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School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Dr Valentina Abbatelli

Assistant Professor (Teaching-focussed)

Email: V dot Abbatelli dot 1 at warwick dot ac dot uk

Tel: +44 02476 522 131

Room FAB4.47, Faculty of Arts Building
University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL

About

I hold a BA in Studi Italiani (2006) from the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', where I also hold an MA in Linguistics (2008) and completed a PhD in Historical Linguistics and History of Italian Language (2012). In 2017 I completed my second PhD entitled 'Producing and Marketing Translations in Fascist Italy: Uncle Tom's Cabin and Little Women' at the University of Warwick.

I have significant experience in teaching Italian language in Italy and in the UK. Prior joining Warwick I collaborated with Società Dante Alighieri (2006-2014) as a marker of the written exams of the Plida certificate in Italian language. In 2009 I obtained the DITALS certificate to teach Italian to foreigners from the the University for Foreigners of Siena. During my PhD at Warwick I taught language modules at all levels and participated in outreach schools events to raise awareness in the importance of languages. I joined the Italian department as a teaching fellow in September 2017.

Teaching and Research interests

Italian Language and Culture; Language Teaching and Digital Pedagogy; Translation studies; History of publishing; Italian History; Fascism; History of Italian language; Visual culture; National identity

My interest in pedagogy of teaching and learning in modern languages focuses in particular on the development of intercultural competence and empathy through a transnational and glocal approach and EDI. I presented papers in international conferences on the use of Jhumpa Lahiri's first book in Italian 'In altre parole' in the multilingual classroom and on the development of intercultural awareness in the Italian writing class through a transnational approach. I am currently developing an extensive practice-based article entitled 'BLM and ə: Introducing Diversity in the Syllabus Design' to be published in the volume 'The Art of Teaching Italian' (Georgetown University Press) edited by Giulia Guarnieri. In 2022 I was awarded the Society of Italian Studies EDI Excellence Award.
I co-organised the workshop 'Intercultural Empathy in the Italian Studies Classroom' for the 2022 Society of Italian Studies Conference.
I am also invested in research-led teaching and digital pedagogy. In 2020/21 I designed and taught the module IT337 Within and Beyond Books: Theory,History and PracticeLink opens in a new window using a digital assessment to foster students’ engagement and creativity and develop transferrable skills.

Since 2021/22 I run an Intercultural Virtual Exchange project with the University of Genoa (Italy) which has been embedded in the final-year language module IT401.

In 2024 I became Senior Fellow of Advance HE.

Administrative Roles

  • On leave in T1 and T2, 2024-25
  • Over the past academic years, I acted as SMLC Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning (2022-24). In the Italian section, I acted as Language Coordinator (2020-24), YA Coordinator, Exams Secretary and SSLC Academic Convenor.

Publications

Journal Articles

L. Villamediana Gonzalez, V. Abbatelli (2024), A Roadmap towards Cultivating a SoTL Community of PracticeLink opens in a new window, The Language Scholar: Developing Context of Scholarship (peer-reviewed)

V. Abbatelli (2023), From paper to film: historical and cultural implications of Italian illustrated editions of Little Women (1908-1945)Link opens in a new window, Between XIII (25),1-23 (peer-reviewed)

V. Abbatelli (2018), Looking at captions to get the full picture. Framing illustrations in Italian editions of Uncle Tom's CabinLink opens in a new window Image and Narrative, 19.1, 46-61 (peer-reviewed)

V. Abbatelli (2016), 'African-American Slave or Subject of the Italian Colonial Empire? The Trajectory of Uncle Tom in Italy during the Fascist Ventennio'Link opens in a new window, Tropos, 3 (1), 22-29

Edited Volumes

V. Abbatelli, A. Lirosi, I. Palumbo (eds) (2016), Un monastero di famiglia. Il diario delle barberine della SS.ma IncarnazioneLink opens in a new window(secc. XVII-XVIII) (Rome: Viella) (book launch)

Chapters in Books

V. Abbatelli (2024), 'BLM and ə: Introducing Diversity in the Syllabus Design' in The Art of Teaching Italian (Georgetown University Press), ed. by Giulia Guarnieri, pp. 197-215.

V. Abbatelli (2022), 'Oltre la rappresentazione dell’apprendimento linguistico dell’italiano: insegnare In altre parole a studenti multilingui' in La rappresentazione dell'apprendimento linguisticoLink opens in a new window, edited by L. Coveri, T. Meozzi and E. Serena (Florence: Franco Cesati), pp. 93-102.

V. Abbatelli (2013), 'Lessico e sintassi dell'italiano del teatro tra Ottocento e Novecento attraverso le traduzioni di quattro opere shakespeariane' in Las huellas del pasado en la cultura italiana contemporánea, edited by P. L. Ladròn De Guevara, B. Hernàndez and Z. Zografidou (Edit.Um, Murcia), pp. 477- 486.

V. Abbatelli (2009), 'La semantica dell'affettività nel carteggio della famiglia Tondi di Viterbo (1860-1882)' in Nuovi sondaggi sulle lettere del CEOD, edited by G. Antonelli, M. Palermo, L. Raffaelli (Ravenna, Giorgio Pozzi), pp. 73-82.

Other academic publications

V. Abbatelli (2019), Review of Ann Lawson Lucas, 'Emilio Salgari: una mitologia moderna tra letteratura, politica e società', voll. 1-2 (Florence: Olschki, 2018), The Modern Language Review, 114.3, 575-76

V. Abbatelli (2016), Review of Giorgia Alù and Nancy Pedri (eds), 'Enlightening Encounters: Photography in Italian Literature' (Toronto Italian Studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015), Annali d'Italianistica 34, 595-97

V. Abbatelli (2014), '“Accadde tutto molti anni fa, in una città bella e piena di luce, nella Spagna del sud”: Baricco riscrive il Don Giovanni' in Dal manoscritto al web: canali e modalità di trasmissione dell'italiano. Tecniche, materiali e usi nella storia della lingua. Conference Proceedings of the XII International congress Silfi – University of Helsinki, 18-20 June 2012 (Franco Cesati, Firenze), pp. 221-229.

V. Abbatelli (ed.), Lettere di Innocenza Tondi al marito e ad altri familiari (1860-1882), http://ceod.unistrasi.itLink opens in a new window

Workshop and Seminar organised

'Intercultural Empathy in the Italian Studies Classroom, University of Warwick, SIS Conference 2022 (co-organised with Cecilia Piantanida)

'Paratextual Approaches to Retranslation and Rewriting'Link opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 24th January 2018 (funded by IAS, GRP Connecting Cultures and HRC)

'When Words Become Images, University of Warwick, Cadre Peer Development Exchange 2016 (11 May 2016), funded by Cadre

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of Advance HE
  • PhD in Italian Studies (University of Warwick)
  • PhD in Historical Linguistics and History of Italian Language (University of Rome "La Sapienza")
  • Ditals II level (University Stranieri Siena)
  • MA in Linguistics (University of Rome "La Sapienza")
  • BA in Italian Studies (University of Rome "La Sapienza")
On leave in T1 and T2, 2024-25

Teaching 2023-24

IT101 Italian for beginnersLink opens in a new window (group A) - module convenor

IT201 Modern Italian Language IILink opens in a new window (grammar) - module convenor

IT401 Modern Italian Language IV (oral and writing) - module convenor

IT116 Introducing Italy: Local and Global PerspectivesLink opens in a new window (module tutor)

IT337 Beyond Books: Publishing, Translation and Marketing in Italy (19th -21st century)Link opens in a new window (module tutor and convenor)