Mario Cacciafeste

A native of Rome, since 1998 Mario Cacciafeste has worked as a social anthropologist and Italian language professor at two of Rome’s most important social centers for Immigration and Human Rights. His responsibility for the social welfare of immigrants in Rome have required him to work closely with refugees and asylum seekers, carry out their social orientation, and to offer them courses in Italian Language. Mario has also provided educational and vocational training for immigrants to Italy. Furthermore, in 2002 he was appointed researcher in the area of social change and welfare for FIERI, the International and European Forum of Migration Research.

Mario has worked in other capacities teaching Italian: tutoring for prestigious tour companies, and leading guided tours of the city of Rome in Italian language. He boasts over 10 years experience in teaching Italian language to American students, and has taught at the Rome programs of Cornell University, Rhode Island School of Design, De Paul University and University of California, among others.

Mario graduated with a degree in Cultural Anthropology from the Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza.” In 2005 he earned a Diploma in Teaching Italian as a Second Language at Dilit International House of Rome.

Mario has been a core faculty member of CEA Rome since 2008, and has developed the SOS Italian seminars for the Rome Global Campus. He is currently developing internships and work placements in prestigious cultural centres in Rome for American students.

Nadia Cristiani

Born in Pisa (Italy), Nadia Cristiani has lived in Rome since 2001 where she has worked as an Italian instructor for many American university study abroad programs including Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and De Paul University. Nadia earned a Master's degree in Italian Studies from the University of Bologna as well as a certificate for teaching Italian as a second language from the Dilit International House in Rome.

Nadia is fluent in English and Italian and teaches Italian Language and Culture for various American universities in Rome.

Alexandra Massini

Alexandra Massini was born in Rome. She studied Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art (London), where she obtained her B.A. and M.A. degrees with double distinction.

She has worked at Sotheby's Auctioneers in Rome (Old Master paintings and drawings) and at the Thyssen Museum in Madrid. She has also written for Blue Guides and even published her own guide book to Rome.

Alexandra has been a guest lecturer and study leader for various European and North American institutions such as the National Trust US, the Chrysler Museum of Art, and a number of international universities. Since 2005, she has been teaching for American study abroad programs such as Rutgers and Vanderbilt Universities in Florence, CET in Siena, and Richmond University and CEA in Rome.

Her fields of interest include Roman Imperial Art, 14th Century art in Tuscany, Italian Renaissance Art, Michelangelo, and the history of sculpture. Alexandra is fluent in five languages including German and Italian (bilingual from birth), English, Spanish and French.

In Rome, where she lives, she collaborates with the Colonna and Doria Pamphili galleries and, as a licensed guide, conducts specialized visits for various cultural institutions.

Aldo Patania

Aldo Patania is a European Union national who has divided his existence between Europe and the States. His native language is Italian, though he learned English while attending high school in Connecticut. He also speaks French and Spanish. He has a doctoral degree in International Relations from the Italian state university in Catania (Sicily) and was also granted a Fulbright scholarship to study international economics at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies both in Bologna and in Washington DC.

Aldo started out his career as the senior economic expert of the US Ambassador in Rome before moving on to London to be the senior country manager for what was then Czechoslovakia at the newly-founded European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In the meantime, Aldo took on teaching as a side activity. Eventually. he decided to go solely into teaching and that is what he has been doing for the past 20 years. He has been teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels for various academic institutions both in Italy and in the US. He normally teaches in the States during the summer and Christmas breaks, while maintaining a full teaching load in Italy during the regular academic year. He is also the MBA Director for the Roman branch of the University of Malta and maintains very close ties with the Italian and US Embassies throughout the world.

Aldo travels extensively whenever his teaching schedule will allow him to accept invitations to lecture in places other than those where he normally spends most of his time. He is often asked to speak on topics relating to the European Union, international business, and marketing, as well as electronic business (he taught one of the first courses on e-Commerce ever to be offered either in Italy or in California).

Aldo is well known for his practical, hands-on approach to teaching and believes firmly in taking his students into the real world by leading them through intensive tours of some European capital cities or of the key near-by decision-making centers. Despite his gold frequent flyer status, he still finds time to work out and catch a musical or an opera production whenever he has an opportunity.

