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Lorenzi Publishes Comprehensive Guide to Italian Studies

Paola Lorenzi, assistant professor of Italian and director of the Italian Language program at Seaver College, has authored a new book, Italia: Civiltá e Cultura, a comprehensive guide of historical and cultural development on the Italian peninsula for advanced students.

"This project was developed to provide students and professors with an essential, flexible, and easy-to-read reference book about Italian civilization and cultural studies, also appropriate for cinema and Italian literature classes," she says.

After earning her Ph.D. in foreign languages and literature at the University of Florence in Italy, Lorenzi became a professor of Italian. She created the book to fill a gap that she recognized in the field of Italian culture and language education. "There is nothing else out there like this," she explains. "I have worked on this project for the past five to six years, using it in my upper division classes in a binder form. I collected valuable feedback through the years of work and research."

Lorenzi wrote the book while developing the courses that now make up the new bachelor of arts degree in Italian Studies for Seaver College. In 2001, she was instrumental in attaining a minor in Italian Studies at Pepperdine's undergraduate college. As of April 2009, students can graduate with a degree in the discipline.

In the preface Lorenzi writes, "As interest in the Italian language has increased significantly in United States and is beginning to be taught at middle and high school levels, the manual Italia: Civiltà e Cultura may also be utilized and enjoyed by students and teachers at these levels. Furthermore, children of Italian heritage, having been raised abroad and often lacking sufficient grammatical knowledge to comfortably read traditional textbooks designed for the Italian school system, can greatly benefit by the simple narrative tone and syntactic constructions used."

For more information about the new Italian major, visit the International Studies and Languages department Web site, or call (310) 506-7446.