Student fellow
American Studies Diploma
I am honored to have been admitted to the Diploma in American Studies program at Smith College. I am confident that this will be a wonderful and most profitable experience.
I have studied at the University of Florence, Italy, majoring in English and German. Specifically, I graduated in early May 2011 with a thesis in American Literature. The subject of my dissertation were the works of American novelist and essayist Stanley Crawford, currently running a garlic farm in the Dixon area, New Mexico. The thesis analyzed the writer’s novels in detail, aiming at outlining their main features and the issues they brought about, both from the human and the literary point of view. Another important aspect concerning Crawford was to determine in which ways the different “souls” that partake in his life – the writer, the farmer and the man involved in the struggle to preserve the local land rights – emerge in his writings, especially in the essays comprising the so-called “New Mexico Trilogy.” The way Crawford and many other writers who have come to reside in the Southwest express the attachment to the environment in which they live is going to be the main topic of the literary research I will be conducting at Smith.
Although my thesis was in literature, I have also included studying languages in my academic career. Foreign languages have been my true passion so far, as I began seriously perfecting my English when I was twelve years old. Fostered by my interests, I have taken on learning other languages too. Now, I can say that I am fluent in English, German, Japanese and French. Since Smith College is an internationally-oriented campus, I am confident I will be able to improve my linguistic skills in these languages as well.
I am also looking forward to assist the Department of Italian in any way I can, giving my support as a native speaker in conversations and classes, and also tutoring students or suggesting examples of Italian popular culture. I am sure that Smith will provide me with many an occasion to exchange ideas with experienced and motivated people, so that I may broaden my horizons in a natural way. I believe it is a unique opportunity I have been given to study in an academically and intellectually stimulating environment such as Smith College. It is going to be my first year of study abroad, so I hope I will be able to make the most of any chances I will be offered.