James Schwarten, PhD

James Schwarten is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but has lived in Italy intermittently since 1989. His academic interests include Italian organized crime, sociology, anthropology, dialectology, and literature. In a collaborative project with a Danish national museum director, he is currently engaged in preparing a critical edition and translation of the memoires of Kristian Zahrtmann, a 19th-century Danish painter who lived for many years in the village of Civita d’Antino (Abruzzo, Italy).

His teaching interests include Italian language and literature, organized crime, and sociology. He has taught at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, IES (Rome), and Loyola University Chicago’s Rome Center. In his CEA course, Living Italy, he strives to challenge his students to reflect on their own culture as they negotiate “critical incidents” while studying abroad. In his teaching he is committed to providing opportunities for students to experience Italian culture during their short time in Italy.

James attended The University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI), where he earned a Ph.D. in Italian Literature and Linguistics and a Master’s degree in Theoretical Linguistics.

In his spare time, James enjoys mountain hiking, cooking, and traveling. He is fluent in Italian, but he and his wife are committed to raising their children as bilingual.

Ray Shaw, PhD

Ray Shaw, born 60 years ago in London of an Italian mother and British father, spent the first part of his professional career working in assorted management functions in various geographic areas before making the decision to break with the past and do what he had always desired to do - settle in Italy teaching business. Ray has an Honours Degree and Ph.D. from what is now the Metropolitan University of London in Material Science and also completed his Masters in Business Admnistration at the London Business School.

Ray's main areas of interest are international business and management and organizational behavior. As a result of these interests, he frequently works in Rome for the embassies and other government entities of various emerging economy countries whose governments are interested in developing the competitivity of their industrial bases.

Since 2000, Ray has been teaching local and American study abroad programs at John Cabot University in Rome as well as the Umbra Institute in Perugia. He also spent two years as Director of the MBA program at the University of Malta, Link Campus in Rome.

Ray's main interest, apart from the development of his students, is enjoying the Italian countryside, people, and culture.

Gabriele Simoncini, PhD

Gabriele Simoncini received his PhD in History and Political Science from Columbia University (New York) in 1991. He also holds a Laurea Degree in Philosophy from the University of Pisa and completed post-doctoral specialization at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University (California). Dr. Simoncini has done research at the Freie University (Berlin) and the University of Warsaw and well as in archives and institutions throughout the Vatican, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, and Russia.

Dr. Simoncini has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in history and politics of Eastern and Western Europe, ethnopolitics, integration, and Western Civilization at Columbia University, Barnard College, New York University, the City University of New York, Pace University, and St. John’s University. In Italy, he teaches courses in political science, international affairs, and management at the University of Rome, Instituto Formazione Operatori Aziendali (Florence), Telecom Learning Services, Escuola Superiore St. Anna (Pisa), and Richmond University (Rome).

Gregory Smith, PhD

Born in Texas, Gregory Overton Smith has been a resident of Italy since 1981, and is now a bona fide Italian citizen. He holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from Oxford University, the doctoral research for which he conducted in rural Abruzzo, Italy in the 1980s. Greg’s work as a farm hand for research purposes cultivated in him an interest in food and food systems. Shortly after his experience in Abruzzo, Greg trained as a wine taster with the Italian Association of Sommeliers, and became a member of the Italy chapter of the Slow Food movement. Greg’s interests and associations enable him to offer his students the opportunity to learn about, discuss and taste the differences in regional cuisine and viniculture throughout Italy. His course strongly enhances their understanding and appreciation of the breadth of Italian gastronomy throughout the peninsula.

Greg has taught at many universities with programs in Italy over the years, including The American University (Washington, D.C.), Loyola of Chicago, The University of Maryland, The University of California, and Cornell University. He also served as Dean of the American University in Rome for 10 years.

His current academic interests focus on the idea of the territory, both in rural and urban settings. Gregory Smith speaks fluent Italian and English, excellent French, and some Spanish. When he is not teaching, you may find him playing classical music or jazz on the flute.

