finalist in numerous national film festivals.
Alice Vannucci
Università per Stranieri di Siena: Degree in Linguistics and Cultural Mediation. Specialized degree in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication. Alice holds the DITALS specialization in teaching Italian as a Second Language from the Università per Stranieri di Siena. She has attended a training course at the International Center for Intercultural Exchange concerning the FICCS instructional approach (Full-Immersion: Culture, Content and Service). During her national community service at ARCI Association in Siena, she has worked as a cultural mediator and Italian teacher with immigrants. She currently teaches Italian language for the Siena Italian Studies Program.
Juan Carlos Ruiz Coll
Juan Carlos is originally from Venezuela. In 2004 he moved to the United States where he attended The Ohio State University and obtained a B.A. in Italian. Juan Carlos came to Siena Italian Studies as a student during the summer of 2009. He is currently pursuing a M.A. in linguistics and cognitive studies at the Università degli Studi di Siena. His main role at SIS is to work closely with IC Program Coordinator, Roni Kennison, organizing and executing different program activities. In addition, Juan Carlos conducts the SIS Writing Workshop each semester.
Nate Laffan
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