Fabiana Cecchini

Fabiana Cecchini was born in Pesaro (in central Italy), hometown of the famous composer Gioacchino Rossini. She studied at the Universita' di Urbino where she received her Laurea in Lingue e Letterature Straniere (English and French).  Her thesis, which focused on Sylvia Plath and her intellectual relationship with the American poets after World War II, was titled "Sylvia Plath and the Tranquillized Fifties". After her studies at Urbino, in 2000 she began her doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2002 she received her Master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently completing her dissertation, "Immagini di donna tra autorappresentazione e cinegrafia. Sibilla Aleramo e Veronica Franco." In December 2003, Fabiana received the "Graduate Student Certification in Womens' Studies" from the Womens' Studies Department of the University of Pennsylvania. In Summer 2004 she obtained the Salvatori Research Award in Italian Studies to conduct research in the Sibilla Aleramo archives in Rome. In Fall 2006 Fabiana was hired by Rice University (Houston, TX) as Lecturer in Italian and coordinator of the instruction of the Language program. Her main scholarly interests include womens' studies, Italian fiction and poetry, Italian cinema, the relationship between film and literature. Although her research concentrates on literature and cinema, second language acquisition is also a fundamental part of her academic life: Fabiana has always enjoyed teaching, and believes it essential to her growth as a professor.

• E-mail: fabiana.cecchini@rice.edu