Honors and Alumni

Prizes and Awards

The Paul F.M. Angiolillo Prize is awarded to one (1) graduating student who has demonstrated excellence in Italian Studies. Prof. Paul F.M. Angiolillo (1917-2011) taught at Dickinson from 1962-1986 and was instrumental in developing the Italian program at Dickinson.

Past prize winners: Justin John Ruffini (2012); Sharon Veronica Perrone (2011); Danielle Lauren Chock (2010); Michael Caulfield Dalton (2009); Marissa Leigh Calfe (2008); Nalleli Enid Sagardia (2007); Shawn Michael Werner (2006); Rosa Paloma Proctor Catania (2005); John Burgess Guptill (2004); Justin Smith (2003); Joanne Guarraci (2003); Risa Anderson (2002); Brent Cassell (2001); Brendan Jay Williams (2000). 

The NECTFL Excellence in Language Study Award is given to two (2) graduating students who have demonstrated excellence in the study of the Italian language. The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL) is the oldest (1954) multi-language association of pre-kindergarten through university teachers in the country. Although nominally a regional association, its activities, publications, and annual conference attract participants from around the country and the globe. Currently, about 40 states and 10 foreign countries send a total of 2,500 educators to the Northeast Conference each year.

Past award winners: Emily Cook Osborne (2012); Ilana Rainero-de Haan (2012); Elena Brandano (2011); Jessica Flores (2011); Kristen Yi-Hung Chan (2010); Victoria Erminia La Rocca (2009); James Kyle Hutchin (2009); Christina Marie Brumbach (2008); Heather Buttolph Vincent (2008); Jessica M. Snyder (2007); Meryl Melissa Peterman (2007); Eszter Hudoba (2006).

Alumni

*** 2009 ***

Michael Dalton. I went on an internship to Italy following graduation to teach English to Italian High School students as a part of the Scuole di Lombardia program. I worked in Italian with faculty in school and created my own lessons, teaching them to the Italian students in English. I used Italian every day and all-day in the small town I lived in (Crema, provincia di Cremona) and stayed with a host family. My Italian experience at Dickinson was phenomenal and I'm continuing to use my Italian now, taking classes twice a week with a tutor. I am currently a legal assistant at my father's law firm in Delaware. However, I'm also currently working to get into the importation business - facilitating small artisan Italian producers to sell their products in the US. Without Italian and my experience at Dickinson and following Dickinson with my internship (which was through Dickinson's Italian department), I would never have had any of the opportunities available to myself.

Samuel Meller. Italian is an extremely useful language because of its versatility. Currently, I am in my second year of Law School and I will be next year's Senior Articles Editor for a Journal of International & Comparative Law. As a law student, having Italian is especially helpful to understand the literal translation of some legal Latin phrases. As a member of the editorial board of an academic journal on international law, I have used my background in Italian to help translate legal texts for my colleagues on the editorial board and to get a better understanding of European legal issues, which occurs often in discussions of general international law.

Joey Kirk. My Italian Studies major has been extremely helpful in my career post Dickinson. I have visited Italy and kept in touch with my Italian friends. I continue to speak Italian frequently and look forward to using when I enter graduate school in Fall 2011. Currently, I'm an Admissions Counselor at a small, private, Catholic college outside of Philadelphia. I will be attending graduate school in the fall to study International Education.

*** 2008 ***

Christina Brumbach. I minored in Italian. Since graduation in May 2008, I have been living in Italy. I first worked as an English Teaching Assistant on a Fulbright Grant at two public high schools in Rome and have since lived in Bologna teaching English in different venues to children and adults. Italian has been vital to my daily life and will hopefully help me learn Spanish when I move to the US to teach. I am currently teaching children English in Bologna, but will soon transfer to Boston where I will go to graduate school for elementary education and ESL.

Deborah Hicks. Not merely my major in Italian Studies, but moreover, the guidance from the professors in the Italian department at Dickinson have shaped my career since my graduation. Were it not for their enthusiasm and encouragement, I would not have fallen in love with Italian culture because I never would have understood it on such a profound level. They opened the doors for my exploration of a different world, and also helped my find a career in teaching. I am currently teaching English as a second language outside of Milan, and hope to continue teaching in some context in the future.

