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Elena Benelli

 

Elena Benelli

Lecturer

Coordinator, Italian Language Program

Office H 543.6
Tel 514.848.2424, ext. 5233
E-mail Elena.Benelli@concordia.ca



My research focuses on Italian migrant writers and the representation of migrants in contemporary Italian cinema. I am currently working on an article on Italian migrant writers in which I analyze the construction of the migrant’s narrative identity and I explore how migrant writers relate themselves to Italian society, what problems they address and negotiate and how they define their role as intellectuals, while subverting prejudices and problematizing the very notion of Italian national identity. I am also interested in relating their works through the lenses of an interdisciplinary approach with recent cinematic re-articulations of Otherness that offer new visual representations of migrancy, not only from the thematic point of view but stylistic as well. I am currently finishing an article on the representation of migrants in Italian cinema that documents the changes occurring in Italian society: new alternative narratives challenge the stereotypical image of migrants, removing them from the sensationalist tone of the media and repositioning them in complex historical and cultural dimensions, while redefying the imaginary national space within a pluralistic and multicultural society.

 

EDUCATION

2000-2008

Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, Université de Montréal, Montreal

 

Dissertation Title: “In Search of Hospitality: Impossible Worlds in the Contemporary Italian Novel.” Director: Prof. Silvestra Mariniello. External Reader: Prof. Francesco Loriggio, Carleton University. Dean’s List.

1997-2000

McGill University, Montreal
 

Completed all courses for a Ph.D. in Italian Studies. (fast track)

Completed all courses for a Master’s degree in Italian Studies. (fast track)

1990-1996

Laurea 110/110 e lode, Università degli studi di Trieste, Trieste, Italy
 

Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, specialization in French. Dissertation Title: “La tematica spaziale nell’opera di Anne Hébert.”

 

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

2011-present

Lecturer (Extended Term Appointment), and Italian Language Program Coordinator, Concordia University, Montreal

2008-2011

Assistant Professor (Limited Term Appointment), and Italian Language Program Coordinator, Concordia University, Montreal

2002-2008

Coordinator of the Italian Language Program, Université de Montréal, Montreal

2001-present

Faculty Lecturer, Direction de l’Enseignement des Langues et des Cultures Étrangères (D.E.L.C.E.) and Départment de Littératures et Langues Modernes (D.L.L.M.), Université de Montréal, Montreal

PUBLICATIONS

Articles (refereed)

  • “Others’ Italy, Italy’s Others: How Migrant Literature Challenges Italian Identity” [submitted]
  • “Migrant Discourses in Contemporary Italy” [accepted in Conserveries mémorielles, Université Laval, Laval/Institut Historique du Temps Présent, Paris; forthcoming]
  • “Italiani Per Vocazione: Voci Migranti in Cerca di Ospitalità.” Italian Studies in Southern Africa 21.1-2 (2008): 172-94.
  • “Migrant Voices in Contemporary Italy: In Search of Hospitality.” Metamorphoses. A Journal of Literary Translation 14.1-2 (2006): 165-76.
Book chapters (refereed)
  • “Mapping the World: the Cognitive Function of Literature in Scego’s La mia casa è dove sono.” [under review]
  • “The Other from an-Other Shore: Identity at Sea in Quando Sei Nato Non Puoi Più Nasconderti.”  From Terrone to Extracomunitario: New Manifestations of Racism in Contemporary Italian Cinema. Ed. Grace Bullaro. Leicester: Troubador Italian Studies Series, 2010. 219-239.
  • “Declares Pereira. A Witness in Search of an Identity” Watching Pages, Reading Pictures: Cinema and Modern Literature in Italy. Ed. Daniela De Pau and Georgina Torello. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008. 361-76.

Conference proceedings (refereed)

  • “Mediterranean Seafarings: Pelagic Encounters of Otherness in Contemporary Italian Cinema” [accepted at Wilfrid Laurier University Press]
  • “Intérieurs de Femmes. Des Chambres d’Anne Hébert à l’Hôtel de Paola Capriolo.”  Le Quebec et L’Italie au Jeu des Correspondances Littéraires. Ed. Gilles Dupuis. Quebec: Nota Bene, 2008. 123-35.
  • “L’Identità Italiana e la Questione degli Immigrati. Questioni e Problematiche.”  Transitions: Perspectives on Shifts in Italian Language and Linguistics. Ed. Kevin Reynolds and Dario Brancato. Florence: Cadmo Edizioni, 2004. 217-29.

