People

Geoffrey Sumi teaches Greek and Latin at all levels, while his interest in the political and social history of the ancient world is reflected in the courses he teaches in translation: The Roman Empire; Sport, Society, and Politics in the Roman World; and From Hoplites to Legions: Warfare in the Greek and Roman World.

Ombretta Frau has published extensively on nineteenth and early twentieth-century Italian cultural history, modern philology, Pirandello, and Italian women writers. At Mount Holyoke, Frau’s courses include literature for children, material culture, fascism, women, theater, and travel literature. Her classes incorporate many pedagogical tools, including film, music, and web design, and she believes in creating a relaxed and friendly classroom atmosphere that encourages communication. Frau is a frequent collaborator of the Mount Holyoke Art Museum and she keeps a blog that is on the Italian Huffington Post.

Martino Lovato works at the intersection between Arabic, French and Italian, histories, cultures, literatures and cinema. His research interests include the contemporary Mediterranean in theory and as interdisciplinary practice, with a focus on postcolonial studies, border crossing and social justice. At Mount Holyoke and in the Five Colleges, he taught language, literature and cinema at the departments/programs of Italian, Romance Languages and Arabic., including: Introduction to the Mediterranean; Global Dante: A Journey through Hell; The Medieval Mirror: Freedom, Gender and Resistance in Contemporary Arabic Literature; Heroes & Infidels; and Catastrophe and Rebirth in Italian Cinema.

A clinical psychologist, Morena Svaldi has extensive research experience in the field. At Mount Holyoke, she teaches Italian at all levels, with a special interest in blended learning, teaching with technology, methodology and pedagogy in second language acquisition. Her research has been funded by several Five Colleges Mellon Grants. In 2014, Svaldi became the Faculty Director of the Language Assistant Program.