Faculty Development Funds Support JCU's Outstanding Professors

JCU Vice President and Academic Dean Mary Merva is pleased to announce the JCU Faculty Development Funds (FDC) awarded for the academic year 2015-2016. “JCU’s support of this outstanding group of scholars helps brings a great vibrancy to our academic culture here in Rome. We are so proud of our faculty and the enthusiasm they have for their continued professional development.”

The following professors have received FDC awards for research and professional projects during the 2015-2016 academic year (in alphabetical order):

Pejman Abdolmohammadi Political Science and International Affairs
Professor Abdolmohammadi participated in the British Institute of Middle Easter Studies (BRISMES) Annual Conference 2016 at the University of Wales in July 2016.

Silvia AmmaryEnglish Language and Literature
Professor Ammary participated in the International Conference ‘The Place of Memory and Memory of Place’, where she presented a paper entitled “Modernist American Fiction: Trauma and Healing through Memory in Warsaw, Poland in October, 2015. She also presented a paper entitled ‘The Functions of Drinking in Hemingway’s Fiction’ at a conference entitle ‘Booze as a Muse: writers and their works’ at the University of Vienna in July 2016.

Federigo ArgentieriPolitical Science and International Affairs
Professor Argentieri participated in the 47th Convention of the ASEEES in Philadelphia in November 2015. He also presented a paper at the HSAC Conference at the University of Calgary in May 2016.

Tom BaileyHistory and Humanities
Professor Bailey participated in the Nietzsche Symposium at the National University of Ireland, Galway in October 2015. He also participated in the Leuven Kant Conference where he presented a paper entitled ‘From a Good Will to the Formulas: Kant’s Argument in the Second Section of ‘Groundwork’ in Leuven in June 2016.

Pal BelényesiEconomics
Professor Belényesi conducted research on the topic of digital competitiveness and supporting regulatory actions in Iceland, Norway during Spring/Summer, 2016. He also conducted on-site research concerning the socio-organizational behavior of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon toward an understanding of “host country-migrants” relations for better policymaking in the European Union.

Benedetta BessiHistory and Humanities
Professor Bessi conducted research on an ongoing project on Cristoforo Buondelmonti and the Liber Insularum at the Gennadion Library of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.

Massimo BetelloHistory and Humanities
Professor Betello received support for online cloud storage of his dissertation. He also participated in the archaeological mission at the ancient city of Grumentum in Basilicata.

Federica CapoferriModern Languages and Literature
Professor Capoferri delivered a paper at the XXII AIPI Conference (Associazione Internazionale Professori di Italiano) in Budapest.

Clelia CliniCommunications
Professor Clini participated  in the conference entitled ‘The Future of Europe’ at the University of Bucharest where she presented her paper entitled ‘Migration and Multiculturalism in Italy: Conflicting Narratives of Cultural Identity’. She also participated in the 17th Triennial Conference of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (ACLALS) “The Idea of Post-colonial Culture: Inclusions and Exclusions”, where she presented her paper entitled ‘The Diaspora Experience in South Asian Diasporic Cinema: Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion’ at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa in July 2016. She also participated in the 24th European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS2016) where she presented her paper entitled ‘Is Everybody Kung Fu Fighting? Indian Popular Cinema and Martial Arts Films’ at the University of Warsaw, Poland in July 2016.

Isabella Clough MarinaroModern Languages and Literature
Professor Clough Marinaro participated in the 6th Ethnography & Qualitative Research Conference where she presented a paper entitled ‘Salvaging Rome: Roma Waste Traders and the City’s “Garbage Crisis” ‘ in Bergamo June 2016.

Carlos DewsEnglish Language and Literature
Professor Dews presented a paper at a session he chaired at The Society for the Study of Southern Literature Conference 2016 in Boston.

Andrea Di RobilantEnglish Language and Literature
Professor Di Robilant performed research toward the completion of a book on Ernest Hemingway’s time in Venice and the Veneto to be published by Knopf in 2017.

Michael DriessenPolitical Science and International Affairs
Professor Driessen will participate in APSA Conference (American Political Science Association), Philadelphia, September 2016.

Aidan FaddenEnglish Language and Literature
Professor Fadden gave a public reading for the London-based journal of poetry and criticism Lunar Poetry.

