Concettina RIZZO

 Cettina Rizzo is Full Professor of French Literature at the Department of Humanities of the University of Catania. For many years, her research has focused on comparative perspectives between the arts and literature in the nineteenth century. The main scholarly references informing her work in this field include Albert Boime, Francis Haskell, Krzysztof Pomian, and Maurice Rheims for art criticism and collecting studies; and manuscripts related to pantomime, the “short form,” novellas, and prefatory writings for literary genres, drawing on the work of Jean-Louis Cabanès, Philippe Hamon, and Bernard Vouilloux.

New analyses of co-semiotic relations between the arts and creative writing have contributed to important lines of research involving artistic dictionaries and prefaces to auction catalogues, further expanded and enriched through international projects and conferences. These initiatives have consistently explored the dynamic relationship between the arts and literature, with particular attention to issues of aesthetic perception and reception.

Additional areas of research developed over the years, complementing the studies outlined above, concern the theory and practice of literary translation, especially theatrical translation, also thanks to collaborations with directors, actors, and the “Face à Face” project of the French Embassy.

Other research interests include intercultural relations within Francophone areas such as North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.

A. Organization, Direction, and Coordination of National and International Research Centers or Groups, Participation in Them, and Other Research Activities Including Editorial Responsibilities

Coordinator for the University of Catania of the research project and conference:
“L’individu, le collectif, la communauté” dans les arts et les littératures contemporaines de langue française et d’ailleurs; Feira de Santana, Brazil, 11–15 June 2015, in collaboration with the following universities:

• Universidade Estadual Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil
• Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France
• Université Paris-Est Créteil, France
• Université Laval, Québec
• Université de Lubumbashi, DRC
• Université St Thomas, Canada
• University of Catania, Italy
• Universidade Federal do Reconcavo, Cachoeira, Brazil

Director of the Double Degree Programme with Paris-UPEC: organization of educational and training pathways, seminars, study days, and conferences from 2015 to the present.

Scientific Director of the Dire-Med Project (Dialogue interculturel, Réseaux et mobilité en Méditerranée, 2015–2019), funded under the European ERASMUS+ programme, Key Action 2 – Capacity Building, aimed at contributing to the modernization, accessibility, and internationalization of higher education in the Maghreb countries.

Project partners included:

• Union des Universités de la Méditerranée, Italy (Coordinator)
• University of Catania, Italy
• Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
• Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
• Estudios Universitarios y Superiores de Andalucía, Spain
• Agence Internationale de Conseil et de Mobilité SL, Spain
• Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Morocco
• Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Morocco
• Université Mohamed Lamine Debaghine de Sétif 2, Algeria
• Université d’Alger 1 Benyoucef Benkhedda, Algeria
• Université de Tunis Al Manar, Tunisia
• Université de Carthage, Tunisia

Scientific coordinator for the AUF (Association Universitaire Francophone) at the University of Catania, partner of the Cellule francophone Italie (with the University of Turin as lead institution).

Member of the EUNICE Project, “European Universities,” transnational alliances of higher education institutions across the EU working together for the benefit of students, faculty, public institutions, and enterprises. Responsible for the module Réalités du territoire méditerranéen in collaboration with the Université de Mons and the Université de Valenciennes (2022–2025).

Member of the Scientific Committee of the Interuniversity Research Center Polyphonie: Plurilingualism, Writing, Creativity.

Scientific coordinator for the University of Catania within the project AIME – Alliance Internationale des Universités de la Méditerranée (since November 2024).

A1 – Funded Research Projects

National Research Projects (PRIN – funded by the Italian Ministry)

1. Participation in the PRIN 2000 research project, coordinated by Prof. G. Savoca: European Literatures in Italy in the Twentieth Century: Poets, Critics, Translators and Journals. Databases, Lexicons and Studies.
2. Participation in the PRIN 2002 research project, coordinated by Prof. G. Savoca: Practices and Hermeneutics of Translation in Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature: Poets, Translators, Journals. Databases, Lexicons and Studies.
3. National Coordinator of the PRIN 2004 research project: Writing and Rewriting, Imitation, Translation and Interpretation in Italian Literature from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century.
4. Participation in the PRIN 2008 project, coordinated by Prof. Giovanni Dotoli: Lexicography and Metalexicography: Bilingual Dictionary. The Construction of a New French/Italian – Italian/French Bilingual Dictionary and New Specialized Dictionaries.

 

European Projects (funded by the European Union)

1. Scientific collaborator and coordinator of teaching modules and seminars within the Comenius 2.1 “ISTEPEC” project (2004–2007), devoted to the mobility of future teachers.

Project title: Intercultural Studies in Teacher Education to Promote European Citizenship.

Within this project, the mobility of future primary and secondary school teachers, both in language and non-language disciplines, was promoted during the years 2004–2007.

Coordinator of the teaching module “Langues et Cultures: Vivre le quotidien dans une Europe démocratique”, held in Catania for European trainees from 11 to 23 April 2005.