Reviews:

  • “Kapelj, Sara. Testi in movimento. Teorie della migrazione nel panorama musicale alternativo italiano contemporaneo.” Annali di italianistica (forthcoming).
  •  “Caracchini, Cristina. Cognizione e discorso poetico. A dialogo con Dante, Pessoa, Guillén, Caproni e Ashbery.” Quaderni di Italianistica, 32:1 (Spring 2011): 163-166.
  • “Paola Capriolo. Mitologia, Musica, Metamorfosi. 1988-1998.” Italian Studies 65.1 (2010): 158-159.
  • “Gnisci, Armando. Decolonizzare l’Italia.” Forum Italicum 43.1 (2009): 307-309.
  • “Marin, T. Nuovo Progetto Italiano e That’s Allegro: Metodi Comparati dell’Insegnamento dell’Italiano.” Annali di italianistica 26 (2008): 439-40, 48-49.
  • “Komla Ebri, Kossi. Neyla, a Novel.” Annali di italianistica 23 (2005): 370-71.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Invited plenary speaker:

  • “Franchir les frontières: à la rencontre de l’autre.” Ph.D. seminar, Littérature et interculturalité: Haut Adige/Sudtirol, Centre canadien d’études allemandes et européennes, Université de Montréal, March 21, 2012.
  • “Others’ Italy, Italy’s Others: How Migrant Literature Challenges Italian Identity.”, From the Unity of Italians to the Unity of Italics: Languages of Italicity around the World, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, April 15-16, 2011.
  • “Voci Migranti nella Letteratura Italiana Contemporanea.”, Settimana della lingua italiana, Université de Montréal, Montreal, October 25, 2010.
  •  “Migrant Voices in Contemporary Italy.” Invited Speaker Series, School of Languages and European Studies, University of Guelph, Guelph, October 7, 2008.
  • “Migration Literature in Italy. New Voices in Search of Hospitality.” Up Close and Personal. A Workshop on Contemporary Italian Narrative, McGill University, Montreal, March 28-29, 2008.
  • “Migrations to and from Italy.” (with Sonia Cancian) Mariano A. Elia Chair In Italian Canadian Studies, Lecture Series, York University, Toronto, April 7th, 2006. 

Conference presentations (refereed):

  • “La mia casa è dove sono: the Cognitive Function of Literature in Igiaba Scego’s narrative” Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, May 28, 2012.
  • “Mapping the World: the Cognitive Function of Literature in Scego’s La mia casa è dove sono.” Destination Italy:
Representing Migration in Contemporary Media and Narrative, Pembroke College, Oxford, England, April 13-15, 2012.
  • “Letteratura migrante in Italia: vent’anni dopo.”, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, Venezia, June 24, 2011.
  •  “Topography of Otherness in Contemporary Italian Cinema.”, Europe in its own eyes/Europe in the Eyes of the Other, University of Guelph, Guelph, October 1-3, 2010.
  • “Pecore nere: Italian Migrant Women Writers in Italy.”, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, May 28, 2010.
  • “In Search of Hospitality: The Experience of Three Migrant Writers in Italy.”, Language, Literature, and Culture in Italy’s New “Multiculturalism”, NeMLA, McGill University, Montreal, April 9, 2010.
  •  “Spaces of Migration in Contemporary Italian Cinema: Quando sei nato non puoi più nasconderti.” Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, May 25, 2009.
  • “Roberto Vecchioni: le favole del cantastorie.” Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, June 2, 2008.
  •  “Voiceless People and Migrant Writers: the Search for Hospitality in Quebec and Italy.”, The Cultures of Migration, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, June 23, 2007.
  • “Italiani per vocazione. Voci migranti in cerca di ospitalità.” Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Università degli studi di Trieste, Trieste, July 5, 2007.
  •  “Chambres sans vue. Des chambres de bois d’Anne Hébert aux auberges de Paola Capriolo.” Le Québec et l’Italie au Jeu des Correspondances Littéraires, Université de Montréal-UQAM, Montreal, June 3, 2004.
  • “Identità italiana e letteratura della migrazione. Per una nuova retorica dell’ospitalità.” American Association of Italian Studies, Ottawa, May 23, 2004.
  • “La finzione di Antonio Tabucchi, ovvero sulla menzogna.” Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, May 2003.
  •  “L’identità italiana e la questione degli immigrati. Questioni e problematiche.” Transitions: Perspectives on Shifts in Italian Language and Linguistics, University of Toronto, Toronto, 2001
  •  “I mondi possibili impossibili di Italo Calvino e M.C. Escher.” Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Laval University, Quebec City, May 2001.