Antonello Villani

Alessandro Zanazzo

Alessandro Zanazzo completed his BA in Photography and Multimedia Arts at Kunsh Art Academy (Bergen, Norway) and also attended a professional film school in Italy. His specialities are fashion photography, portraits, fine art, reportage, architecture, and travel photography. His images have been published in travel magazines and professional websites along with articles about his travel experiences. He has even travelled to Africa several times on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism.

Alessandro spent many years abroad in Norway and Paris and has participated in the French Biennial of Photography, "Le Mois de la Photo," where he showed artworks inspired by two classic Latin writers: "The Metamorphosis" by Ovidio and "The Rerum Natura" by Lucrezio. He has exhibited pictures in European art galleries and museums as well as places like the deconsecrated church of Saint Peter in Melle (France) or the Saint Angel Castle in Rome. Recently, Alessandro has been working on several art projects concerning the interaction between various artistic languages including photography, video, installations, performances, and music.

Alessandro has been working with Americans and other international students through study abroad programs for almost ten years and speaks fluent English, French, and Italian. Alessandro's strength is his ability to awaken students' passion, creativity, and enthusiasm for the communicative and expressive language of visual arts.

Leo Madden, PhD

Dr. Leo Madden is an Associatet Professor of Theology at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio. He specializes in teaching courses in Biblical Studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels but also teaches an Interdisciplinary Seminar course for first year students on the evolution of honor and shame in Western civilization.

Dr. Madden lived in Rome from 1980 to 1986 while earning graduate degrees in Catholic Theology and Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He was among the first American laypersons (that is, a person not studying for the priesthood) to receive graduate training at those institutions.

He is very excited about the thought of returning to Rome and sharing with students his love of the city, its people, and its general way of life. His love of Rome and Italy has not lessened over the years: he and his bride took their “luna di miele” (“Honeymoon”) in Italy, he enjoys cooking Italian dishes, and he continues to follow Italian soccer (Forza Italia!).

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Madden has been called upon frequently by various Catholic parishes, Christian communities, and media outlets to explain issues relating to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

He is an active member of the Catholic Biblical Association, the Society of Biblical Literature, the American Academy of Religion, and the Catholic Theology Society. He is active in Theta Alpha Kappa, the national honors society for Theology and Religious Studies, as a member of the Board of Directors, as the Editor of the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa, and as the moderator for the local chapter at Ohio Dominican University.

Dana Dillon, PhD

Dana Dillon is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Providence College, where she teaches classes in theology, especially Moral Theology, Catholic Social Thought, and Political Theology. Her primary research area is Fundamental Moral Theology, with a special interest in Virtue Ethics and the connection between persons and acts.

Dana received her undergraduate degree and her Master of Divinity degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she also worked in Residence Life. She received her doctorate in Religion from Duke University, in the area of Christian Ethics. Dana is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Nick Dines, PhD

Nick Dines was born and raised in England. His doctoral thesis examined conflicts surrounding the transformation of the historic center of Naples. This research has been developed into his forthcoming book Tuff City. Urban Change and Contested Space in Central Naples (Berghahn Books).  In addition, Nick has published a book and various book chapters and journal articles on themes ranging from urban regeneration and public space to immigration and social movements, with a particular focus on Naples and London. He has worked as a research fellow in various London universities and has taught in both English and Italian at Università Roma Tre, Uninettuno and John Cabot University in Rome. Recently, he has turned his attention to the question of organized crime in Italy. For the last three years Nick has conducted research in archives in Naples and Rome for the historian and mafia expert John Dickie, and in June, 2011 presented papers at conferences in Italy and the United Kingdom on the British media’s portrayal of the Neapolitan camorra and the representation of the Sicilian mafia in 1960s Italian cinema. This expertise and firsthand experience of living in the Italian South provides a critical, personal edge to Nick’s course at CEA.

Nick earned a Ph.D. in Italian Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in Italian and Art History both from University College London.

Besides his academic work, Nick enjoys cinema, cooking and boxing. He first came to Italy in 1990 and has lived and worked in various Italian cities, including Milan, Bologna and Naples. Since 2007 he has permanently resided in Rome.

Course Taught: Social History of the Italian Mafia