 

University Research Projects (PRA – funded by the University)

1. Principal Investigator: Masques et visages du Pierrot: the metamorphosis of a myth in nineteenth-century French culture (2001).
2. Principal Investigator: The Narrative Works of Champfleury: Paths between Text and Image (2002).
3. Principal Investigator: Champfleury: The Narrative Works, Paths between Text and Image (2003).
4. Principal Investigator: Confluences of Languages: Literature, Art and Music in Nineteenth-Century France (2004).
5. Principal Investigator: Confluences of Languages: Literature, Art and Music in Nineteenth-Century France (2005).
6. Principal Investigator: Languages in Comparison: Textual Typologies and Visual Arts in Nineteenth-Century France (2006).
7. The Language of the Arts in Comparison between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries in France, coordinated by Prof. M.T. Puleio (2007).
8. Réécriture: Rewritings, Parodies, Pastiche, coordinated by Prof. M.T. Puleio (2008).
9. Identity and Interaction between Cultures, coordinated by M. Marchetti (2015).
10. FIR Project – Principal Investigator: Marilia Marchetti: Languages and Cultures in Comparison (2017).
11. Prometeo Project, Line 1 – Principal Investigator: Narrating and Representing Museums in Nineteenth-Century Paris (2018).
12. Prometeo Project, Line 3 P.I.: Migrations, Conflicts, Interculturality: Strategies and Methods for the Construction of New Linguistic-Cultural and Symbolic Competencies (2018–2020).
13. PIACERI Project P.I.: Migrations and Belonging: Analysis of Strategies and Methods for the Construction of New Identity Concepts and the Restructuring of Linguistic Repertoires (2021–2023).
14. PIACERI Project P.I.: Socio-Linguistic and Artistic-Literary Spaces of Post-Migration: Proposals and Models for a Lasting Dialogue between Cultures (2025–2026).

 

A2 – Editorial Responsibilities

Member of the Editorial Boards of the Journals

• Studi comparatistici (since 2016), directed by Emanuele Kanceff.
• Comparatistica (since 2021), founded by Enzo Caramaschi and directed by Carlo Bordoni.
• Member of the Scientific Committee of Noêma, Revue internationale d’études françaises (since 2026).

Member of the Editorial Staff

• Le Forme e la Storia (since 2022), directed by Gaetano Lalomia and Antonio Pioletti.

Co-Director

• Literary Translation Series Recommencements (since 2022), Agorà Edizioni, Lugano.

Director

• Les introuvables: Rari e inediti (2009–2010), Bonanno, Acireale–Catania.

A3 – Research Periods Abroad

Research stays at:

• Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, summer 2004.
• Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, summer 2009.

 

A4 – Evaluation Activities

Referee Activities

For Journals

• Arabeschi
• Le Forme e la Storia (2019–2021)
• InVerbis
• Ponts
• Interfrancophonies

For Series

• Multiples

Research Evaluation

• Reviewer for VQR 2015–2019
• Reviewer for VQR 2020–2024

 

A5 – National and International Associations

• Member of SICL. Since 2016, elected to the Executive Board and served two terms as Treasurer; elected President in 2025.
• Member of AILC/ICLA.
• Member of CRLC since 2014.
• Member of GRELIF from 2013 to 2019.
• Member of Association Internationale des Études Françaises from 2014 to 2019.
• Member of the Centro Studi sulla Sinonimia since 2019.
• Member of SUSLLF since 2000.
• Member of the LA.LI.TRA. Laboratory since November 2024.

 

A6 – Scientific and Organizational Activities

• Design of a teaching pathway combining images and text for the photographic exhibition “Flâneries à Paris”, Catania, Anti-Refettorio dei Benedettini, 9–23 May 2003.
• Translating for the Stage – The Theatre of José Pliya: translation and theatrical production project carried out in collaboration with the doctoral research group in French Studies at the University of Catania, the theatre company Statale 114, and students from the Faculties of Humanities and Languages, as well as doctoral students in French Studies. Several performances were staged within the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy and throughout Italy from 2002 to 2015.
• Double Stage – meetings between the Teatro Stabile di Catania and the Faculty of Letters:
  • meeting on L’Illusion comique by Pierre Corneille, Catania, former Benedictine Monastery, 3 May 2006.
  • meeting on Phèdre by Jean Racine, Catania, Benedictine Monastery, 8 February 2007.
  • meeting on Les Bonnes by Jean Genet, Catania, Benedictine Monastery, 28 February 2008.

Tribute to Samuel Beckett

• Meeting on Pas by Samuel Beckett, Catania, Scenario Pubblico, June 2006.
• Round table on Samuel Beckett, Catania, Biblioteca Ursino Recupero, July 2006.
• Meeting on Breath, Come and Go, and Play by Beckett, Catania, Scenario Pubblico, October 2008.

