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FACULTY

Learning from some of the best minds in education and in the industry
Prof. Heather Sottong
Assistant Professor - Literary & Cultural Studies
Email: heather.sottong@flame.edu.in
PhD in Italian Literature from University of California, Los Angeles; M.A. in Italian Literature from University of California, Los Angeles; Laurea in Foreign Languages and Literatures from Università degli Studi di Firenze; B.A. in German Literature from University of Notre Dame.
BIO

Prof. Heather Sottong is Assistant Professor – Literary & Cultural Studies at FLAME University. She received her PhD degree and MA in Italian from the University of California, Los Angeles. In addition, she also has two undergraduate degrees, a Laurea in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italy) and a Bachelor’s degree in German Literature from the University of Notre Dame.


Prof. Heather has a total work experience of over fifteen years and was associated with UCLA, UC Riverside, and Northeast Normal University (China).


She specializes in medieval and Renaissance literature in comparative contexts and the literary appropriation of Dante in the Americas. Her research and publications focus on the role that the Divine Comedy played in 19th- and 20th-century Argentine letters and politics. Her most recent articles include “The Afterlife of Dante in Argentina,” California Italian Studies Vol. 9 (2019); “Bartolomé Mitre’s Translation of the Divine Comedy: An Anti-Martín Fierro,” Annali d’italianistica 38 Nation(s) and Translations (2020); and “‘The Hero of Two Worlds’: The Equestrian Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi in Buenos Aires, Argentina,” Italian American Review, 12.1 (forthcoming).


Prior to joining FLAME, Heather was Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature at UC Riverside and Principal Editor for the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, where she managed the journals Viator and Comitatus and the book series Cursor Mundi.



RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS

JOURNAL ARTICLES



BOOK CHAPTERS



  • (2013). Three Argentine Visions of Francesca: Victoria Ocampo, Jorge Luis Borges, and Leopoldo Lugones. In M. Ciavolella and F. Farina (Eds.), Women in Hell: Francesca da Rimini & Friends Between Sin, Virtue, and Heroism (pp. 59-72). Editrice Romagna Arte e Storia.


CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS



  • “Dante and Argentine Identity: Leopoldo Marechal’s Adàn Buenosayres.” Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA), Portland, Oregon, October 25-29, 2023.

  • “Representations of Food Shortages in Plague Narratives: Boccaccio’s Decameron and Alessandro Manzoni’s I promessi sposi.” American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) Conference, Catania, Sicily, July 5-8, 2023.

  • “Monuments, Memorials, and Italian Migrations: A Special Issue of the Italian American Review.”  The 54th Annual Italian American Studies Association (IASA) Conference, Pittsburgh, Oct 27-30, 2022.

  • “The Other Italians in the Other America.” Roundtable. The 54th Annual Italian American Studies Association (IASA) Conference, Pittsburgh, Oct 27-30, 2022.

  • “‘Hero of Two Worlds’: The Equestrian Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi in Buenos Aires, Argentina.” Italian American Studies Association (IASA) and American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) Joint Conference, Lucca, Italy, May 25-29, 2022.

  • “Teaching Italian Studies in India: An Inclusive and Non Euro-centric Approach.” Italian American Studies Association (IASA) and American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) Joint Conference, Lucca, Italy, May 25-29, 2022.

  • “Hypermedievalizing and De-medievalizing Dante: Leopoldo Lugones’ and Jorge Luis Borges’ Rewritings of Inferno V.” Tra liti sì lontani…Dante for the Americas. Dante Society of America and Harvard University, (held virtually), May 5-13, 2021.

  • “Italian Immigrants and Ideas in Nineteenth-Century Argentina.” Italian Borderlands: Restrictions, Breaches, Encounters. Calandra Italian American Institute, (held virtually), April 5-21, 2021.

  • “Transcending Borders through Translation: Bartolomé Mitre’s Translation of the Divine Comedy.” Leeds International Medieval Congress, (held virtually in 2020), July 6-10, 2020.

  • “Italy in Argentina.” Canadian Association for Italian Studies, Orvieto, Italy, June 13-16, 2019.

