Serena Grattarola
JYA Director in Florence 2007-08

It has always thrilled me to be involved in the teaching of the language, the literature and the culture of my native country, Italy, to students from different cultures. Since I was a young high school student in Italy I have always sought cultural diversity. At that time, however, in Italy there were very few opportunities to be in contact with people from other cultures. Today, instead, Italy is fast becoming a multi-cultural society. After I graduated and received my Laurea in Lettere from the University of Padova, in Northern Italy, I decided to leave for California in order to explore a different culture, while promoting my own. At UCLA, I acquired an M.A. in Italian and taught in the Italian Department. There I discovered that, by becoming immersed in another culture, one gets an important perspective on one’s own. I consider this involvement in the two cultures an ongoing learning process that I find extremely fascinating.
After spending a few years back in Italy, where I devoted myself to my deep passion for studying the culture of the Middle Ages, Italian Medieval literature and Medieval manuscripts, I finally returned to the United States to fulfill my original goals. I pursued graduate studies in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University, where I also taught at the College and the School of Continuing Education for several years while working on a critical edition of sermons from the 14 th century that was then published in 1999 ( Giordano da Pisa. Prediche sul Secondo Capitolo del Genesi).
I like to think of the study of literature, language and culture as a voyage which imparts a sense of adventure, and with luck, the joy of discovery. My true wish is to make my students feel this way when they study Italian. I very much enjoy teaching which I find challenging and very rewarding. My goal is to be able to transmit to my students the same love and enthusiasm that I feel for what I teach for this reason I have become more and more interested in the new methodologies of teaching language, literature and culture.
I moved to Western Massachusetts to teach at Mount Holyoke College, and now I am very excited to be part of the Smith College faculty.
My own life was transformed through the experience of living abroad and I wish to participate in bringing that kind of opportunity to others. That is why I am an enthusiastic supporter of our study abroad program in Florence, which I heartily recommend to anyone interested in any aspect of Italian culture, as well as to those who are seeking an opportunity to experience what it really means to live in a different cultural environment.