Coordinator of the Cultural Project “Testo a fronte”

Meetings and seminars on literary translation:

• April 2007 – Auditorium Benedettini – Il ladro di parole: Andrea Camilleri and the French translations of his works, with Serge Quadruppani and Dominique Vittoz.
• May 2007 – Coro di Notte dei Benedettini – Translating Theatre with Fabrizio Arcuri of the Accademia degli Artefatti.
• January 2008 – Coro di Notte dei Benedettini – Bufalino and the Reasons for Translation, with René Corona and Maria Gabriella Adamo.
• April 2009 – Coro di Notte dei Benedettini – Italian translations of Yves Bonnefoy curated by Fabio Scotto.
• 14 November 2008 – educational and pedagogical day on Intercultural Dialogue, organized in collaboration with LEND, the French Cultural Centre, the French Embassy, the Goethe-Institut, and CSA. Ten workshops on teaching practices related to the topic were presented.
• Organization of the international conference Architectures–Architextures romantiques, Catania, 27–29 November, together with M. Marchetti, M.T. Puleio and M.L. Scelfo, held at the Benedictine Monastery and the Rectorate Aula Magna.
• Scientific coordinator of the national LEND conference (Lingua e Nuova Didattica), Catania, Centro Le Ciminiere, October 2009.
• Coordinator of the conference Dialogue between Disciplines: C.L.I.L., Auditorium Benedettini, April 2010.
• Il verso presente: “De la sua loquela in altra trasmutare” – poetic translation with Miguel Angel Cuevas, Jaroslav Mikolajevski and Fabio Scotto, 8 April 2010, Coro di Notte, Benedictine Monastery.
• Il verso presente: The Experience of Tel Quel and French and Italian Experimental Writing, meeting with Fausto Curi and Andrea Inglese, 3 May 2011, Auditorium Benedettini.
• Yves Bergeret et le Poème de l’Etna, coordinator of the cultural event presented for the first time in Italy with original music by Enrico Ciullo, Catania, Auditorium Benedettini, 11 October 2010.
• Coordinator of the meeting Gabriel Okoundji et la poésie d’initiation, 23 November 2010, Catania, Benedictine Monastery, Coro di Notte.
• Presentation of the play Vie et mort de Pier-Paolo Pasolini by Michel Ozama, Faculty of Letters Auditorium, February 2011.
• Presentation of the play Pacamambo by Wajdi Mouawad, Centro di Culture Contemporanee, 25 March 2011, within the French Embassy project Face à Face: paroles de France pour scènes d’Italie.
• Il potere dei giocattoli, theatre-poetry performance with the company Gesticolando, Auditorium Benedettini, 20 May 2011.
• Scientific consultant for the staging of Play and Come and Go by Samuel Beckett, directed by Salvo Gennuso, Catania, Centro di Culture Contemporanee, December 2011.
• Seminar on poetic translation: All’ombra dell’altra lingua – Per una poetica della traduzione by Antonio Prete, University of Catania, Central Building, 28 March 2012.
• Presentation of the play La confusion by M. Nimier, Centro di Culture Contemporanee, 30 April 2012, within the French Embassy project Face à Face: paroles de France pour scènes d’Italie.
• Member of the organizing committee of the international conference L’espace du Dictionnaire: expressions-impressions, Catania, Aula Magna, Benedictine Monastery, 20–21 September 2012.
• Coordinator of the UniLend conference Learning to Certify: Which Competences for Teachers?, Catania, Aula Magna and Auditorium of the Benedictine Monastery and Liceo “Boggio Lera”.
• Presentation of the poetic works of Tan Vân-Tôn-Thât, with Paris XII UPEC, 23 April 2013, Aula 4, Central Building.
• Meeting on Antillean Francophonie with Papa Samba Diop, in collaboration with Paris XII UPEC, April 2013, Aula 4, Central Building.
• Presentation of the poetic works of Biagio Guerrera for the Dante Alighieri Society, Catania, 12 February 2014, Coro di Notte, Benedictine Monastery.
• “Living between Languages”: Amin Maalouf and Dialogue among Peoples, conference within the study day A Dialogical Path toward the Globalization of Equal Dignity and Common Humanity among Peoples, Aula Magna of Liceo Boggio Lera, 28 April 2014.
• Organization of the SICL conference, together with Maria Gabriella Adamo: Journals and Creativity between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Messina–Catania, Coro di Notte, Benedictine Monastery, 4–5 June 2014.
• Organization of the conference La langue française et le marché de l’art, 21–23 April 2015.
• Organization of the seminar with Yasmina Labed of the University of Constantine (Algeria): Albert Memmi et la construction de l’identité, March 2015.
• Organization of the seminar L’écriture du Vietnam with Thanh-Vân Ton-That, in collaboration with Paris XII UPEC, 17 June 2015.
• Organization of the LEND Pedagogical Day: Language Education: Integrating Existing Resources with Innovation, Auditorium Benedettini, University of Catania and Boggio Lera Institute, 4 April 2016.