  • “Bartolomé Mitre: Translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy.” Latin American Studies Association, Boston, May 24-27, 2019.

  • “Rewriting Francesca: Leopoldo Lugones and Jorge Luis Borges.” Primer Congreso Argentino de Estudios Dantescos,Buenos Aires, August 22-23, 2016.

  • “Italy in Argentina: the Afterlife of the Divine Comedy in Buenos Aires.” California Interdisciplinary Consortium of Italian Studies (CICIS), Santa Barbara, February 26-27, 2016.

  • “Dante and Argentine Identity.” American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), San Diego, November 20-22, 2015.

  • “La cultura italiana: un argomento trascurato nei corsi di italiano per principianti?” American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI), Siena, Italy, June 22-26, 2015.

  • “Young Italy, Young Argentina.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS), Boulder, CO, March 26-28, 2015.

  • “Madness and Melancholy in the Love Poetry of Guido Cavalcanti.” Madness, Melancholy, Myth, Los Angeles, May 31, 2014.

  • “Conflicting Conceptions of Love: Dante vs. Petrarch.” Medieval (and Other) Myths of Love, Los Angeles, June 2, 2012.

  • “Three Argentine Visions of Francesca.” Women in Hell: Francesca da Rimini & Friends Between Sin, Virtue, and Heroism, Los Angeles, April 20-21, 2012.

  • “La folla della farina: A study of mass psychology in Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi.” (Dis)Unity in Italy, Los Angeles, April 27-28, 2012.

  • “The Origin of Improv: Commedia dell’arte.” Poets, Performers, and Other Mythical Creatures of the Middle Ages, Los Angeles, June 3-4, 2011.

  • “Dante in Peruvian Narrative.” Dante in the Americas, Los Angeles, April 7-9, 2011.

  • “The Fat Woodcarver: Victim of a Renaissance Sense of Humor.” Renaissance Society of America, Montreal, March 24-26, 2011.

  • “Perceptions of Italians in 19th-Century American Fiction.” Modern Language Association (MLA), Los Angeles, Jan 6, 2011.

  • “Excess and Antagonism in Giordano Bruno’s Il candelaio.” Forbidden Ideas: Controversial Modes of Engagement in the Italian Intellectual Tradition, Los Angeles, Oct 29-30, 2010.

  • “Language as Politics: Vincenzo Borghini’s Ruscelleide.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS),Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 22-25, 2010.

  • “Remains in Ritual: The Reliquary Bust of St. Zenobius.” The Renaissance Conference of Southern California (RCSC), San Marino, February 6, 2010.

  • “Marinetti’s Metaphorical Break with Tradition.” Futurism, Los Angeles, October 9-10, 2009.

  • “Pietro Germi’s Feminist Perspective: Divorzio all’italiana and Sedotta e Abbandonata.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS), New York, May 7-10, 2009.


REVIEWS



BOOK CHAPTERS



  • (2023). Hypermedievalizing and De-medievalizing Dante: Leopoldo Lugones’s and Jorge Luis Borges’s Rewritings of Inferno V. In Iberoamerican Neomedievalisms: “The Middle Ages” and Its Uses in Latin America, edited by Nadia R. Altschul and Maria Ruhlmann (pp. 121-138). Leeds: ARC Humanities Press.

  • (2013). Three Argentine Visions of Francesca: Victoria Ocampo, Jorge Luis Borges, and Leopoldo Lugones. In M. Ciavolella and F. Farina (Eds.), Women in Hell: Francesca da Rimini & Friends Between Sin, Virtue, and Heroism (pp. 59-72). Editrice Romagna Arte e Storia.


CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS



  • “‘Hero of Two Worlds’: The Equestrian Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi in Buenos Aires, Argentina.” Italian American Studies Association (IASA) and American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) Joint Conference, Lucca, Italy, May 25-29, 2022.

  • “Teaching Italian Studies in India: An Inclusive and Non Euro-centric Approach.” Italian American Studies Association (IASA) and American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) Joint Conference, Lucca, Italy, May 25-29, 2022.

