Portrait of Dr. Ilaria Serra

Ilaria Serra, Ph.D.

Professor of Italian and Comparative Studies | CLL Committee

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature

iserra1@fau.edu
561-297-0286

Boca Raton Campus

Ilaria Serra is from Venice, Italy. She is a Professor of Italian and Comparative Studies, the coordinator of the 麻豆精品视频Italian Program and faculty member in the graduate programs (Master's in Comparative Literatre and PhD in Comparative Studies). Her research weaves Italian American Studies into Italian Studies more broadly; main areas of focus include Italian cinema, Italian literature, Italian history through popular song, and the history of Italian immigration to the United States. She founded and co-leads the 麻豆精品视频Study Abroad Program in Venice, Italy (promotional video), where she teaches the course Venice and Its Reflections (course video).
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She has received FAU's highest scholarly honor twice: University Scholar of the Year Award at the Assistant Professor Rank (2012); and University Scholar of the Year Award at the Associate Professor Rank (2020). In 2023 she was knighted by the President of the Italian Republic for her merit in the promotion of Italian culture abroad. In 2024 she received the Premio alla Carriera by FATI-Florida Association Teachers of Italian, the Teacher Recognition Award by the Italian Language Foundation, New York, and the Columbus International Award (Rome-Miami).
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Dr. Serra created with her students the digital humanities projects, 鈥淚talian American Oral History Archive,鈥 鈥淚talian American Memories Documentary Archive鈥 and 鈥淔loritalians.鈥 She started and coordinates the 麻豆精品视频Italian and Italian American Film Festivals and organizes the annual International Symposium "Italy in Transit." She recently received an EU-Jean Monnet Center of Excellence grant (click here for the Monnet Center interview .)
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Courses

  • Italian Language
  • Poetic Geography of Italy (graduate) "" in Parchi Letterari Magazine;听 听presentation (h10.59).
  • Italo Calvino's World (graduate)
  • Venice in the Italian Literary Imagination (graduate)
  • Scrivere se stessi: l鈥檃utobiografia italiana (graduate)
  • Translating Identities: Italian America (graduate)
  • Italian Culture Through Film (graduate)
  • Venice and Its Reflections
  • The Italian City between History and Imagination
  • Italian听Language through Film
  • Italy in Lyrics (Italian History through Its Music)
  • Italian Literature from the Baroque to the Present
  • Masterpieces of Italian Cinema
  • Italian-American Cinema
  • Italian Cinema and Literature: From Text to Screen
  • World Literature

Books

Serra, Ilaria and Edoardo Lebano.听 . Third edition. Wiley, 2025.

lebano serra book

Serra Ilaria.听 .听 A Culture and Language Textbook. New York: Linus Learning, 2021.

italia cantata

Serra Ilaria (ed.). Eugenia Bulat,听 . Tropea: Meligrana, 2018.听

pietra bulat

Serra, Ilaria, and Alan Gravano, eds.听 . 听Selected Proceedings of the 42th Annual AIHA Conference. New York: Bordighera Press, 2013.听

southern exposure

Serra, Ilaria.听.听Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 2009.听

immagined immigrant

Serra, Ilaria. 听 .听 Fordham University Press, 2007.听

value worthless lives

Serra, Ilaria.听 听 . 听Cierre, 1997.听

immagini immaginario

Selected Articles

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥听 Rossocorpolingua. 听IX.1 (2026): 58-83.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥听 Letteratura e Pensiero. Rivista trimestrale di Scienze Umane 听26 (2025): 77-100.听

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥溾 for听 Rossocorpolingua 听VIII.4 (2025).

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥 Literary Geographies 11. 2 (2025): 161-182.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥听 Polisemie 听5 (2024). DOI:10.31273/.v5.1246

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淕.鈥 Biography: An Interdisciplinary Journal (University of Hawaii Press) 46.1 (2023). 49-52.听

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥湵.鈥听 The Italianist 听鈥 Special Issue, 'Cross-Cultural Approaches to Italian Ecocriticism.' 42 (2022-23).

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥,鈥听 Italian Culture 听41.1 (2023). 80-102.听

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淔uori dalla porta, dentro dalla finestra: Dio nell鈥檃rchitettura di Pietro di Donato,鈥听 Campi Immaginabili听66/67 (2022). 456-471.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淧aper in Hand and Eyes Wide Open: The Year in Italy.鈥听 Biography: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 44.1 (2021): 83-90.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淪corsese and Dante: Art and the Afterlife. O'Brien鈥檚 Martin Scorsese's Divine Comedy. Movies and Religion.鈥 Review essay. 听Italian Americana. Cultural and Historical Review. 29.1 (Winter 2021), 85-88.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淣eedlework and the Feminine in Adriana Trigiani's Novels.鈥听 Letterature d'America 听XL.179 (2020). 81-100.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥溾 Biography. An Interdisciplinary Journal 42.1 (2019) (University of Hawaii Press): 69-76. muse.jhu.edu/article/726549. Published. Print and web.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥听 Biography:听An Interdisciplinary Journal听(University of Hawaii Press) 43.1 (2020): 101-108.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥 Biography. An Interdisciplinary Journal 听42.1 (2019): 69-76.听