• Organization of the SICL conference: Literature, Arts, Science and Technology in Twentieth-Century Journals (1900–1950), Universities of Catania and Messina, 23–25 May 2016.
• Organization of the conference Stories, Languages and Writings of Migration within the Mediterranean festival SabirFest, 3–7 October 2018, Catania and Messina.
• Organization of the seminar Femmes éducatrices et auteures au XVIIIe siècle: l’exemple de Mmes Leprince de Beaumont et Genlis, coordinated by Marie-Emmanuelle Plagnol, Director of the Doctoral School of UPEC, Paris Est, 2 April 2019, in collaboration with Paris XII UPEC, Monastero dei Benedettini, Catania.
• Meeting with Gabriel Okoundji and Elisa Bricco: Culture of Orality and Writing: Gabriel Okoundji translated by Elisa Bricco, 3 May 2019, Auditorium, Monastero dei Benedettini, Catania.
• Organization of the international conference Stories, Languages and Writings of Migration, within the Mediterranean Festival, October 2019.
• Organization of the international conference Migrations and Belongings: Composite Identities and Plurilingualism, 3–4 November 2021, Auditorium Benedettini, Catania.
• Conference, with the Comparative Literature Society: On Justice in Literature, Bologna, Department of Languages and Cultures, 23–25 March 2022.
• International Study Day, with the Comparative Literature Society: Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus, 100 Years Later, 7 December 2022, Sapienza University of Rome, Marco Polo campus, Rome.
• Journée des Assises pour le français en Sicile 2023, Aula Magna Santo Mazzarino, Benedettini, 19 April 2023.
• Organizing Committee, International Conference of SICL: Italo Calvino, the Arts, the Sciences, Venice, Ca’ Bernardo, 30 November–1 December 2023.
• International conference: Images, Symbols and Languages of Migration, Auditorium dei Benedettini, University of Catania, 11–12 April 2024.
• Meetings and Seminars with Mohammed Jadir, Hassan II University of Casablanca, 10 and 12 December 2024: Traduire la littérature migrante and Traduire la diglossie.
• International conference: Translating for the Stage, Catania, 16–17 December 2024, Coro di Notte dei Benedettini and Aula Magna of the DEI.
• International conference: Adaptations: Forms of Storytelling in the Languages of the Graphic Novel. Status Quaestionis, 23–24 October 2025, University of Florence.
• Study Day (Scientific Committee): Une journée d’étude sur le thème Traduction, langues et pratiques artistiques : perspectives interdisciplinaires, Laboratoire LALITRA, 13 November 2025, Casablanca.
•  
• B – AWARDS AND NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
• Appointed to the Committee of Structures of the International Comparative Literature Association (AILC/ICLA), in recognition of the importance of international experience and scientific research, from 2016 to 2019.
• Members of the Committee of Structures: Lieven D’hulst (Belgium), Ibra Diene (Senegal), Jonathan Hart (Canada), Sandra Nitrini (Brazil), Concetta Rizzo (Italy), Wang Xiaolu (China), Anders Pettersson (Sweden, President).
•  
• C – PARTICIPATION AS SPEAKER AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
• Participation in the conference: Margherita Pusterla by Cesare Cantù and Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo: A Reading Hypothesis, in the Proceedings of the International Conference European Reflections on Romantic Italy, CIRVI, Universities of Verona and Lecce, Verona, 22–24 April 1998.
• Invited participation: Champfleury, Les pantomimes de Pierrot. Proceedings of the Champfleury Conference, Bordeaux, 22–24 May 2003.
• Participation in the conference: Théophile Gautier et les collections d’œuvres d’art, German Center for Art History, Paris, 26–30 April 2006.
• Invited participation: ISTEPEC Formation, Integration, Interculturality: an Italian Perspective, Conclusion, 14 September 2007, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.
• Invited participation: ISTEPEC, 13–14 September 2007, Teaching Europe, Roots and Identities: the Chanson de geste in the Construction of the European Imaginary, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.
• Invited participation: Pierrot fin de siècle and the Poetic Texts of Albert Giraud, in Pierrot lunaire by Arnold Schoenberg, 31 May 2010, Auditorium dei Benedettini, Catania.
• Invited participation: Albert Camus: Under the Sign of the Sun, Aula Magna of the I.T.I.S. “E. Fermi” of Giarre (Catania), Monday 16 May 2011.
• Participation in the conference: Emma Mahul’s Album sicilien: the Poetic Text as Memory and Testimony, in Italy in the Eyes of Europe, Turin–Moncalieri, 5–9 September 2011.
• Participation in the conference: Les Dictionnaires des arts décoratifs entre XIX et XX siècle : nouvelles perspectives et méthode critique, University of Calabria, Cosenza, 26–27 April 2012.