Conference presentations (non refereed):

  • “Italian cinema”, ITAL 298F Views of Italy, Concordia University, Montreal, October 5, 2011.
  • “Faletti et le nouveau thriller italien”, Lisez l’Europe, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Montreal, January 13, 2011.
  • “Arrivederci amore: la narrative de Massimo Carlotto et le polar italien”, Lisez l’Europe, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Montreal, December 9, 2009.
  • “Antonio Tabucchi et l’intellectuel engagé.”, Les belles soirées de l’Université de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montreal, November 4-11, 2008.
  • “Les écrivains italo-québecois.” ITL 2270, Italie-Québec: parcours interculturels), Université de Montréal, Montreal, 2005.
  • “Trieste, ville de frontière.” ITL 1120, Introduction à la culture italienne, Université de Montréal, Montreal, 2004.
  • “Claudio Magris, uno scrittore di frontiera.” Literature Seminar, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Montreal, 2004.
  • Presentation of the Italian Department of the Université de Montréal. Teaching Italian, Experiences and Tools, Teaching Italian as a Second Language, Concordia University, Montreal, 2003.
  • Presentation of the book The Closer We Are to Dying by Joe Fiorito, Centro Leonardo da Vinci, Montreal, April 2003.
  • “L’Italie d’aujourd’hui : culture, histoire et traditions.” Invited Guest Speaker, Les Belles Soirées de l’Université de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montreal, 2001.

 SESSION ORGANIZER AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

 
  • Novecento II, Chair of the session, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, May 26, 2012.
  • 17th International Literature Festival: Organizer of the Italian activities for the Italian guest, Fabio Geda, Montreal, September 2011.
  • Organizer of the conference: “Journeys of Hope: Migration and Literature” by Fabio Geda in collaboration with Université de Montréal, Concordia University, September 19, 2011.  

 
  • Organizer and member of the scientific committee of the International Conference for the Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Centro culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, Venice, 2011.
  • Cinema and European Identity II, Chair of the session Europe in its own eyes/Europe in the Eyes of the Other, University of Guelph, Guelph, October 3, 2010.
  • 16th International Literature Festival: Organizer of the Italian activities for the Italian guest, Massimo Carlotto, Montreal, September 2010.
  • Organizer of the conference Il Noir: il lato oscuro della società italiana, by Massimo Carlotto in collaboration with McGill University, Université de Montréal and Concordia University, Montreal, September 20 2010
  • LAC (Local Arrangement Coordinator) for the annual Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Canadian Society for Italian Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, May 28-30 2010.
  • Organizer of 3 sessions on Contemporary Italian Literature and Culture, Chair of one session, Canadian Society of Italian Studies, Concordia University, Montreal, May 28-30.
  • Organizer of Metodi attuali della glottodidattica dell’italiano L2 by Prof. Giorgio Massei (Edulingua), Concordia University, Montreal, February 15, 2010.

 
  • 15th International Literature Festival: Interpreter for the Italian guest, Mr. Roberto Pazzi. Translated five poems and one conference of Roberto Pazzi “Il mio Proust. Scoperta della memoria involontaria” in French, interpreter for Apéro poétique and Rencontre croisée avec Marie-Andrée Lamontagne, reader of a Proust excerpt for the general public, September 2009.
  • Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature and Culture, Organizer of 6 sessions on Contemporary Italian Literature and Culture, Chair of one session, Canadian Society of Italian Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, May 23-25, 2009.