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥溾.听 Forum of Modern Language Studies听54.5 (Fall 2018): 1-24.听

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥听 New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film 听15.2 (2017). 191-207.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥.鈥听 Biography. An Interdisciplinary Journal听听40.4 (Fall 2017).听

Serra, Ilaria. "Voyageurs 听sulle vie italiani del mondo." 听Studi italiani听XXVIII.1 (gennaio-giugno 2016). 181-99.

Serra,听Ilaria. "."听Forum Italicum 听 : A Journal of Italian Studies听听 Special issue "Music and Society in Italy." 49 (August 2015): 545-566.

Serra, Ilaria. "Geografia poetica dell鈥檃ssenza. Poeti italoamericani e l鈥橧talia abbandonata."听Lettere aperte听(University of Innsbruck, Austria). Edition 2, 2015.听

Serra, Ilaria. "The Last Dance: Orienta Badia's Autobiographical Novel,听 Rina."听 Italianamericana听 32.2 (Summer 2014): 146-71.

Serra, Ilaria. "Alterit脿 acquatica nella poesia italo-rumena di Eugenia Bulat."听Lingua Romana听11.2 (Fall 2013).听

Serra. Ilaria. "."听 Italian Sound. Special issue of听 California Italian Studies听4.1 (2013).听

Serra, Ilaria. " ."听 Luci ed ombre听 1.4 (Settembre-Ottobre 2013).听

Serra, Ilaria. "."听 History Workshop Journal听 76 (Fall 2013).听

Serra, Ilaria. "."听 Adaptation听 4.2 (September 2011).听

Serra, Ilaria. "."听 Italica听 88.1 (Spring 2011): 94-114.

Serra, Ilaria. "From Immigration to Art Appreciation. The Extraordinary Case of the Morikami Museum in Florida."听 International Journal of the Arts in Society听 4.3 (2009): 447-55.听

Serra. Ilaria. "."听 Mnemosyne.听 (Quaderno dell'Osservatorio Scientifico delle testimonianze autobiografiche e della memoria scritta e audiovisiva) 2 (2009): 133-44.听

Serra, Ilaria. "."听 Italica听 86.3 (2009): 452-70.听

Serra, Ilaria. "Creare una memoria collettiva: Le donne e i documentari italoamericani."听 Oltreoceano. Percorsi Letterari e Linguistici听 2 (2008): 85-92.

Serra, Ilaria. "."听 Dante. Riviste internazionale di studi su Dante Alighieri听 3 (2006): 129-45.

Serra, Ilaria. "Rhyming Immigration. Two Italian American Autobiographies in Verses."听 New Expressions. 听Special issue of 听VIA. Voices in Italian America听听 17 (2006): 69-84.

Dinev, T., Bellotto, M., Hart, P., Colautti, C., Russo, V., Serra, I. "."听 European Journal of Information Systems听 15.4 (2006).听

Translation

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淕iovanni Corona. Poesie/Poems鈥 Translation and Critical Introduction.听 Mosaici: Learned Online Journal of Italian Poetry, 2017.

Recent Book Chapters

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淥n Monte Stella.鈥 Living Biculturalism, Writing Transculturalism. Celebrating Luigi Fontanella, edited by Anthony Tamburri. Casa Lago Press, 2025. 39-54.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淧oetic Calabria: Hidden Metaphors among its Rocks.鈥听 , Caterina Pangallo ed. Sidney, Australia: Cambridge Scholars, 2023. 219-240.听

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淚l linguaggio dei fiori in Romancero gitano.鈥听 听by Federico Garcia Lorca (Marino Magliani e Riccardo Ferrazzi, transl). Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore, 2023. 5-14.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淓migrazione e circo: la famiglia Zopp茅 tra Italia e Stati Uniti.鈥听 Viaggiare in un mondo diviso. Marco Severini, ed. Ronzani editore, 2022. 191-208.听

Serra, Ilaria. 听鈥淨uestions on an Old Map: Joseph Tusiani鈥檚 If Gold Should Rust.鈥听 Il miglior Fabbro. Essays in Honor of Joseph Tusiani, edited by Paolo Giordano and Anthony Tamburri. New York: Bordighera Press, 2021. 239-258.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淚 molteplici trattini del cinema italoamericano.鈥听 Gli italiani in USA: nuove prospettive di una diaspora secolare, edited by Anthony Tamburri and Silvana Mangione. New York: John D. Calandra Italian American Institute 2021. 97-128.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淰oci da un sogno veneziano in Florida: Boca Raton.鈥听 L鈥檕riginalit脿 della ricerca storica, edited by Marco Severini. Fano: Aras, 2021. 155-168.