• Invited participation: Sakountala: The Heritage of Indian Mythology in Literature and Art in the 19th Century, La Mythographie à l’âge moderne, Fribourg, 8–11 May 2013.
• Invited participation: Une journée à Palerme : Traversées de terres et de cultures, Université Paris-Est, International Conference, 21–22 November 2013.
• Participation in the conference: Théophile Gautier rédacteur en chef à L’Artiste : vers un manifeste de l’art total, Messina–Catania, 4–5 June 2014.
• Participation in the conference: Arts, écritures, vente aux enchères au XIX siècle : les Préfaces aux catalogues, Catania, 21–23 April 2015.
• Invited participation: Lecture on The Journey into the Great South by Tahar Ben Jelloun, Coro di Notte dei Benedettini, Catania, 6 May 2015.
• Participation in the conference: Le “Grand Sud” dans le Dictionnaire culturel de l’Orientalisme : les interprétations de la Méditerranée au XIX siècle entre écriture et représentations, in The Languages of the Mediterranean, Thessaloniki, 1–3 June 2015.
• Participation in the conference: Incendies: from the Text by Wajdi Mouawad to the Film by Denis Villeneuve, in Readers Who Watch, Spectators Who Read, Bologna, 11–12 June 2015.
• Invited participation in the round table on doctoral programs, French Studies Society, Florence, September 2015.
• Participation in the conference: Identity and Interaction among Cultures, 10 December 2015, Coro di Notte, Monastero dei Benedettini; title of the paper: The Contamination of Genres in the Theatre of Wajdi Mouawad: the Challenge of Seuls.
• Participation in the conference: From the Cabinet d’objets précieux to the House Museum: Interior Architectures in the 19th Century between Collecting, Decorative and Applied Arts, in Archiletture, Bologna, Department of Architecture, 3–5 May 2017.
• Participation in the conference: “Et maintenant place au théâtre”: Le Dictionnaire d’Arthur Pougin et les arts de la scène. Arthur Pougin et la tradition des Dictionnaires de Théâtre, in Les Dictionnaires de Littérature, Palermo, 19–20 May 2017.
• Invited participation by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie: Francophone Spaces and Professional Opportunities, Turin, 26 September 2018.
• Invited participation: Foreigners in Grey-Green 1915–1918, Turin–Moncalieri, 18–20 October 2018; title of the paper: Jules Destrée, “En Italie avant et après la guerre”.
• Invited participation: Dire-med, dialogue interculturel, réseaux de mobilité en Méditerranée, University of Carthage, 22 September 2017.
• Invited participation: Literature and Mobility, The Tetralogy of Wajdi Mouawad: Notes and Reflections on a Contemporary Odyssey, 4–5 December 2018, Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco.
• Invited participation: Polyphony: Retrospectives and Perspectives, From Seuls to Sœurs: Identity and Plurilingualism in the Theatre of Wajdi Mouawad, 2–3 May 2022, University of Genoa.
• Invited participation: Francophone Spaces in Italy. Working Day of the Italian Francophone Cell (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, Italian Francophone Cell), 28 September 2022, University of Turin.
• Invited participation in the 4th edition of the Festival CIVITAS EDUCATIONIS: Visions, Senses, Horizons, 8–10 November 2022; title of the talk: Theatres of the World: Contaminations among the Arts on the Contemporary Stage, Kore University of Enna.
• Participation in the conference: IX International Conference on Mediterranean Studies, Tunis, Re-reading the Concept: Dwelling, Limit, Frontier between Art, Literature and History: Pathways, Tunis, 27–28 April 2023; title of the paper: Amin Maalouf and Abandoned Houses: Exploring the History of the Near and Middle East through Family Cartography.
• Invited participation in the AUF Day (Agence francophone française), Turin, 2 May 2023.
• Invited participation in the 4th edition of the Festival CIVITAS EDUCATIONIS: Visions, Senses, Horizons, 7–9 November 2023; title of the talk: The Rewriting of Myths on the Contemporary Francophone Stage, Kore University of Enna.
• Participation in the conference promoted by the Poclande network: Transmission: Languages, Art and Culture at the Heart of Sustainable Development; title of the paper: Gabriel Okoundji between Memory and Transmission: Okondo and the Tégué Heritage, Fez, Morocco, 22–25 November 2023.
• Invited participation in the international conference: The Challenges of Cultural Misunderstanding, Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, Valenciennes, 14–16 March 2024; title of the paper: Incendies by Wajdi Mouawad between Theatre and Screen (Denis Villeneuve): an Analysis of the Title in the Italian and English Versions.
• Organization of seminars on Translation with the LALITRA Laboratory, Hassan II University of Casablanca, 9–14 December, with Director Mohammed Jadir.
• Co-organization of the conference LEND – Language and New Teaching Methods, Catania, Benedettini, 29–30 November 2024.

