Giulia Riccò, assistant professor of Italian in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, received the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation’s Young Investigator Award for innovation in the study of Italian Culture (ISSNAF).
The ISSNAF award recognizes outstanding early-career Italian researchers working in North America for their contributions to their field of study. Three finalists, who were selected out of a large pool, presented their work at the Award Symposium last year. From there, the winners, including Riccò, were announced at the ISSNAF Annual Event.
“Established this year by RnB4Culture, this award recognizes the vibrancy of research in Italian culture and its evolving nature expressed in a variety of ways such as innovative uses of technology, or originality of approach, or contribution to wider questions and trends in the Humanities at large,” ISSNAF said.
Riccò is originally from Vignola, Italy and told the ISSNAF that she has a passion for interculturalism. She said the central questions she grapples with in her research and teaching are: What does it mean to be Italian in a culture defined by border crossing and internal diversity? How do we map the circulation of ideas that are supposedly anchored in a particular national context?
“In my classes I like to put Italian, and Italy, in contact with different worlds,” Riccò said. “Italian identity isn’t just one, but takes on multiple forms.”
Riccò’s award was featured in her local hometown newspaper, “Il Resto del Carlino” which included a Q&A with Riccò, calling her “one of the top five young academics in all of North America.” Her work is also displayed in “La Voce di New York” and many English articles as well.
Riccò received her PhD from Duke University in 2019, trained in both Italian and Brazilian Studies. Her book manuscript, tentatively titled “Under the Auspices of Dante: Italianità and Fascism in Brazil,” studies the diffusion of fascism in São Paulo, Brazil. She has published many articles, book chapters, and essays and is the co-founder of the Transnational Italian Studies Working Group and the co-editor of H-Net ItalianDiaspora.