Serra, Ilaria.听鈥淟a Sardegna come poesia: Giovanni Corona. Una lettura geografica.鈥听 Nuovi studi su Giovanni Corona, edited by Simona Cigliana. Roma: Carocci Editore, 2020. 77-101. Book review听 .

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥溾楽treet鈥 is Feminine in Italian. Feminist Bodies in Italian Streets.鈥听 , edited by Richard Shusterman. Leiden (NL): Brill, 2019. 153-176.

Serra, Ilaria. 鈥淟a giovent霉 di Mario Isnenghi tra libri e campielli.鈥听 La gioventu鈥 degli storici e delle storiche, edited by Marco Severini and Lidia Pupilli. Venice: Marsilio.听

Serra, Ilaria. "Italian American Femininities,"听The Routledge History of the Italian Americans, edited by William Connell and Stanislao Pugliese. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Serra, Ilaria: "Femminismo Ruggente Cantato,"听Dieci passi nella storia de 听 ll鈥檈mancipazione femminile italiana. Marsilio Ed., Venice, Italy (2016). 209-27.

Serra, Ilaria. "Ritorno alla听 polis: i film di Dennis Dellai."听 Un nuovo cinema politico italiano?听 Ed. William Hope, Luciana d'Arcangeli, and Fabiana Stefanoni. Vol. 2. London: Troubador Press, 2014. 40-51.听

Serra, Ilaria. "De Salvo鈥檚听 Rialto: Walking on a Livable Bridge."听 : Essays on Memory, Culture, and Women in the Work of Louise De Salvo. Eds. Edvige Giunta and Nancy Caronia. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014. 222-32.听

Serra, Ilaria. "Rina quasi Orienta. Il romanzo autobiografico di Orienta Badia Johnson."听Culture e transcultura nelle Americhe. Studi dedicati a Daniela Ciani Sforza.听Ed. Silvana Serafin. Venice: La Toletta Edizioni, 2014. 159-73.

Serra, Ilaria. "Introduction."听 . 听Ed. Laura Ruberto. New York: Bordighera Press, 2010. 17-31.听

Serra, Ilaria. "Outsider Rhetoric in Italian Immigrant Autobiographies."听 听New York: Farleigh Dickinson University Press. 143-64.听

Serra, Ilaria. "Travel Literature: Crossing the Gaze between Italy and America."听 Teaching Italian American Literature, Film, and Popular Culture.听 Ed. Edvige Giunta and Kathleen Zamboni McCormick. New York: Modern Language Association, 2007. 578-88.听

Serra, Ilaria. "Forme e deformit脿 della famiglia nel cinema italoamericano."听 .听 Ed. Giuliana Muscio and Giovanni Spagnoletti. Venezia: Marsilio, 2007. 164-72.听

External Links

Ilaria Serra presents 鈥淟a casa e il bosco di Mario Rigoni Stern鈥 at the Conference听Luoghi, oggetti, arredi e case d'autore, il contesto degli archivi degli artisti e degli scrittori, Associazione Premio Nazionale Elio Pagliarani and Fondazione Baruchello, Rome, October 28, 2025.听).

Ilaria Serra presents 鈥淧inocchio illustrato sul gioco dell鈥檕ca鈥 at the Conference听Il burattino Multimediale, Fondazione Collodi, Collodi, Tuscany, July 5, 2025.听 .

Ilaria Serra's short story-essay "" (Natale a Venezia, 2025) is read by Elisabetta Tiveron听at the Avamposto, a surviving pocket of Venetian culture in the tourist area of Venice.

Ilaria Serra interviewed for听, November 2024. 听 听

Ilaria Serra presents the 麻豆精品视频Italian Program for the magazine听WeTheItalians:听听by Umberto Mucci.

Ilaria Serra interviewed by Dean Horswell for "In Conversation. An Arts and Letters Podcast" on her research on Italian music.

Ilaria Serra featured in 麻豆精品视频Research Thursday in听2022, and in听2020.

Ilaria Serra in听

York University, The Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian-Canadian Studies,听Roundtable discussion听 . Michela Baldo (U Birmingham), Licia Canton (Accenti Magazine, AICW), Ryan Calabretta-Sajder (U Arkansas), and Ilaria Serra (Florida Atlantic U); facilitated by Elia Chairholder Abril Liberatori.

听sullo studio dell'Italiano a FAU, Marzo 2020.

: Ilaria Serra interviewed by WPBF about an Italian language love story.

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

The College of Arts & Letters offers degree programs and certificates in the performing arts, fine arts, languages and social sciences.