Organization of the conference: Translating for the Stage, Catania, 16–17 December 2024, Organization of the study day Le français dans tous les sens, 2nd edition, in collaboration with the Délégation Générale à la langue Française et aux langues de France (DGLFLF), guest speaker Dr. Valerio Emanuele, terminologist at DGLFLF: The system for enriching the French language: expressing science and technology in French, held at the University of Palermo and the University of Catania, 10–11 April 2025.

Organization of the study day Dictionnaire Des Francophones (DDF) – in collaboration with AIME Alliance (International Alliance of Francophone Mediterranean Universities) and the project manager of DDF, University of Catania, 15 April 2025.

Organization of the study day with Magali Discours and her works, 23 October 2025, Monastero dei Benedettini.

Organization of a Masterclass, in collaboration with the Higher School (Scuola Superiore), SAFI project, Laure Fournier, Representation of Reality: Literature, History, Philosophy: The representation of female activism in Sicily and Southern Italy during the Risorgimento, 16–17 April 2026, Monastero dei Benedettini.

 

D – TEACHING AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES

Vice-Dean of the Master’s Degree in Modern Philology from 2014 to July 2017.
Erasmus and internationalisation delegate for DISUM (2015–2022).
Member of the Steering Committee of CLA (University Language Centre Board, 2019–2024).
Department delegate to the Scuola Superiore di Catania (2022–October 2025).

Held several teaching positions (2000–2007) at the School for Teacher Training in Upper Secondary Education in French Language – Classes 45A French, 46A French (Cycles I–VIII).

Coordinator for TFA French Language A245 (2013).
Coordinator for P.A.S. (2014).

Teaching assignments:

1. Development of oral skills;
2. From the development of oral skills to the development of reception, interaction, and written production skills.

Teaching assignments for TFA 2015 (A245–A246):

Didactics of culture and civilisation and development of intercultural competence.

Teaching assignments for the training of future teachers:

Didactics of Literature (July 2024).

Didactics of culture and civilisation and development of intercultural competence (July 2024).

Didactics of Literature (May–June 2025).

Didactics of culture and civilisation and development of intercultural competence (May–June 2025).

 

Responsible for the Double Degree agreement with Paris UPEC (since 2016 to present) (Faculty of Arts, LIS), starting from 2015 (the project received funding from the French–Italian University).

 

Examination Committees

Examination committees for French Language and French Literature:

for both the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Modern Languages (Chair: Prof. Puleio, 2000–2005).

Foreign Language Teaching Methodology (Prof. Pavone, 2001–2004).

French Language and Literature (2000–2012), Faculty of Humanities

.
Degree programme in Communication Sciences (2001–2011)

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Degree programme in Cultural Heritage Studies, Syracuse campus (2003–2009).

Degree programmes in Humanities and Modern Philology, Department of Humanities: French Language and Translation, French Literature (2003–2014).

Degree programmes in European Languages and Cultures, Modern Philology (LM37, LM14), 2014–2021: Comparative French Literature.

Degree programme in European Languages and Cultures (LM37), from 2021: Contemporary French and Francophone Literature.

Examination board for the School of Specialisation: entrance examinations (cycles 2, 3, 4, 5, 8);

final qualification exams (cycles 1–5); internal exams for first and second year students (cycles 1–6).

TFA Commission 2012–13: selection and final exams.

P.A.S. Commission: final exams.

TFA Commission 2014–15: final exams.

Final examination commission ASFI 15–18 December 2025.

 

Member of the doctoral faculty board in French Studies: Current methodologies in literary text analysis (1999–2009), coordinator Prof. M.T. Puleio.

Doctoral supervision in French Studies (University of Catania), theses:

1. Stefana Squatrito – Escape in the jeunesse narratives of Henri Bosco
2. Maria Cristina Pino – Les Spéronare by Alexandre Dumas: travel impressions and writing techniques
3. Adriana Bonforte – L’Enchanteur by René Barjavel: ironic rewriting of a myth
4. Anna Maria Bognanno – La grande dame des Caraïbes: Maryse Condé
5. Angelica Brancato – Daniel Maximin: history and writing
6. Jessica Hauf – From “image-alchemy” to “consumer image”: the age of photography through Nadar, Baudelaire and Delacroix
7. Raffaella Tedeschi – The Impressionism of Octave Mirbeau: an aesthetics of fluidity

Member of the doctoral faculty board in Modern Philology (2010–2012).
Member of the doctoral faculty board in Literary, Philological and Linguistic Studies (Palermo consortium site), coordinator Maria D’Agostino (2012–2013; 2014–2017).

Tutor (2015–2018):
8. Cristina Mineo – Critical edition of the theatre of Jacques-Antoine Révéroni Saint-Cyr.

Member of the Faculty Board of the PhD Programme in Interpretation Sciences, coordinator Prof. Antonio Sichera, since 2017.

Tutor 2020

9) Agatino Lo Castro: co-supervision with Paris XII
PhD thesis project: Étude des idiolectalismes à partir des œuvres de Gabriel Okoundji: for a transcultural approach to linguistic creativity in poetry.

Tutor 2022

10) Carla Aleo: co-supervision with Toulouse, Université Jean-Jaurès

PhD thesis project: La parole niée: the women of myth in the theatre of Hélène Cixous and Lina Prosa.

