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Department ofModern Languages and Literatures

Tonia Caterina Riviello

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Tonia Caterina Riviello
Associate Professor

Biographical Information

Tonia Caterina Riviello is Associate Professor of Italian Studies at Santa Clara University.

Born and raised in Italy, her education and interests concentrated on humanistic and religious studies, specifically in the movement called L'Azione Cattolica. Her love of teaching found early expression in her writing and public recitation of poems, especially for children. Her personal experiences have also contributed to her approaches to women's issues in contemporary Italian Cinema. From an early age, she was fascinated by the great authors of the Italian literary tradition and went on to receive a B. A., M. A., and Ph. D. in Italian Literature at Hunter College and the University of Wisconsin--Madison.

Having been born on Saint Clare's day, she treasured the dream of teaching at Santa Clara University. This became a reality when she was hired and began teaching her native language and her beloved Italian authors to the students of the oldest institution in the west.

Courses Taught

  • Elementary Italian I, II, III
  • Intermediate Italian I, II
  • Advanced Italian I, II
  • Advanced Italian Conversation
  • Cinema e Cultura
  • Colloquium: Italian Literature and Culture
  • Dante, La Divina Commedia II
  • Settecento
  • Ottocento, I Promessi Sposi
  • 20th-Century Italian Women Writers
  • Women in Italian Cinema: The Impact of Globalization

Research Interests

Her scholarship includes studies on the Renaissance, Women's Studies, 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century Italian Literature, as well as Italian Cinema. She has published her poetry inspired by faith, spirituality, nature, the sea, family, and friends. She dedicated one of her poetry books to Padre Pio, now "Saint Pio," whom she had the privilege of meeting with her parents when she was only a child.

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Received in Torino, Italy (Fall 2004) a medal from the Premio Letterario: Mario Soldati, for her poetry.
  • Received in Sorrento, Italy (October 2003) the Gold Plaque of the European Parliament (Ufficio per l'Italia--The Italian office) in recognition of her course "Women in Italian Cinema: The Impact of Globalization."
  • Received in Liguria, Italy (June 23, 2002), from the Premio Cinque Terre: E. Cozzani, a golden cup, awarded for editing the book Women in Italian Cinema (La donna nel cinema italiano). She dedicated this book to the patroness Saint Clare of Assisi on the 150th Anniversary of the founding of SCU.
  • Received in Pisa, Italy (January 1996) the literary prize Pagina d'oro terzo millennio for Acque d'Italia: Immagini del tempo prenatale.
  • Received in Venice, Italy (August 1995) the literary prize Incontri di letteratura for Acque d'Italia: Immagini del tempo prenatale.

Selected Publications

  • "The Journey Motif In 20th-Century Literature And Italian Cinema,"
    Rivista di Studi Italiani (University of Toronto), Anno XXV , n° 2, dicembre 2007, pp. 242-255.
  • La terra getta il seme. (La Spezia: Edizioni del Cenacolo, giugno 2007). A book of poems in Italian.
  • Women in Italian Cinema (La donna nel cinema italiano). Editor. (Roma: Edizioni Libreria Croce s. r. l, giugno 2001).
  • "From Silence to Universality in Le piccole virtù by Natalia Ginzburg" in Forum Italicum, Spring 1999, 185-199.
  • "Dualities in the 'Sabato del villaggio' by Giacomo Leopardi" in Rivista di Studi Italiani, Anno XVI, No. 2, dicembre 1998, pp. 486-496.
  • "Dialectic of Imagination and Reason: From Vico to Lonergan" in Italian Culture, Anno XV, 1997, pp. 399-413.
  • "The Purposes and Obligations of Poetry," in The Flight of Ulysses: Essays in Memory of Emmanuel Hatzantonis, edited by Augustus Mastri.  Monograph series Studi e Testi.  Annali d'italianistica (University of North Carolina:  Chapel Hill) 1997, pp. 53-66.
  • "Fellini's Woman Protagonist in Catholic Italian Society" in Rivista di studi italiani, Anno XIV, No. 2, (University of Toronto) dicembre 1996, pp. 167-192.
  • "Rossellini's Amalgam of Resistance and Religion in 'Roma, città aperta'" in Italian Culture, American Association of Italian Studies, Anno XIV.  (McNaughton and Gunn, Inc.:  Ann Arbor, Michigan) 1996, pp. 367-384.
  • Acque d'Italia:  Immagini del tempo prenatale.  (Spinea-Venezia:  Edizioni del Leone, 1994).
  • "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli:  A Different View" in A Century of Italian Immigration--1890-1990, (Nortex Press: Austin, Texas) December 1994, pp. 276-285.
  • "Virtue and Prudence from Niccolò Machiavelli to Jean Racine," Quaderni d'Italianistica (University of Toronto, Vol. XII, No. 1, Primavera 1991), pp. 21-33.
  • "The Motif of Entrapment in Elsa Morante's L'Isola di Arturo and Dacia Maraini's L'età  del Malessere," Rivista di Studi Italiani (University of Toronto), Anno VIII, No. 1-2, giugno-dicembre 1990, pp. 70-87.
  • ADAMEVA:  Poems and Colors.  Rome:  De Luca Editore, 1986.
  • Agnolo Firenzuola: The Androgynous Vision.  Rome: Bulzoni Editore, 1986.