Lucy Vandervort. I have always thought of Italian as the most beautiful language, and at Dickinson I was able to fully indulge my love of it. The crowning moment of my Italian-language experience at Dickinson was the year I spent studying abroad in Bologna—I fell completely in love with the people, food, art, way of life, etc. It was the best experience of my life, and I will never forget it. I am also able to say that my Italian language skills have benefitted me post-college, as I have been providing Italian-English translations for a historian who is writing a book about the Italian war in Libya in the early 1900s. I would encourage anyone with a love of or interest in the Italian language to explore it at Dickinson. For me it was an experience I will always cherish—and I am fluent in Italian!    

*** 2003 ***

Tiffany Bistocchi. After graduating from Dickinson I lived in Perugia for one year and studied at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia. I then went on to study at the Università degli Studi di Firenze with Middlebury College. I earned my MA in Italian Studies from Middlebury College in 2006. I taught elementary school Italian and I currently teach high school Italian. I have also been teaching adult Italian classes for the past five years at night.

*** 2002 ***

Ellen Laird. After graduating from Dickinson, I had a strong desire to return to Italy and use my knowledge of the language and culture in a working environment. I returned to Bologna and began teaching English as a second language at a local, private language school. Even though I was teaching the English language, my knowledge of Italian was very useful because it helped me have a better understanding of how my students were progressing in their efforts to learn the English language. I understood why they made certain mistakes or why they confused certain words or grammar rules based on their own native language. My knowledge of Italian helped me to better address my students’ needs as a teacher. My knowledge of the Italian language and culture was also very useful and important in my everyday life in Bologna. It helped to have a good understanding of how things “worked” in Italy, both bureaucratically and socially, when it came to finding an apartment to rent, searching for work, meeting new friends and networking with people. My knowledge of the Italian language and culture continued to grow during my time Bologna after graduation, and this knowledge has been fundamental in my position as the Bologna Program Associate for Dickinson’s study abroad program in Bologna, Italy. I have been working for the Bologna Program for four years, and I thoroughly enjoy being a part of Dickinson College’s overseas network. My education in the Italian language at Dickinson College, and my experiences abroad in Italy, both as a student and after graduation, were key elements to helping be where I am today

Lisa Sabetta. I use my Italian every day on both a professional and personal level. After majoring in Italian Studies at Dickinson I decided to use my Italian skills as a way to enter the work force in a way that would set me apart from others applicants. Following graduation, after two years as a paralegal at an UK law firm in Milan where I translated legal documents, I decided to come back to the States in order to pursue my passion for the fashion and luxury sector. Even at that time during those months when I was unemployed and between jobs I was able to find a temp position as a receptionist at an Italian bank in NY - while continuing to look for jobs that would allow me to utilize my Italian and follow my dream. I currently work in marketing for an Italian men's fashion company - where I use my Italian every day, whether it be in communication with my Italian boss in the office or over the phone or in emails to headquarters in Milan. Continuing to use my Italian has also allowed me the opportunity to keep in touch with many friends made over the years and popular Italian culture (music, movies, sports, gossip, fashion and even youth slang which I manage to sprinkle into my spoken Italian!). The journey that I have taken with Italian was set in motion first semester freshman year at Dickinson in my first Italian class and has continued to this very day - and for that i am extremely grateful. 

*** 1996 ***

Laura D’Ambrosio. At Dickinson, I was an Italian Studies major and participated in the Bologna program my Junior year. My experience in Bologna deeply influenced my life after Dickinson and Italian continues to be a large part of my life today. After graduation from Dickinson, I returned to Rome, Italy to study for my MBA in International Finance at St. John's University Rome campus. The additional two years in Italy helped me not only to obtain an MBA, but also to perfect my Italian language skills. While in Rome, I participated in an internship at Fendi in their financial department and upon graduation from my MBA program, I returned to the US and received a job offer from Prada in NYC. At Prada, I was a retail analyst and traveled often to and from Milan for the fashion shows. In 2002, I accepted a job at the university where I had completed my MBA and returned to Rome to work at their campus in Italy. I was responsible for all of the marketing, recruitment, admissions and special events for the Rome campus of St. John's University. In 2004, I met my husband who is Italian and we were married in 2007. We remained in Italy until 2010 and are currently living in Doha, Qatar. I believe that the positive experience that I had in Bologna really expanded my mind and my interest in living abroad and learning about different cultures. In addition, studying Italian and becoming fluent in another language gave me an advantage over other applicants in several of the jobs that I have held throughout my career. I am appreciative that Dickinson puts such a strong emphasis on studying a language and on having an experience in living abroad as it truly has influenced the direction that my life has taken!