 

1. Member of the admission committee for the PhD in Italian Studies, 2005, University of Catania.
2. Member of the final examination committee for the PhD in Translation Studies (coordinator Paola Puccini), University of Bologna. Candidate: Flavia Iantorno. Thesis title: Analysis of the Italian translations of Émile Zola’s L’Argent using Taltac-Bologna, June 2012.
3. Member of the admission committee for the PhD in Modern Philology, 2012, University of Catania.
4. Member of the final examination committee for the PhD programme Cultures et Sociétés, Université Paris-Est (December 2013).
   Candidate: Alessio Loreti. Thesis title: The writings of Italians in Tunisia (1896–1956): cultures, identities and literary experimentation.
5. President of the final examination committee for the PhD programme Langues, Lettres et Arts, Université d’Aix-Marseille, CELAM research laboratory (21 November 2014).
   Candidate: Shin-Yi Chou. Thesis title: Female characters in Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu”: a study based on René Girard and Marcel Mauss.
6. Member of the final examination committee for the PhD of Alessandro Monachello, 19 September 2024, Université Paris 8.
   Thesis title: The language of Giovanni Verga under translation: a comparative study of French translations of I Malavoglia and the editorial reception context of Verismo poetics.
7. Member of the final examination committee for the PhD of Agatino Lo Castro (co-supervision with Paris UPEC), 28 November 2025:
   Étude des idiolectalismes à partir des œuvres de Gabriel Okoundji: for a transcultural approach to linguistic creativity in poetry.
8. Member of the final examination committee for the PhD of Carla Aleo (co-supervision with Toulouse Jean Jaurès):
9. 
   La parole niée: the women of myth in the theatre of Hélène Cixous and Lina Prosa.

 

Departmental Committees

Orientation Committee for the Degree Programme in Communication Sciences (2000–2006).

Teaching Committee for the Degree Programme in Communication Sciences (2007–2010).

Orientation Committee for the Degree Programme in Humanities (2010–2014).

Tutor for Degree Programme L11 (2014–2016).

Study Plan Committee LM37 (2016–2018).

Member of the Quality Assurance Group for Modern Philology (2014–2016).

Erasmus Delegate for the Department of Humanities, University of Catania (2014–2022).

Member of the Quality Assurance Group for Modern Philology (2017–2021).

Member of the Quality Assurance Group for LM37 (2022–present).

Member of the Internships and Traineeships Group for LM37 (2022–present).

 

Erasmus Coordinator (Study Mobility)

Coordinator for Erasmus agreements with the following universities:

• Paris X Nanterre
• Université libre de Bruxelles
• Paris XII Créteil (Val de Marne)
• Université de Suceava – Ștefan cel Mare
• Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (until 2020)
• Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (until 2020)
• Université de Corse Pascal Paoli (until 2020)
• University of Poznań
• Université de Clermont-Ferrand
• Université francophone de Galatasaray, Istanbul

 

Institutional Visits Abroad

Institutional missions abroad at:

• Paris 12 – Créteil: organization of the Double Degree, 2015 (various periods between first and second semester)
• Paris 3 – Sorbonne Nouvelle: organization of the Double Degree, 2016
• Paris 12 – UPEC: Double Degree, seminar organization, January–February 2019
• Paris 12 – UPEC: Double Degree, mobility planning, July 2021

 

D1 – CURRICULAR TEACHING ACTIVITIES

University teaching at the University of Catania:

• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2000–2001, Degree Programme in Philosophy.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2001–2002, Degree Programmes in Humanities, Philosophy, Communication Sciences.
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2001–2002, Degree Programme in Humanities (old system).
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2002–2003, Degree Programmes in Philosophy, Humanities, Communication Sciences.
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2002–2003, Degree Programme in Humanities (old and new systems).
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2003–2004, Degree Programme in Humanities (old and new system).
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2003–2004, Degree Programmes in Communication Sciences, Humanities and Philosophy.
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2004–2005, Degree Programme in Humanities (old and new system).
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2004–2005, Degree Programme in Communication Sciences.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2004–2005, Degree Programme in Cultural Heritage Studies – Syracuse campus.
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2005–2006, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2005–2006, Degree Programme in Communication Sciences – Catania campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2005–2006, Degree Programme in Cultural Heritage Studies – Syracuse campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2006–2007, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2006–2007, Degree Programme in Communication Sciences (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2006–2007, Degree Programme in Cultural Heritage Studies – Syracuse campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2007–2008, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2007–2008, Degree Programme in Communication Sciences – Catania campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2007–2008, Degree Programme in Cultural Heritage Studies – Syracuse campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2008–2009, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2008–2009, Degree Programme in Communication Sciences – Catania campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2008–2009, Degree Programme in Cultural Heritage Studies – Syracuse campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2009–2010, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2009–2010, Degree Programme in Communication Sciences – Catania campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2010–2011, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  Teaching assignment in French Literature, Academic Year 2010–2011, Master’s Degree in Modern Philology.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2010–2011, Degree Programme in Communication Sciences – Catania campus (Bachelor’s and Master’s level).
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2011–2012, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  Teaching assignment in French Literature, Academic Year 2011–2012, Master’s Degree in Modern Philology.
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2012–2013, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  Teaching assignment in French Literature, Academic Year 2012–2013, Master’s Degree in Modern Philology.
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2013–2014, Degree Programme in Humanities.
  Teaching assignment in French Literature, Academic Year 2013–2014, Master’s Degree in Modern Philology.
• French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2014–2015, Degree Programme in Humanities.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2014–2015, 2nd and 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2015–2016, Master’s Degree LM37 (Comparative Languages and Literatures) and Modern Philology.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2015–2016, 2nd and 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2016–2017, Master’s Degree LM37 and Modern Philology.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2016–2017, 2nd and 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2017–2018, Master’s Degree LM37 and Modern Philology.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2017–2018, 2nd and 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2018–2019, Master’s Degree LM37 and Modern Philology.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2018–2019, 2nd and 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2019–2020, Master’s Degree LM37 and Modern Philology.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2019–2020, 2nd and 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2020–2021, Master’s Degree LM37 and Modern Philology.
• French Language teaching, Academic Year 2020–2021, 2nd and 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2021–2022, Master’s Degree LM37 and Modern Philology.
  Contemporary French and Francophone Literature teaching, Academic Year 2021–2022, LM37.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2021–2022, 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2022–2023, LM37.
  Contemporary French and Francophone Literature teaching, Academic Year 2022–2023, LM37.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2022–2023, 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Methodology of General and Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2023–2024, LM37 and Modern Philology.
  Contemporary French and Francophone Literatures: Intercultural and Didactic Issues, Academic Year 2023–2024, LM37.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2023–2024, 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• Methodology of General and Comparative French Literature teaching, Academic Year 2024–2025, LM37 and Modern Philology.
  Contemporary French and Francophone Literatures: Intercultural and Didactic Issues, Academic Year 2024–2025, LM37.
  French Language teaching, Academic Year 2024–2025, 3rd year, Degree Programme L11 – European and Non-European Languages and Cultures.
• 2025–2026: Sabbatical year