 
  • Il superamento della modernità by Prof. Francesco Muzzioli, held at the Italian Department, McGill University, in collaboration with Concordia University, Montreal, September 2008.
  • Identity, Nostos and Crossing Over in Modern & Contemporary Literature & Culture, Chair, Canadian Society of Italian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, May 2008.

 
  • Trieste, identità e alterità, Chair, Canadian Society of Italian Studies, Università degli studi di Trieste, Trieste, Italy, July 2007.

 
  • Organizer of Retour sur la République italienne 60 ans après, Italian Cultural Institute, Montreal, May 2006.

 
  • Organizer of Le competenze orali degli allievi e dei docenti. Teaching Italian as a Second Language, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Organizer in collaboration with Pierangela Diadori, University of Siena, Italy, March 2005.

TEACHING

2008-present

Concordia University, Montreal

2012-2013

ITAL 241 Intermediate Italian I (fall term)

ITAL 298F Views of Italy (fall term)

ITAL 398 Academic writing in Italian (fall term)

ITAL 242 Intermediate Italian II (winter term)

ITAL 311 Survey of Italian Literature II (winter term)

ITAL 398/A Communicative Strategies and Oral Communication for Non-Native Speakers (winter term)

2011-2012

ITAL 201 Introductory Italian I (fall term)

ITAL 256 Introduction to Translation I (fall term)

ITAL 450 Feminist Discourse in Italy (fall term)

ITAL 202 Introductory Italian II (winter term)

ITAL 211 Italian for Heritage Speakers II (winter term)

ITAL 257 Introduction to Translation II (winter term)

2010-2011

ITAL 201 Introductory Italian I (fall term)

ITAL 210 Italian for Heritage Speakers I (fall term)

ITAL 257 Introduction to Translation II (fall term)

ITAL 211 Italian for Heritage Speakers II (winter term)

ITAL 311 Survey of Italian Literature II (winter term)

ITAL 398/A Communicative Strategies and Oral Communication for Non-Native Speakers (winter term)

2009-2010

ITAL 201 Introductory Italian I (fall term)

ITAL 202 Introductory Italian II (fall term)

ITAL 210 Italian for Heritage Speakers I (fall term)

ITAL 482 Tutorial, 19th Century Italian Literature (fall term)

ITAL 256 Introduction to Translation I (winter term)

ITAL 211 Italian for Heritage Speakers II (winter term)

ITAL 398/A Communicative Strategies and Oral Communication for Non-Native Speakers (winter term)

2008-2009

ITAL 201 Introductory Italian I (fall term)

ITAL 256 Introduction to Translation I (fall term)

ITAL 257 Introduction to Translation II (winter term)

ITAL 298/B Italian for Heritage Speakers (winter term)

ITAL 398/A Communicative Strategies and Oral Communication for Non-Native Speakers (winter term)

ITAL 482B/AA Tutorial, Contemporary Italian Novel (summer term)

2001-2011

Direction de l’Enseignement des Langues et des Cultures Étrangères (D.E.L.C.E.) and Départment de Littératures et Langues Modernes (D.L.L.M.), Université de Montréal, Montreal

2010-2011

ITL1120 Introduction à la culture italienne (fall term, in French)

2009-2010

ITL1991 Italien élémentaire, intensive (summer term)

2007-2008

ITL1952 Italien intermédiaire, intensive (summer term)

ITL 1991 Italien élémentaire, intensive (fall and winter term)

ITL 1951 Italien élémentaire, annual course (fall and winter term)

ITL 1120 Introduction à la culture italienne (fall term, in French)

ITL 1141 Introduction à la littérature italienne (winter term, in French)

2006-2007

ITL 1991 Italien élémentaire, intensive (summer term)

ITL 1991 Italien élémentaire, intensive (winter term)

ITL 1120 Introduction à la culture italienne (fall term, in French)

ITL 1951 Italien élémentaire (fall term)

2005-2006

ITL 1070 Grammaire avancée 1 (fall term)