Inge Lyse HansenArt History
Professor Hansen participated in the “Gendering Roman Imperialism” conference at the Institute for Classical Studies, University of London in June 2016.

Pamela HarrisPolitical Science and International Affairs
Professor Harris participated in the Seminar ‘Diritti fondamentali e modelli di giustizia costituzionale a confronto: Italia vs. U.S.A.’ at the Law Faculty of the University of Urbino where she presented a paper and represented JCU, December 11, 2015. She also presented a paper at the Conference of the Brazilian International Law Association.

Margaret KnellerMathematics, Natural Science and Computer Science
Professor Kneller participated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2016 Annual Convention “Global Science Engagement” in Washington, D.C., February 2016. She also presented a paper at the AMICAL 2016 Conference in Rome.

Jens KoehlerArt History
Professor Koehler participated  in the 12th Roman Archaeology Conference (RAC) at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza‘ where he presented a paper entitled ‘Before the Hammam: Ancient Spas of Roman North Africa’, March 2016. He also participated in the International Conference “Water Management during the Time of Frontinus” in Germany, May 2016.

Antonio LopezCommunications
Professor Lopez participated in the Media Education Summit in Boston, November 2015 where he acted as co-coordinator of a workshop entitled “Bridging Sustainability Education with Media Education: Methods, Techniques and Hands-On Approaches from Practitioner Experiences in the Field”. He also participated in the Media Ecology Association conference, Bologna, June 2016.

Josephine LuzonEconomics
Professor Luzon participated in a 2-day workshop entitled ‘Full Cost Recovery: Strategy and Mechanics’ organized by Inside NGO in London, September 2016.

Tijana Mamula Communications
Professor Mamula participated in the annual Screen Studies Conference where she presented a paper entitled ‘Silent Babel: Cinematic Multilingualism Beyond the Soundtrack’, Glasgow, June 2016. She also attended a professional development course, Final Cut Pro X, July 2016.

Lorenza ParisiCommunications
Professor Parisi participated in the ‘LGBTQs Media and Culture in Europe’ international workshop where she presented a paper entitled ‘Exploring networked interactions and self-presentation strategies through the lens of a location-based dating service: the case of Grindr’, Belgium, December 2015.

Nicola PetrocchiSocial Sciences
Professor Petrocchi presented a paper at the 13th National Conference of Italian Society Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, September 2016.

William PettitArt History
Professor Pettit participated in the Othello’s Island conference, the Fourth Annual International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Art, Literature, Social and Cultural History, at the Center for Visual Arts and Research, Nicosia, Cyprus, March 2016.

Andrew RuttEnglish Language and Literature
Professor Rutt translated Flannery O’Connor’s ‘A Prayer Journal’ during a residency at the Heinrich Boll Cottage, Achill Island in June 2016.

Eszter Salgò Political Science and International Affairs
Professor Salgò will participate in the ‘European Discourse’ Conference where she will deliver a paper in September 2016.

Carolyn SmythArt History
Professor Smyth conducted in situ archival research in the preparation of an article entitled “Between Heaven and Hell, Doctrine and Cult; La Chiesa del Purgatorio ad Arco in Naples and the Devotion of Consolation.” She also participated in the Renaissance Society of America Conference, Boston in November 2015.

Erika Tasini Communications
Professor Tasini participated in the Torino Film Festival, November 2015. She also participated in the 27th International Film Festival Marseille 2016. Furthermore, she participated in the Advocate Europe Summit – Budapest and London, June 2016.

Mike WatsonCommunications
Professor Watson participated in a project in Venice as part of the official finissage program of an official collateral event of the 56th Venice Biennale, November 2015. He also participated in an event at the Royal College of the Arts on social class in the art world in London. Furthermore, he launched his first book entitled ‘Toward a Conceptual Militancy’ at Art Review in London, at the ICA in London and at the Isola Art Center in Milan, May-July 2016.

Lila Elizabeth YawnArt History
Professor Yawn participated in the conference “The Codex Amiatinus in Context” in York, July 2016. She also participated in the Sixteenth-Century Society Conference where she delivered a paper entitled ‘Michelangelo’s Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and the Late-Ancient and Medieval Biblical Imagery of Old St. Peter’s Basilica’, Bruges in August 2016.