D2 – SUPPLEMENTARY TEACHING ACTIVITIES AND STUDENT SERVICES

Coordinator and Scientific Director of the project: Sicilian Cultural Heritage in Travel Literature in French from the Late 18th Century to the Early 20th Century, for a research grant L-LIN/04 – L-LIN/03 awarded to Adriana Bonforte (2009–2011).

Responsible for the research programme with the Belgian Government for funding the internship of Julien Delvaux (1 January – 24 April 2015): Literary movements from Naturalism to Belgian Symbolism in their specificities compared to the same French movements and in their relationship with pictorial art.

Seminars for the PhD in Interpretation Sciences, DISUM (2021–2025).

Doctoral supervisor for the following theses:

1. Stefana Squatrito – Escape in the youth narratives of Henri Bosco
2. Maria Cristina Pino – Les Spéronare by Alexandre Dumas: travel impressions and writing techniques
3. Adriana Bonforte – L’Enchanteur by René Barjavel: ironic rewriting of a myth
4. Anna Maria Bognanno – La grande dame des Caraïbes: Maryse Condé
5. Angelica Brancato – Daniel Maximin: history and writing
6. Jessica Hauf – From “image-alchemy” to “consumer image”: the century of photography through the gaze of Nadar, Baudelaire and Delacroix
7. Raffaella Tedeschi – The Impressionism of Octave Mirbeau: an aesthetics of fluidity

Tutor (2015–2018):
8. Cristina Mineo – Critical edition of the theatre of Jacques-Antoine Révéroni Saint-Cyr
9. Agatino Lo Castro – co-supervision with Paris XII (ongoing): thesis project Étude des idiolectalismes à partir des œuvres de Gabriel Okoundji: for a transcultural approach to linguistic creativity in poetry
10. Carla Aleo – co-supervision with Toulouse, Université Jean-Jaurès (ongoing): thesis project La parole niée: the women of myth in the theatre of Hélène Cixous and Lina Prosa

Tutor for the Scuola Superiore: Marina Elia.

DISUM delegate for the Scuola Superiore since January 2022.

 

E – THIRD MISSION / COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Coordinator of the LEND project (2008–2017), cooperation between the University and local primary and secondary school networks; and head of the LEND_Language and New Teaching Group of Catania (for the teaching of Languages and Literatures).

Coordinator of the laboratory Translating for the Stage (2003–2015): translation and staging of unpublished texts of contemporary Francophone dramaturgy, in collaboration with the French Embassy within the Face à Face project.

Member of the Dante Alighieri Society and scientific team coordinator of the School of Italian for Foreigners and PLIDA certification (2010–2015).

Vice-President of the Scientific Committee for cooperation between the Department of Humanities and Il Quotidiano di Sicilia (Tregua Foundation) (2013–2015).
Member of the Scientific Committee for cooperation between the Department of Humanities and Il Quotidiano di Sicilia (Tregua Foundation) (2016–2018).

Former President of the cultural association Il verso Presente, which collaborates with the University of Catania and the Dante Alighieri Society (particularly in the training activities of the School of Italian for Foreigners).

Promoter of the UNICT ESABAC Project, a network with local secondary schools aimed at strengthening French language competencies.