Faculty Profile
Nicoletta Marini Maio
Professor of Italian and Film Studies; Director of Mosaics; John J. and Ann Conser Curley Chair in Global Education (2007)
Contact Information
Bosler Hall
717-245-1592
Bio
Professor Marini-Maio completed her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in Italian cinema. She is the founding Editor of the international open-access peer reviewed journal gender/sexuality/italy. Her main fields of research are film studies and Italian cinema, particularly the intersections between politics, gender, cultural representations, popular culture, the narrative mode, and collective memory. She recently published a book on Silvio Berlusconi in cinema. Her monograph on the representation of left-wing terrorism in Italian film and theatre is near to completion. In addition, she published her research on the "decamerotici," a series of movies inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron produced in Italy in the 1970s, and on "Winx Club," an international comic strip and video series for young girls created in Italy. She has published articles on Italian cinema and theatre, Italian teaching pedagogy, and technology-enhanced language learning. In this areas, she has also co-edited the scholarly volumes "Set the Stage! Teaching Italian through Theater" (Yale University Press, 2009) and "Dramatic Interactions" (Cambridge Scholars, 2011). At Dickinson, where she is the Director of the Mosaics Programs, she is sharing with her students her passion for Italian culture and film and media studies. She is the Vice President of the American Association for italian Studies.
Education
- B.A., University of Perugia, Italy, 1986
- M.A., University of Rome, 1998
- M.A., University of Pennsylvania, 2001
- Ph.D., 2006
2026-2027 Academic Year
Fall 2026
ITAL 101 Elementary Italian
Intensive study of the fundamentals of Italian grammar, with a view to developing reading, writing, speaking, and understanding skills. Laboratory and other audiovisual techniques are used. Cultural elements are stressed as a context for the assimilation of the language.
FMST 310 Demystifying Mafia Universe
Cross-listed with ITAL 323-01. Course taught in English. Mafia is synonymous with organized crime, violence, underworld trafficking, and black-market trade. It is identified as a secret organization that operates as a shadow state within a nation. However, due to popular stories and fictional narratives, the term Mafia has become so encrusted with legend and myth that it is difficult to establish its true nature and scope. What does Mafia really mean? How is it related to Southern Italian folklore and its Italian American account? How have Italian and American cultural representations of the Mafia converged, diverged, evolved, and persisted over the course of the past century? How have the cultural conditions of their production and reception shifted as Italians have ceased to occupy the privileged category of "the immigrant" in the popular American imagination, and as Italy has transitioned from a country of emigration to one of immigration? How has the Mafia evolved from a local organization to a global network in the 21st century, and how has cinema registered this shift? What are the unique origins and challenges of the Italian anti-Mafia resistance? Through an analysis of literary texts and films, this course explores representations of the Mafia in Italian and American film from the early years of the 19th century to today. In addition to raising key questions about cultural representation and power (stereotypes; immigration and national identity; racial, gender, and class difference), the course will also guide students through analysis of film genres and techniques. Additional time slot: Wednesday 1:30-2:20 pm is for students taking the class for FLIC credit.
ITAL 323 Demystifying Mafia Universe
Cross-listed with FMST 310-01. Additional time slot: Wednesday 1:30-2:20 pm is for students taking the class for FLIC credit. Mafia is synonymous with organized crime, violence, underworld trafficking, and black-market trade. It is identified as a secret organization that operates as a shadow state within a nation. However, due to popular stories and fictional narratives, the term Mafia has become so encrusted with legend and myth that it is difficult to establish its true nature and scope. What does Mafia really mean? How is it related to Southern Italian folklore and its Italian American account? How have Italian and American cultural representations of the Mafia converged, diverged, evolved, and persisted over the course of the past century? How have the cultural conditions of their production and reception shifted as Italians have ceased to occupy the privileged category of "the immigrant" in the popular American imagination, and as Italy has transitioned from a country of emigration to one of immigration? How has the Mafia evolved from a local organization to a global network in the 21st century, and how has cinema registered this shift? What are the unique origins and challenges of the Italian anti-Mafia resistance? Through an analysis of literary texts and films, this course explores representations of the Mafia in Italian and American film from the early years of the 19th century to today. In addition to raising key questions about cultural representation and power (stereotypes; immigration and national identity; racial, gender, and class difference), the course will also guide students through analysis of film genres and techniques.