Domietta Torlasco

Domietta Torlasco is a Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature at Northwestern University, with a courtesy appointment in Radio/Television/Film. She holds a PhD from UC Berkeley and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, complementing her undergraduate Semiotics training at the University of Bologna. Her work bridges critical theory, cinema studies, and experimental media art.

• Core faculty in Comparative Literary Studies Program
• Former Harper-Schmidt Fellow and Collegiate Assistant Professor in Humanities at University of Chicago (2003–2007)

Her research explores intersections of psychoanalysis, phenomenology, and feminist/queer theory with cinema and media. Notable works include The Time of the Crime (2008), The Heretical Archive (2013), and The Rhythm of Images (2021). Current projects investigate memory, race, and montage theory in contemporary image economies.

As a filmmaker, Torlasco creates experimental video essays addressing domestic labor, borders, and surveillance. Her works use split-screen techniques and archival material, exhibited at institutions like the Walker Art Center and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. She also curates the AV Essay section of NECSUS, focusing on montage as memory.