ITL 2070 Grammaire avancée 2 and ITL 1953 Italien avancé (winter term)

2004-2005

ITL 2110 Le roman italien contemporain (fall term, given in Italian)

ITL 1070 Grammaire avancée 1 (fall term)

2002-2003

ITL 1141 Introduction à la littérature italienne (winter term, given in Italian)

ITL 2070 Grammaire avancée 2 (fall term)

2001

ITL 2110 Le roman italien contemporain (fall term, given in Italian)

1998-2000

McGill University, Department of Italian Studies, Montreal

 

ITAL 205D Italian for Beginners. Methods used: Parliamo italiano, Prego

1997-2002

Italian Cultural Institute, Montreal

 

All levels. Intensive Summer Seminars on Italian Language and Culture. Methods used: Qui Italia, In italiano

1993-1994

Enaip (Ente Nazionale Acli Istruzione Professionale), Trieste, Italy

 

French Instructor (Beginners)

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

2010

Concordia University, Montreal

“Learning Communities: Technology”, Seminar organized by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Concordia University

2008

“Understanding Generation Me”, Seminar organized by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Concordia University

“Using Moodle in the Classroom”, Seminar organized by the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Concordia University

2007

Université de Montréal, Montreal

“L’internationalisation dans les départments” seminar organized by DELCE (Direction de l’Enseignement des Langues et des Cultures Étrangères):

2005

“Le comportement problématique d’étudiants en classe” seminar organized by DELCE.

 

“Le competenze orali degli allievi e dei docenti”, Teaching of Italian as a Second Language.

2004

“Apprendre du vocabulaire à l’aide d’un ordinateur en réseau” DELCE seminar.

2003

“New Technologies in the Language Classroom” DELCE seminar.

2002

“Les méthodes didactiques de l’enseignement d’une langue étrangère” and “Comment corriger l’étudiant” DELCE seminar.

1998

Université de Montréal, Montreal in Collaboration with the University of Siena, Siena, Italy
 

DITALS: (Certificazione di competenza in didattica dell’italiano a stranieri), Seminar, Teaching Italian as a Second Language.

1996

Ministry of Education, Rome, Italy
 

Completed and passed the qualifying examination for teaching Italian as a Second Language abroad.

ACADEMIC SERVICE

2011-

PTHC (Part-Time Hiring Committee), Full Time Faculty Representative

DCC (Departmental Curriculum Changes), Italian Section Representative

DHC (Departmental Hiring Committee), LTA position in Italian

2010-2013

Elected Secretary of the Canadian Society for Italian Studies

2009-2012

Member of the organizing committee of the Festival International de Littérature, Italian section

2008-2010

Elected member of Teaching & Programs Committee of the CSIS (Canadian Society for Italian Studies)

2007-2008

Member of the Committee for the creation of a Chair in Italian Studies, Université de Montréal

2007-2010

Elected alternate representative of the Faculty Lecturers for the Departmental Meeting, Department of Modern Languages, Université de Montréal, Montreal

2004-2007

Director of the Library Committee for the Italian Section, Université de Montréal, Montreal

Coordinator, Italian Studies Committee (Ad Hoc), Université de Montréal, Montreal

 

HONOURS AND AWARDS

2007

Prix Cigogne 2007, Université de Montréal, Montreal

Award for excellence in teaching.

2000-2003

Université de Montréal, Montreal

Differential fee waiver and international student scholarship, Department of Comparative Literature.

1997-1998

McGill University, Montreal

Differential fee waiver and entrance scholarship, Department of Italian.

1994-1995

University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

Scholarship of Academic Achievement, Dipartimento di lingue e letterature straniere moderne e contemporanee

Languages:

Italian (native), French and English (near native), Spanish (reading knowledge)

 

  PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

2009-2013

Member of the North-American consortium of scholars: Representations of Migration in Contemporary Media and Narrative funded by Italian Studies at Oxford and the Leverhulme Trust
 

North East Modern Language Association (NeMLA)

2006-2013

Modern Language Association (MLA)

2003-2013

American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS)

2000-2013

Canadian Society for Italian Studies (CSIS)


 
 
 

Concordia University