*** 1995 ***

Susan Ingall (Fish). My Italian Studies major directly lead to my first job in International Advertising. Quite frankly they needed someone who spoke Italian.  I used it throughout my career in Europe as a media planner and negotiator.  I used both my French and Italian.  My Italian was essential to my work as I was based in UK and booked advertising for my clients in Europe.  Obviously France and Italy were my main responsibilities.  One of my biggest accounts was to help launch Nike across Europe.  Of many jobs, one was to help them understand the Italian media market. I no longer work in advertising, and have taken up a latent passion and now work on a part time basis as a veterinary assistant.  BUT  I still use my Italian from time to time.  It could be anything from a trip in Italy to an event of my husband's where someone might be more comfortable in Italian.  It probably was the most useful major I could have taken.

*** 1993 ***

Katherine Volkmer. While I am not of Italian heritage, I found and continue to find Italian Studies a compelling field of study.  Italy has a profound political history from the rise and fall of the Roman empire to the complexity of its political parties since its unification.   Italians have made a vast contributions to the literary world (Dante, Goldoni), science and education (da Vinci, Marconi, Montessori), fine arts (Michelangelo, Caravaggio, da Vinci, Botticelli) and music (Monteverdi, Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, not to mention performers such as Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti) as well as cuisine and wine, fashion and even automobiles.  Culturally speaking, it is also unbelievably diverse.  There are plays and poetry and idiomatic expressions written in multiple dialects.  It is also notably the closest modern day version of Latin and has expanded my vocabulary tremendously in English. I was first exposed to Italian as a young child through listening to opera and then study of piano and voice.  (All musical notation continues to be written in Italian – even if the composer is Chinese or Czech.  It is a global language of music.  Even in my toddler’s music class, they were taught “piano e forte” and not “soft and loud”.)  I then became interested in Italian art as I studied studio art and attempted copying some of da Vinci’s and Michelangelo’s sketches as a form of study.  I traveled to Italy with my art class in high school and was immediately taken with the country and beauty of the spoken language.  I was determined to study Italian in college.  (It was not offered in my high school.)  I began an independent study program in Italian Studies with the guidance of Tullio Pagano as the Italian Studies major was not yet established when I began this trajectory. Since graduation, I have always found ways to incorporate Italian into my career.  I taught English to Italians in Italy and did free-lance translation work.  I worked for a satellite office of  The Johns Hopkins University in Italy.  I ultimately worked in finance in International Correspondent banking and managed the Italian accounts (Italian banks were my clients).  (I worked periodically in the Milan office as well.)  Finally, I changed careers after our son was born and have pursued a dream.  I established my own business teaching Italian to young children.  I have developed (and continue to expand) a curriculum - including songs and props and crafts which I create in Italian – which is relevant to young children.  I am teaching through the use of music, rhymes, and props and handouts covering topics relevant to small children – everything from zoo animals to brushing teeth and naming the planets. Italian is a language of great import and can be used in numerous career paths. 

Matthew Rodano. I was the person who actually lobbed to have Italian Studies made as a Major from a Minor and was one of the first persons to do double major in Italian Studies and International Studies.    Being an Italian Studies Major has helped me a great deal in my career and I try to use it as much as possible.    From my use in Italian, I have increased my knowledge and understanding of other foreign languages such as French, Spanish, Portuguese, and more. Currently I am Vice President of Client Relations for The LanguageWorks, Inc. It's a foreign language translation agency. I have been in the industry for 16 years now. I actually use to translate and teach entry-level Italian to children and adults. The background and information that I learned has been extremely helpful. It helped me too in my Study Abroad program in Bologna, Italy. I even worked as a translator for a short period of time from Italian into English. If you would ever like me to address students on the subject, I will be more than happy to do something via Skype or come to Dickinson for a visit.

*** 1980 ***

Regina Psaki. When I was at Dickinson, there wasn't a major in Italian Studies yet. But my study of Italian in Bologna and at Dickinson was essential for my career because it led to my current job as an Italian language and literature professor at the University of Oregon. http://rl.uoregon.edu/people/faculty/profiles/rpsaki/index.php