  • “Hypermedievalizing and De-medievalizing Dante: Leopoldo Lugones’ and Jorge Luis Borges’ Rewritings of Inferno V.” Tra liti sì lontani…Dante for the Americas. Dante Society of America and Harvard University, (held virtually), May 5-13, 2021.

  • “Italian Immigrants and Ideas in Nineteenth-Century Argentina.” Italian Borderlands: Restrictions, Breaches, Encounters. Calandra Italian American Institute, (held virtually), April 5-21, 2021.

  • “Transcending Borders through Translation: Bartolomé Mitre’s Translation of the Divine Comedy.” Leeds International Medieval Congress, (held virtually in 2020), July 6-10, 2020.

  • “Italy in Argentina.” Canadian Association for Italian Studies, Orvieto, Italy, June 13-16, 2019.

  • “Bartolomé Mitre: Translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy.” Latin American Studies Association, Boston, May 24-27, 2019.

  • “Rewriting Francesca: Leopoldo Lugones and Jorge Luis Borges.” Primer Congreso Argentino de Estudios Dantescos,Buenos Aires, August 22-23, 2016.

  • “Italy in Argentina: the Afterlife of the Divine Comedy in Buenos Aires.” California Interdisciplinary Consortium of Italian Studies (CICIS), Santa Barbara, February 26-27, 2016.

  • “Dante and Argentine Identity.” American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), San Diego, November 20-22, 2015.

  • “La cultura italiana: un argomento trascurato nei corsi di italiano per principianti?” American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI), Siena, Italy, June 22-26, 2015.

  • “Young Italy, Young Argentina.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS), Boulder, CO, March 26-28, 2015.

  • “Madness and Melancholy in the Love Poetry of Guido Cavalcanti.” Madness, Melancholy, Myth, Los Angeles, May 31, 2014.

  • “Conflicting Conceptions of Love: Dante vs. Petrarch.” Medieval (and Other) Myths of Love, Los Angeles, June 2, 2012.

  • “Three Argentine Visions of Francesca.” Women in Hell: Francesca da Rimini & Friends Between Sin, Virtue, and Heroism, Los Angeles, April 20-21, 2012.

  • “La folla della farina: A study of mass psychology in Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi.” (Dis)Unity in Italy, Los Angeles, April 27-28, 2012.

  • “The Origin of Improv: Commedia dell’arte.” Poets, Performers, and Other Mythical Creatures of the Middle Ages, Los Angeles, June 3-4, 2011.

  • “Dante in Peruvian Narrative.” Dante in the Americas, Los Angeles, April 7-9, 2011.

  • “The Fat Woodcarver: Victim of a Renaissance Sense of Humor.” Renaissance Society of America, Montreal, March 24-26, 2011.

  • “Perceptions of Italians in 19th-Century American Fiction.” Modern Language Association (MLA), Los Angeles, Jan 6, 2011.

  •  “Excess and Antagonism in Giordano Bruno’s Il candelaio.” Forbidden Ideas: Controversial Modes of Engagement in the Italian Intellectual Tradition, Los Angeles, Oct 29-30, 2010.

  • “Language as Politics: Vincenzo Borghini’s Ruscelleide.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS),Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 22-25, 2010.

  • “Remains in Ritual: The Reliquary Bust of St. Zenobius.” The Renaissance Conference of Southern California (RCSC), San Marino, February 6, 2010.

  • “Marinetti’s Metaphorical Break with Tradition.” Futurism, Los Angeles, October 9-10, 2009.

  • “Pietro Germi’s Feminist Perspective: Divorzio all’italiana and Sedotta e Abbandonata.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS), New York, May 7-10, 2009.


REVIEWS



  • Dennis Looney, Freedom Readers: The African American Reception of Dante Alighieri, in Annali d’Italianistica (2012): 280.

  • Helen Hyde, Cardinal Bendinello Sauli and Church Patrongage in Sixteenth-Century Italy, in Comitatus 41 (2010): 265-267.

  • Gregory Heyworth, Desiring Bodies: Ovidian Romance and the Cult of Form, in Comitatus 41 (2010): 261-264.

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